Interagency Collaboration
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As outlined, the success of this program relies on participants being met where they are at, including addressing basic needs that may otherwise prevent full participation. Working with a variety of community service partners can help fill in some of these gaps. Partnerships may also come with inbuilt challenges. This chart illustrates some of the potential outcomes of different arrangements. Some of these have been tried and learned first hand by AVI in some of their rural and small-town Street College offerings, others are hypothetical variables. Involving peers in program implementation will offer insight into existing relationship details that may influence some of these variables.

Partner	Arrangement	Pros	Cons
Public Library	Meeting Space	The library may already be a frequented resource Access free internet and other literacy tools Spaces are often free or very low cost	Pre-existing relationships may be strained Wider public visibility may feel too stigmatizing for some
Literacy Organization	Program Sponsorship or Grant	Ongoing financial support Support staff or organizational support	Requirements of reporting, micromanagement or re-application resources
Health Authority	Funding or support	Ongoing financial support Support staff or organizational support Bridging relationships between health care workers and peers	​Pre-existing relationships may be strained, established distrust Requirements of reporting, micromanagement or re-application resources Mandated by public health outcomes over personal autonomy
Health Authority	Arm's length support including outreach nurse presence as a part of some sessions	​​Bridging relationships between health care workers and peers	Mandated by public health outcomes over personal autonomy Pre-existing relationships may be strained
Church	Meeting Space	​Low-cost space rental for social justice groups in some churches	​ Pre-existing relationships may be strained Stigma  A trigger of previous trauma for some peers
Women’s Centre	Program partnership, space use, cross-promotion	​ Low cost accessible social justice space Bridging relationships between service users and resources	​ Gender exclusive requirements or perceptions Stigma from other centre users
Drug User Organization	Co-Organizing, cross-promotion	Pre-existing relationships can bring trust and connect potential participants to program  Meaningful engagement of peers	​Potential or perceived cliquey-ness or exclusivity

It is important to include potential program participants in decisions regarding potential partnerships. If a potential partner organization has a strained relationship with peers, they are probably not a good fit to serve as a space host or overseer of the program. Peers deserve to be respected and treated with dignity from everyone involved.

Utilizing tools like the CATIE (Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange) to access HIV, HCV, and other health education resources may be valuable in both the program itself and in offering education and stigma confrontation resources to potential community partners. Shelley Taylor is a resource support person at CATIE’s office and can be reached: [email protected] or 1-800-263-1638 x230.