CIAFV

Happy Pride Month from CIAFV. 🏳️‍🌈

Pride is a time to celebrate 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, honour the work that has brought us here, and recognize that safety, dignity, and belonging are still not experienced equally by everyone.

Family violence can happen in any relationship, and 2SLGBTQIA+ survivors may face unique barriers to accessing support, including fear of discrimination, being outed, or not being believed.

This month and every month, we remain committed to supporting safer, more inclusive communities where everyone can seek help, be heard, and be treated with respect.

Pride is celebration, visibility, advocacy, and care.

Support is available, any time of day.

BREATHE by Black Mental Health Canada is a 24/7 national support line dedicated to the mental health and well-being of Black Canadians.

Through Breathe Resource Connection, individuals can access immediate support and resource navigation for mental health, trauma, grief, stress, systemic barriers, advocacy needs, and pathways to care.

BREATHE is grounded in safety, trust, and dignity, with support designed to recognize the lived experiences, community realities, and barriers that can shape mental health and access to care.

Call 1-800-917-0272 for support.

You deserve care that understands.

🔗 Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4dIZhhA

Here’s what’s coming up June 6–12 for awareness, learning, and strengthening support across our communities:

👖 Blue Jean Jacket Day
June 6 | 1:00–3:00 PM | 9625 Jasper Ave, Edmonton
A day to raise awareness for Missing, Murdered, and Exploited Indigenous Men and Boys. Join YWCA Edmonton for an afternoon of information sharing, learning activities, and community reflection. Wear blue, say their names, and never forget.

🌱 Southern Arizona Trauma Informed Network – Triple P: Raising Resilient Children
June 9 | 12:30–2:00 PM MDT | Online
An online training introducing core strategies to help children recognize and manage their feelings, build coping skills, and develop resilience when facing life stress.
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/4vabdzW

💼 Government of Alberta – Financial Responsibilities Webinar
June 9 | 7:00–8:30 PM MDT | Online
Also offered June 10 | 1:30–3:00 PM MDT
A Board Development Program webinar focused on the board’s role in financial management, including key responsibilities, delegation, and the financial statements board members should understand.
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/4utu2OB

💻 Zero Abuse Project – AI Literacy & Responsible Use for Frontline Professionals
June 10 | 12:00–1:30 PM MDT | Online
A training exploring where AI may intersect with child protection and human services work, with a focus on ethical decision-making, privacy, risk, and responsible use.
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/4fHPOJR

☕ TEND Academy – CARE4YOU®
June 12 | Online
A free conference for helping professionals focused on burnout, secondary traumatic stress, empathic strain, and organizational health. This event offers space to learn, reset, and refuel while continuing to care for others.
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/4nO9SfM

These opportunities offer meaningful ways to learn, reflect, and strengthen the care we bring to our communities.

Stay connected with CIAFV.

Join our mailing list to receive updates on upcoming trainings, workshops, community events, sector resources, funding opportunities, and family violence prevention initiatives.

It’s an easy way to stay informed, share opportunities with your network, and remain connected to the collaborative work happening across Edmonton and area.

Join the list and be part of strengthening our community’s response to family violence.

🔗 https://bit.ly/49FJyyy

Consent is something children can learn about at every age, in ways that are simple, respectful, and age appropriate.

The City of St. Albert’s Consent Video Series helps parents, guardians, and caregivers talk with young people about consent, boundaries, body autonomy, and healthy relationships.

The short videos cover:
• What consent means and why it matters
• How to introduce consent with preschoolers
• How to talk about consent with elementary-aged children
• How to navigate consent conversations with teenagers

Teaching children to respect their own boundaries and the boundaries of others helps build safety, confidence, and healthier relationships as they grow.

These conversations do not have to happen all at once. They can begin early, build over time, and create a foundation of respect, communication, and care.

🔗 Learn more here: https://bit.ly/43hcb1k

Here’s what’s coming up this week for learning, governance, and strengthening non-profit leadership:

🌻 The Today Family Violence Help Centre – Family Violence Impacts at Work: What Workplace Leaders Need to Know
June 2 | 9:00–10:00 AM | Edmonton
A focused session for executive staff, senior management, HR, Occupational Health and Safety, and wellness leads. Learn how family violence can impact workplace safety, productivity, and employee wellbeing, and explore practical tools to reduce risk, meet OHS obligations, and build a more supportive workplace culture.
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/4tKUQcc

🌻 Government of Alberta – Legal Responsibilities Webinar
June 2 | 7:00–8:30 PM MDT | Online
Also offered June 3 | 1:30–3:00 PM MDT
A live, interactive Board Development Program webinar designed to simplify key legal principles for non-profit boards. Participants will explore where board duties come from, what board members need to know to meet their legal responsibilities, and how to manage conflict of interest effectively.
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/3Rkt60r

These sessions offer helpful opportunities for workplace leaders, board members, and non-profit professionals to build confidence, ask questions, and strengthen safer, more informed organizational practices.

“Why don’t they just leave?” is one of the most common questions asked about family violence, but it overlooks how complex and dangerous leaving can be.

Leaving is often a process, not a single event. For many people experiencing abuse, barriers can include threats, fear, isolation, lack of financial resources, shame, cultural or religious pressures, and the belief that the abuse is their fault.

Abuse is about power and control. Understanding the barriers to leaving helps us respond with more compassion, less judgment, and stronger support.

A supportive, non-judgemental listening ear can make a meaningful difference.

🔗 Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3PC8BvF

The Colours of Friendship: NAFC Gender-Based Analysis Toolkit is a culturally informed, Indigenous-centred resource created to support safer, more inclusive spaces for 2SLGBTQQIA+ and IndigiQueer community members.

Developed by the National Association of Friendship Centres, this toolkit offers an accessible starting point for learning, reflection, and conversation around gender, sexuality, inclusion, and belonging.

Resources like this help organizations ask better questions, recognize barriers, and strengthen programs and services so they are more responsive to the people they support.

Creating safer communities starts with honouring identity, lived experience, and the many ways people belong.

🔗 Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4wlwjgl

Here’s what’s coming up this week for learning, connection, and community support:

☀️ Government of Alberta – Grant Writing 101
May 26 | 7:00–9:00 PM MDT | Online
Also offered May 27 | 1:30–3:30 PM MDT
A live interactive webinar covering core proposal and grant writing skills, common pitfalls to avoid, what funders look for, and how to maintain strong relationships with funders.
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/4daTbGk

☀️ Sisters Dialogue – Wrapping Myself in Care: Muslim Single Mothers Circle
May 30 | 12:00–2:30 PM | Edmonton
A free, women-only gathering for Muslim single mothers in the Edmonton area. Facilitated by art therapist Lucy Lu, this session includes reflection, connection, light lunch, childminding, and a silk painting activity.
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/48ULiUi

These sessions offer opportunities to strengthen skills, build connection, and support community care.

Family violence is not always easy to see.

It can include physical, financial, emotional, psychological, sexual, cultural, or spiritual abuse, as well as neglect. At its core, family violence is a pattern of behaviours used to gain power, control, and create fear within a relationship built on intimacy, dependency, or trust.

Family violence can happen in any community and in many types of relationships, including intimate partners, dating relationships, parent-child relationships, siblings, same-sex relationships, and cohabiting relationships.

Understanding the many ways family violence can show up helps us recognize harm earlier, respond with care, and support safer pathways forward.

If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, support is available.

Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3QNwvVg