IHSP celebrates one year of Sex Worker Circle

June 6, 2023 marks the one-year anniversary of WISH’s Sex Worker Circle (SWC), held as part of our Indigenous Health & Safety Program. The Circle is a safe, dedicated space for participants who are current and active street-based sex workers.  

The methodical and purposeful approach to creating SWC took months to develop and implement. It is extremely important to ensure the program is low-barrier and Indigenous peer-led. From day one, the priority has been to create a safe and growth-facilitating environment that includes two significant pieces, a sex worker engagement activity and a Talking Circle.  

The sex worker engagement activity changes every week but always invites participants to use their creativity. This can include fabric arts like bedazzling, dying and sewing working clothes; make-up sessions and tutorials with free cosmetics; creating sex worker safety kits; or enjoying guest speakers and peer training.

The second aspect of Sex Worker Circle involves a Talking Circle, which allows for the space needed to provide skill development such as public speaking and de-escalation training and holding trauma-informed conversations. The topics of each Talking Circle focus on sex work and safety; some of the most recent topics included:  

• How can we stay safe in a date’s vehicle? 
• How can compassion look like safety for sex workers? 
• How to use the Buddy-System in today’s sex work. 

Before the start of each SWC, peers get together to assign tasks. All sessions then begin with smudging and end with a gratitude circle.   

Building collective power for sex workers is a key priority at WISH. Since launching a year ago, SWC has seen over 400 visits, speaking to the community’s need for this type of opportunity and safe space. During that time, 12 peers have also been trained, while others are currently completing training.  

Visit the IHSP page on our website to learn more about the SWC. You can also find more information about opportunities for participants at WISH each month in our Drop-In Calendar, posted on the Drop-In Centre Program page. 

“I Had No Choices” – Hear directly from a WISH Supervisor

Choice is a loaded word. Many of the participants who walk through our doors face limited options. When Avery Gray* was living in a tent on Alexander Street, she didn’t know what WISH was. One freezing night, she was invited into the drop-in for a hot chocolate and decided to check it out.

“I didn’t share any details of the work I did at all because I just felt that if I, you know, made enemies with even my closest friends, that they would somehow rat me out to the ministry and it would go against me and my kids, right?” she shared.

Avery Gray describes how experiencing homelessness and living with substance use severely limited her options, “I had no choices at that time,” and even now she says, “I don’t really know what got me through it to be honest with you. Things kinda just started slowly day by day, increasingly getting better and better and a lot of that is because the support I got from here.”

Having support available when she needed it made a difference, “anytime that any, you know, upsetting situations happened or anything, I’d be able to come here at any hour of the day. Like midnight, three in the morning, anytime, and [ WISH ] was always here.”

Avery Gray is modest about her accomplishments, but her journey is truly incredible. After joining WISH’s Supportive Employment Program, she found work that she enjoys and is great at. Now, she has progressed from an entry-level role to become a program supervisor at WISH, overseeing nearly 40 employees.

“I guess I’m the first one that’s kind of gone from participant into management and that is my dream to have every participant here just succeed so much that these are options for them.”

Having staff with personal experience of what it’s like to access services at WISH is immensely valuable to those depending on WISH. Avery Gray knows firsthand how “it takes somebody to feel welcome before they feel that they have choice or options to do anything else.”

To do this, we need to create opportunities that meaningfully engage street-based sex workers, while prioritizing their safety, autonomy, and self-determination.

“I definitely am starting more and more to feel like, oh, I could be this somewhere else too. It’s not just here. I’m valuable everywhere, right?… I can do it, so I think everybody else can.”

*Alias used to protect confidentiality

Spotlight on WISH’s in-house Elder

Kwaakwii, also known as Elder Terri, is a proud Haida woman from Haida Gwaii, who came to the Lower Mainland about 30 years ago.

“I moved down here to help with my grandchildren,” Elder Terri explains. “My most rewarding role in life is being a single mom of my beautiful daughter and my amazing son. They continue to teach me and give me strength and courage to rise to the occasion to become the mom and woman that I strive to be.”

Elder Terri first came WISH three years ago when her sister told her about an Indigenous-led program. “I was glad that there was a program like that for our women to get back to their traditions and culture and sharing that with them,” she says.

Her journey began as a participant in the program and in less than three years she became WISH’s in-house Elder. “I take immense pride and honour in my role of residential Elder here at WISH,” she shares. She now helps guide the program in addition to attending group sessions to offer support and teachings to participants.

“I bring diverse experiences working with health care, legal, and non-profit organizations, and it is especially here where I thrive and feel a sense of belonging. I have gained resilience, courage, and strength through my own personal struggles and continue to develop my personal and professional life by being mindful, aware, empathetic and compassionate,” Elder Terri adds. “I believe taking a culturally-centred approach means listening and softening the heart.”

Elder Terri is at WISH five days a week. When asked what she would like others to know about IHSP she highlights the importance of healing.

“The healing part was really important for me. It changed my life. The cultural activities validated me. I feel like I am a better Elder since taking the program,” she explains.

“I know there are a lot of ladies out there that don’t know where they are from and that, in itself, can be very emotional, even just talking about it gets emotional for me,” she adds. “I still meet a lot of women that are First Nations but they don’t have a clue about their Nation and try to point them into the direction of Residential School Survivors Groups where there are a lot of Elders from different Nations and that, in itself, is a stepping stone for them.”

When asked what being a resident Elder means to her, she mentions the joy it brings her to contribute her knowledge and wisdom to the community.

Improving Support for Indigenous Participants

This spring, we are proud to be re-launching our Indigenous Health & Safety Program (IHSP) at WISH. The IHSP is a recurring six-month-long program that runs twice a year and is one of three streams that WISH’s Indigenous Health and Safety focuses on: Indigenous Drop-In; Indigenous In-Reach Services and; and IHSP.

The program offers cultural healing that centres participants’ mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. It uplifts participants’ lived experience, knowledge, and expertise. It also provides culturally-safe one-on-one support, connecting participants with other services at WISH such as the shelter, Supportive Employment Program, Music Therapy, and Learning Centre.

IHSP also supports participants when navigating systems like housing, child welfare, health, and substance misuse services.

The program is trauma-informed, which means it addresses the specific realities and trauma of survival sex work, while affirming participants’ inherent right to dignity and self-determination, wherever they are in their journey.

Through reclamation of traditional healing, alongside culturally-safe support and advocacy, the program addresses the impacts of daily colonial violence on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health of Indigenous participants. It is a space to reclaim community care, self-love, joy, creativity, and self-determination.

The history of IHSP

IHSP has a long history of working with Indigenous sex workers in the DTES. Starting in 2008, Around the Kitchen Table was an Indigenous-led program with a two-fold goal: 1) To gain knowledge of cultural identity and; 2) Share their skills and knowledge by serving as Peer assistants for both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous sex workers.

By 2013, the then-named Aboriginal Culture & Creativity Program expanded its services and re-established under the then-named Aboriginal Health & Safety Program (AHSP). The program was offered two days per week with the intent of creating safety and health opportunities for street-based sex workers. Since then, the program has had more than 180 Indigenous participants.

But this came to a halt in March 2020. Due to COVID-19 and the ongoing opioid crisis, IHSP had to change and focus on outreach services. However, WISH took this opportunity to engage as many participants as possible in conversations and focus groups to redesign the program to best meet the needs of Indigenous street-based sex workers.

The re-design and re-launch of the program began with the creation of a Manager of Indigenous Inclusion position and the creation of two additional positions: An Indigenous In-Reach worker and an IHSP Supervisor. The reopening of the classroom will allow for a re-envisioning of what programming looks like when it is grounded in ceremony, supporting participants to reclaim connection to culture, land, and language.

Delivered by Indigenous staff, Elders, and peers, IHSP will focus on offering a space to reclaim community care, self-love, joy, creativity, and self-determination.

One year after Canada’s first 24/7 shelter for sex workers opened overwhelming demand continues

It’s hard to believe it’s been one year since WISH opened the doors to Canada’s first-ever 24/7 temporary emergency shelter for street-based sex workers. The overwhelming demand for the space continues to highlight the urgent need for housing and safe spaces for women and gender diverse people.

“I feel safe sleeping…grateful just to have a place to sleep.” – Shelter resident.

The low-barrier shelter has been operating at capacity since day one. Sadly, this means participants are turned away every single day, highlighting the critical need for shelter and safe spaces in the Downtown Eastside. Unable to meet demand, dozens of participants continue to routinely use WISH’s drop-in and outdoor safe respite area to spend the night.

Since opening day:

In the last year, a total of 119 people used the 23 beds available; the low turnover rate once again highlights the overwhelming demand for long-term housing.    

The temporary shelter opened its doors thanks to the critical support of BC Housing and the City of Vancouver. The space provides 23 beds along with hot showers, laundry, meals, and critical access to WISH’s supporting programs and services. Thanks to the shelter, more than 70% of residents surveyed reported fewer instances of violence and the ability to turn down dangerous work.

“Celebrating this milestone is bittersweet,” said WISH’s Executive Director Mebrat Beyene. “The need for a shelter like this has existed for years and we’re thrilled to have brought it to fruition. But, there is still so much need for additional shelter spaces and housing options for sex workers; particularly women and gender diverse people. A year from now, we hope to celebrate that a significant number of street-based sex workers have secured safe, affordable, and appropriate longer-term housing.”

Spaces like the shelter continue to be critical—now more than ever. We continue to advocate for and work towards a larger, permanent, and purpose-built shelter for street-based sex workers.

Kilala Lelum’s mobile clinic visits to WISH showcase critical need for co-location of services

It’s been nearly eight months since Kilala Lelum launched its mobile clinic to provide primary care and cultural wellness outreach to the Downtown Eastside (DTES) community.

The mobile clinic helped fill a critical gap at WISH, where the Drop-In Centre clinic remains unused due to a lack of medical staff.

WISH is one of many community partners working with Kilala Lelum’s Mobile Outreach Program. The mobile clinic focuses on primary care outreach drop-in clinics three times a week. At WISH, the mobile clinic visits twice a month — once with a physician, and once with the support of a nurse and an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper. Despite this, there is still a critical need for more physician sessions at WISH. Additional funding and/or onsite deployment from the health authorities is needed so that participants can have regular access to the drop-in clinic.

The mobile clinic was established as a means of responding to gaps within the current healthcare system, recognizing that many individuals benefit from care in an outreach setting that is trauma-informed, culturally safe, and low barrier.

At WISH, at least half of the participants the mobile clinic sees reside in our new temporary emergency shelter. Being able to contact residents at the shelter for follow-ups, specialist appointments, or prescription delivery, has been instrumental in mitigating some of the systemic barriers WISH participants often face.

The mobile clinic has highlighted the critical need for the co-location of services. Bringing services to the locations where people feel safe and are already accessing multiple services, as well as adapting to the context that people are already in, is a crucial step that is often missed by the health care system.

“People need to be met where they are at. There are so many intersecting barriers to accessing culturally safe primary care for the community served by WISH,” said Dr. Emma Preston. “Kilala Lelum is committed to providing low barrier access to culturally safe, healing centred primary care for folks engaged in sex trade work by co-locating services during the dual crises of the COVID 19 pandemic and the opioid overdose epidemic as part of decolonizing medicine.”

For communities and people who face systemic barriers, stigma and discrimination — such as street-based sex workers — accessing mainstream hospitals or clinics can present multiple barriers and result in avoidance. People should be able to receive care in a setting in which they feel safe and with practitioners they feel they can trust.

Although the mobile clinic was launched late last year, the fixed location clinic (Kilala Lelum Health Centre) has been around for almost three years. The clinic was created in part as a response to the TRC’s calls to action around the Health of Indigenous people, using a lens of cultural safety and working to decolonize a very colonized space — healthcare.

The team at Kilala Lelum Health Centre is made up of over 70 individuals – including family physicians, a nurse practitioner, nurses, counselors, social workers, outreach workers, nutritionists, peer community health workers, Indigenous Elders and cultural wellness workers.

The current health system has failed — and continues to fail — those who have been made vulnerable due to poverty, homelessness, trauma, gender-based violence, stigma, and a lack of access to support and opportunities.

The Mobile Outreach Program is currently funded by the Telus Health for Good initiative until March 2023. Funding and support for the continuation, and expansion, of the Kilala Lelum mobile clinic program is vital, as well as the creation of more outreach programs modelled after it.

The system has failed WISH participants, and others in the community, for too long. Enough is enough. It is time to act.

What a difference a day makes…

It’s been one year since the MAP Van day shift began operating in response to an increased demand for our trauma-informed and harm reduction supports and services. 

The MAP Van has provided essential services for woman-identified street-based sex workers across the City of Vancouver for 17 years. However, 2020 proved to be a year like no other. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the escalating opioid crisis, and the inequitable rates of violence and discrimination against street-based sex workers meant the community we serve needed the MAP Van more than ever.  

“Thank God!! I am so excited to hear that. It makes such a big difference for you all to come see me.” – MAP Van participant, responding to news of the new day shift

The creation of a day shift not only allows the van to operate 15 hours in total every day, rather than the original six overnight hours, but it also allows us to reach a new community of street-based sex workers who face extreme barriers when accessing supports.  

Within one month of operation, the day shift began to serve as many sex workers as the night shift. In just one year, demand for day-time services quickly grew, with staff seeing greater demand for harm reduction supplies, food, and drinks during the day than during the night shift.  

Day shift staff had more than 10,419 interactions in one year

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Additionally, the day shift allows the MAP Van to spend more time visiting various hotels, SROs, and other supportive housing buildings than we are able to at night. This change has enabled van staff to maintain connections with participants relocated outside of the DTES as part of COVID-related housing initiatives and establish and deepen relationships with external service providers. 

Amid a deadly overdose crisis due to an increasingly toxic drug supply, the need for overdose response also became a key element of the new shift, with staff responding to more overdose calls during the day than at night. In the last year alone, the day shift has given out more than 500 Narcan kits. 

What if the MAP Van stopped operating during the day? 

The MAP Van has developed unique and long-standing relationships with a diverse community of street-based sex workers across Vancouver. Extending our hours has expanded our capacity to support participants and has enhanced our ability to serve those we may not have been able to connect with at night.  

Over the last year, we have developed significant relationships with new participants who usually do not have a phone, access to transportation, or access to the very geographically specific service bubble that is the DTES. These participants have been structurally disconnected from many services, especially sex work-specific services.  

“I’m so grateful for having the van. I really depend on you and look forward to seeing you!” – MAP Van participant 

This past year has proven the need for a daytime shift, and WISH is committed to continuing this well-used and needed increased service. Losing the day shift would not only disconnect these community members from necessary and often lifesaving services, but it would significantly damage their trust in the reliability and accessibility of our services. We owe it to them to continue to provide services that physically and philosophically enact the core principles of harm reduction by meeting participants where they are at.

Click here to learn more about the MAP Van.