Let Love Grow Fundraiser
Adara is happy to announce that we are Letting Love Grow! Join us in raising money and awareness in support of Edmonton's very own CHEW Project. If you have visited one of our studios in the past few years, you may have noticed we have a slight addiction to plants... and now is your chance to take one of them home! Adara will be selling various plant cuttings throughout May 2021 for a minimum donation of $12 with 100% of the proceeds being donated to the CHEW Project.
Many of the plants we have in our studios are easy-care plants, able to be propagated and reproduced to further the amount of greenery we have to fill out our space. A lot of love goes into these little plants, and we would be more than happy to give some of them a new home! Some of the plant cuttings being offered are Pothos, Spider, and Wandering Inch. Available only while supplies last. Care instructions provided.
The CHEW Project’s vision is to provide frontline support, opportunities for health and wellness, and to help find hope for LGBTQ2S+ youth and young adults facing barriers like: mental health issues, violence, poverty, homelessness, substance use issues, sexual health issues, sexual exploitation/sex work, and others. CHEW’s team fosters resilience through no cost: short-term and long-term counselling; crisis and suicide intervention; harm reduction; social services (including basic needs, clothes, food, referrals to housing, bus tickets, and more); cultural connections (including for Indigenous and newcomer and refugee communities); STI testing; support and resources for youth and young adults engaged in survival sex or sex work; events to develop empowerment and resilience; a physical, safe space for youth to get support and get off the street; and research and advocacy work in the community.
The CHEW Project started in 2014 with the purpose of providing sexual health education to queer youth and young adults facing barriers. It soon became clear that these youth and young adults had limited resources and little frontline support, especially around mental health, housing, substance use, and survival sex. In late 2015, the project evolved into an outreach project providing frontline support and services. We continued to grow, and by 2017, we created an Indigenous peer support position, which still flourishes, as well as a counselling team to provide long-term mental health supports. With the generous support of our community, we were able to officially open our new outreach office, the OUTpost, in March 2020. The OUTpost functions as a safe space for youth to rest, eat, shower, do laundry, connect with others, and get off the street.
We want to thank you for participating in this year's event, with everything going on we know the world can seem like a very tough place. But together, we are confident that we can let love grow.
