Cells goes in person: inside CELLS.irl, NotJustYou’s peer support dinners

Cells, Canada’s first and only nationwide virtual peer support group for people living with sickle cell and their caregivers, is in its third year. Until 2026, it met only online.

This year, Cells also started meeting in person. CELLS.irl, the in-person extension of Cells, brings registered participants together for an intimate dinner in their city, and three cities have hosted one so far.

Three cities so far

• Edmonton, February 6, 2026: the very first CELLS.irl
• Calgary, May 8, 2026
• Toronto, July 10, 2026

Edmonton, NotJustYou’s home city, hosted the very first dinner, and Toronto took CELLS.irl beyond Alberta for the first time.

Each dinner is free for registered Cells participants. As NotJustYou puts it: “Dinner is on us.”

Why meet in person

Meeting online removes distance, and in a country this size that matters, especially on days when someone is too unwell to travel. Meeting in person adds what a screen cannot: a shared meal, an unhurried conversation and familiar faces at the next online meeting. Cells keeps its monthly meetings online, so the dinners add to the program rather than replace it.

CELLS.irl also carries NotJustYou’s 2026 theme, “From Taboo to Tradition,” which is about weaving open conversation about sickle cell into culture, especially in African, Caribbean and Black communities. Talking about sickle cell over dinner, with people who understand, is that theme in practice.

What a CELLS.irl evening looks like

CELLS.irl dinners are intimate by design. Guests are registered Cells participants, warriors and caregivers who may already know each other from the monthly meetings, and the evening centres on a shared meal. In Toronto in July, guests shared a table and posed for a group photo outside.

Online, this year’s Cells meetings have covered love and relationships, reproductive health, being heard by doctors, therapy, crisis days and treatments, with a meeting on treatments closing Sickle Cell Awareness Month on September 28. Around a dinner table, those conversations can continue at their own pace.

Caregivers have a place at the table too. Some online meetings are Cells for Caregivers, including “How Caregiving Changes Relationships” in April and “Preparing for Crisis Days” in July, and caregivers who are registered Cells participants are invited to CELLS.irl as well.

Free therapy comes with Cells

Registering for Cells also opens the door to free therapy. Through NotJustYou’s partnership with Bethesda Therapy, registered Cells participants and caregivers living in Canada who attend at least one Cells meeting per quarter can access fully subsidized, virtual, 60-minute sessions, up to 24 per person. Missing a session without 24 hours’ notice may forfeit one session, and NotJustYou only receives anonymous totals.

Bethesda Therapy was founded by psychotherapist Zainab Giwa, who also serves as NotJustYou’s Wellness Director. Her advice on self care is direct:

How to get an invitation

Invitations go to registered Cells participants, so the first step is to register for Cells. Cells is free and open to people living with sickle cell and caregivers who are 16 or older and live in Canada.

Cells meetings run online on the last Monday of the month, 6 to 7 PM ABT (Alberta Time): 5 PM in BC, 7 PM in Manitoba, and 8 PM Eastern and 9 PM Atlantic (an hour earlier in winter). Register now and you’ll be among the first to hear when CELLS.irl comes to a city near you. In the meantime, the online meetings are open to you right away.