Shane Calder

Shane coordinates community development, education and leadership training programs for clients of the AIDS Vancouver Island needle exchange. He sees his role as providing opportunities for highly stigmatized and criminalized people to connect with community, support each other and collectively learn about the myriad of issues effecting those surviving the War on Drugs.

Shane also coordinates ‘Street College’. Since 2010, the facilitators and participants of this innovative program have shared information with the goal of better understanding how best to tackle stigma, poverty, and increase equitable access to health care.

Attending the School of Social Work, I was encouraged to dig deep and challenge my assumptions around gender, patriarchy, race, and ability so that I might be both a better person, and a more constructive member of movements aimed at dismantling these oppressive regimes. My work at AIDS Vancouver Island has been greatly informed by the students and instructors at the School of Social Work.