The City of Guelph, and it’s various partners and agencies, put out a lot of information on a weekly basis, and while it all ends up on the City’s website somewhere, wouldn’t it be easier to just scroll through it all on one easy-to-read article on Guelph Politico here…?

Community Health Adds Funds for HIV and Gender Affirming Care

The Ministry of Health has informed the Guelph Community Health Centre that they will be receiving base funding of $1 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year to cover the cost of HIV clinical services and gender-affirming care services for people living with, at risk of and impacted by HIV/AIDS, including transgender, non-binary, and two-spirit individuals. Guelph CHC was given the news just in time for their annual general meeting on Thursday.

“We are so grateful to have the Ministry acknowledge the importance of this specialized healthcare and provide this funding to support it,” said Deanna Clatworthy, clinical nurse specialist at Guelph CHC in a statement. “Our commitment has always been to put patient care first and when our organizations began the amalgamation process, it was the priority of everyone sitting at that table. Patients have been able to have no interruptions to their care during the process. This new funding will allow us to provide holistic care that is very much needed by the communities that we serve.”

“This news from the Ministry of Health came just prior to Guelph CHC’s AGM, and we wanted to be able to share the good news with our stakeholders,” added Melissa Kwiatkowski, CEO of Guelph CHC. “While we work with the Ministry on the full details, we are celebrating the strength of our partnership with ARCH, and their hard work and advocacy that has led to an additional $1 million in funding for health care coming to our community this year.”

Tool Library Launches New Computer Project

The Guelph Tool Library has launched a new project called the Circular Computer Project, which will collect previously used laptops from businesses and local organizations and those will then be refurbished and distributed through the Digital Equity Coalition. The project is not seeking donations from the general public, but they are seeking out partnerships with businesses interested in contributing. The laptops themselves, after refurbishment, will be distributed to community groups like Guelph Community Health Centre Shelldale and Your Downtown Guelph Friends.

“The Circular Computer Project is a natural extension of this work. Our goal is to take laptops that are no longer needed by local businesses and work with our community partners to distribute them to those that need them in Guelph,” said John Dennis, the Tool Library’s Co-ordinator in a statement. “Access to digital resources is quickly becoming a necessity in today’s ever-connected world, and should be a right for everyone. Through the Circular Computer Project, we strive to bring that right to more and more people by giving them access to the tools they need.”

The project has set the goal of refurbishing and redistributing 75 laptops in the next year. If you’re interested in learning more, visit the project’s webpage here.

New MRI Being Installed at Guelph General Hospital

On July 4, the Guelph General Hospital will begin the process of retrofitting its Diagnostic Imaging suite to accommodate a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine with the arrival of a temporary MRI. The machine will be operating out of a trailer in the parking lot, which will have on impact on hospital parking so plan accordingly. On July 28, you will see a crane at the hospital, which will remove the 16-year-old MRI machine currently installed and then the new MRI will be installed starting on September 18. Work is expected to be completed by November.

Hospital Foundation Announces Biggest Transfer Ever

At their annual general meeting last week, the board of directors of the Foundation of Guelph General Hospital announced that they transferred a record-breaking $10,497,081 to Guelph General Hospital in their 2022-23 fiscal year. The previous record transfer amount was last year with $5.7 million. About $6 million of that transfer will be used for the renovation of the Special Care Nursery, which is being 100 per cent funded through donations to the “Together, We Care” campaign, and about $4 million will go to the purchase of essential patient care equipment with a significant allocation to the Hospital’s surgical department.

Three for This Year’s Artist in Residence

Three people have been select to share the distinction of being the 2023 Artist in Residence for Guelph: Miki Tamblyn, Jude Akrey, and James Gordon. “We received more expressions of interest from artists than ever before,” said Tammy Adkin, manager of Museums and Culture in a statement. “The committee was very impressed with the range of proposals, representing a wide diversity of perspectives and artistic practices. We’re confident the three artists who will serve as Guelph’s Artists in Residence this year will engage a variety of audiences in moving and meaningful experiences.”

Miki Tamblyn is a practicing artist and educator, a printmaker, basket weaver, hide-tanner, costume designer and community space-maker. Her project is “Animal Forms”, an interactive mask-making and meditation project about shapeshifting, playing, and empathy between species.

Jude Akrey is an artist living and practicing on the Between the Lakes Treaty Territory No.3. They will will assemble 2SLGBTQI+ artists from Guelph to host a series of facilitated arts-based skills workshops, an artist talk, drop-in sharing event, and public exhibition that celebrates diversity of queer arts practices, including “From One Queer to Another,” a body of work will be created for public display with each piece reflecting and memorializing the impact of the events.

James Gordon needs no introduction. The musician and former city councillor will capture real Guelph stories from local seniors of diverse backgrounds through facilitated workshops, and shape them into songs, poems, or spoken word. The final pieces produced through “Rhyme Capsules: Guelph’s Tale told in Story and Song” will be shared in a culminating performance involving the song creators and storytellers.

The public can participate in each project during the Culture Days celebration taking place September 22 to October 15.

New Police Check Procedure Launched

This week, the Guelph Police Service introduced a new Record Checks procedure which will streamline the application process including those for criminal record checks and vulnerable sector checks. The new process is completely online, and the completed check can be emailed without requiring you to pick up a hard copy in-person or by mail. The fee structure hasn’t changed, but all user accounts created prior to June 20, 2023, will no longer be valid. To learn more, or to start an application, visit the GPS Records Check page here.

Additional Notes

Bookmark for next weekend: These are the Canada Day holiday weekend hours for the City of Guelph and the Guelph Public Library.

The City of Guelph will be getting in on the Art on the Street action on Saturday with a demonstration of a complete street in St. George’s Square.

Check out the winners of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce Awards of Excellence last weekend.

For members of the Guelph Arts Council, this year’s AGM is on Wednesday June 28 at the artBar (formally the eBar) on Quebec Street. RSVP here.

School’s not out yet, but HOPE House is already looking for the next school year by organizing their annual Community Backpack Project.

The Guelph Humane Society will be hosting another Adoption Event on Saturday, this one from 11 am to 3 pm at the Pet Valu on Stone Road. They’re also having a nail trim clinics for cats, bunnies and other small animals at the Human Society office in the Hanlon Creek Business Park.

Current “Have Your Say” Opportunities:

The Downtown Parking Master Plan, Culture Plan, Race to Zero, Silvercreek Parkway North Reconstruction, and Guelph’s Bicentennial.

Transit Detours

The #10 Paisley and the #20 Northwest Industrial will be detoured from their stops on Wyndham and Quebec Street on Saturday due to Art on the Street.

The detour on the #20 Northwest Industrial at the Galaxy Cinema on Imperial has been extended to June 30.

The #17 and #18 Woodlawn Watson/Watson Woodlawn buses will be diverted away from the Watson and Starwood stops from Monday June 26 to Friday June 30.

The #99 Mainline will again be detoured away from Woolwich between London and the Walmart Smart Centre from Monday June 26 to Monday July 3.

Guelph Transit will be offering free rides starting at 7 pm on Canada Day as people will be shuttled from the park to stops around town via five different zones. (Woolwich Street will be closed on Canada Day between Speedvale and Woodlawn from 8:30-11:30 pm.)

New and Upcoming Construction

Lane reductions will continue on Meyer Drive for a few more days as final restorations and asphalt paving is completed following City of Guelph and Enbridge repair work.

Cardigan Street is closed north of Woolwich for the next six weeks as new sanitary sewer and watermains are installed to support the Baker District Redevelopment project.

Watson Parkway North will be closed between Starwood and York for five days starting on Monday June 26 to install new water and sewer pipes.

Oxford Street will be closed between Glasgow and Yorkshire for four days starting on Tuesday June 27 to install new water and sewer pipes.

The parking lot on Neeve Street will be closed for rehabilitation starting on Tuesday July 4. The work is expected to take between six and eight weeks to complete.

College Avenue will be closed between Lynwood and Edinburgh for two weeks starting on Tuesday July 4 for the installation of new sewer and water pipes.