LAZO
LAZO means link, rope, or bond, as in 'estrechar
los lazos de la amistad', or 'tightening the bonds of friendship'.
It symbolizes the Latin American community keeping together, while
we reach out to other Latin American women and build links with
existing services and organizations.
The Latin American Women's Support Organization
(LAZO) was formed in 1992 by volunteers who wanted to provide outreach,
deliver support services, and help build bridges between mainstream
services and the Spanish speaking community in Ottawa-Carleton.
In 1995, LAZO initiated a small health promotion program focusing
on the prevention of breast cancer and HIV/AIDS. In 1996, LAZO's
Latin American Women Health and Social Services Access program began
to link Spanish women to the existing services in the area. The
following year, LAZO's ten new community leaders were trained to
help build the Spanish-speaking women's community. All three programs
were funded by the municipality through a Health Grants program.
LAZO also provides a peer counselling training program for Spanish-speaking
women facing violence.
Go to Get in touch to contact LAZO or become
involved. Find out more about us in the context of Latin
American women organizing.
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Centretown Community Health Centre
Centretown Community Health Centre (CCHC) is a
non-profit community agency offering a variety of services primarily
to residents of three downtown Ottawa neighbourhoods: Centretown,
the Glebe and Ottawa South. CCHC began in 1969 as a small drop-in
street clinic and was incorporated as a Community Health Centre
in 1974. Today, CCHC has a staff of over 90 people including doctors,
nurses, nurse practitioners, health promoters, social workers, outreach
workers, and others. Services offered by CCHC include medical care,
individual and group counselling, social support groups, nutrition
counselling, health education and information groups, community
development work, services for children and families and services
for the homeless. Regional programs are also offered, such as LESA
(Lifestyle Enrichment Senior Adults) and The Regional Good Food
Box Program. CCHC has managed many community grants and projects
- both large and small. Currently, CCHC manages and coordinates
the Region-wide Diabetes Project - a partnership with the Canadian
Diabetes Association, two local hospitals and the Coalition of Community
Health and Resource Centres. As well, CCHC is an administrative
partner in the neighbourhood Laundry Coop. Since 1995, CCHC has
collaborated with LAZO in its community-based work with Hispanic
women in Ottawa.
CCHC is funded primarily by the Ontario Ministry
of Health and governed by a volunteer Board of Directors.
CCHC is located at 420 Cooper Street in downtown Ottawa. You can call
us at 233-4443 for more information about our programs and services,
or visit our website: http://www.centretownchc.org.
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Gentium Consulting
We are often asked: what does Gentium mean? It means: 'of the people'. Gentium Consulting is a multilingual research
and training firm, committed to promoting equality rights and social justice. We provide a client-centred approach to
social research and policy analysis. Gentium has specialized in working with community-based organizations and
justice-seeking groups as well as all levels of government with responsibility for health and social welfare.
Gentium has undertaken numerous studies focusing on health issues, identifying access barriers,and studying effective
strategies to improve service accessibility. We provide ongoing qualitative research support for the Community Health
Research Unit (CHRU). We also help community groups and public sector organizations with qualitative and quantitative
social research, and program evaluation. Working with social justice groups, we have developed indicators and monitoring
tools to measure organizational and institutional change processes over time.
Gentium also has developed and delivered training programs and materials, and university and college-level courses,
applying participatory and adult learning principles. "Teach Me To Thunder - A Training Manual for Anti-racism
Trainers", includes over thirty lesson plans, numerous handouts and overheads.
The principal researches, Alma Estable, MSW, and Mechthild Meyer, MEd, have worked together since 1988,
providing stability, consistency, and leadership to a dedicated group of associated multi-lingual researchers and
trainers.
If you would like to know more about Gentium Consulting, our website is
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gentium, or e-mail us at
gentium@sympatico.ca.
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Community Health Research Unit (CHRU)
The Community Health Research Unit (CHRU) is a Health System-Linked Research Unit, funded by the Ontario Ministry
of Health, co-sponsored by the University of Ottawa (Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine and the School
of Nursing) and the former Ottawa -Carleton Health Department, now City of Ottawa People Services. Since 1989, the
research unit has worked as a partnership between the Health Department and the University to: (1) develop new knowledge
for effective public health practice in the areas of: strengthening self-care capacity and action; building supportive
environments; and the interaction of these areas; (2) enhance the scientific basis for public health practice by promoting
and supporting evidence-based practice; and (3), foster transdisciplinary inquiry and build strong and reciprocal linkages
between practitioners and researchers within the health promotion and public health communities. Investigators at the CHRU
have come from both the University of Ottawa and the City of Ottawa, working together in a partnership bringing both academic
rigor and practical application to their work. Investigators at the CHRU have been working in the areas of community
capacity building and multicultural health for several years. This experience, combined with participatory, qualitative and
quantitative research expertise, has allowed the CHRU to make important contributions to this project.
For more information about the CHRU, our web site address is:
http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/med/epid/chru.html
