WISH Stories & Press Releases

Have you ever been faced with an impossible choice? Everyone deserves the opportunity to make free, healthy, and positive choices—but the people WISH Drop-In Centre Society exists to serve are often denied that fundamental right.

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.  

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.

Kwaakwii, also known as Elder Terri, is a proud Haida woman from Haida Gwaii, who came to the Lower Mainland about 30 years ago. Her journey began as a participant in the program and in less than three years she became WISH’s in-house Elder.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It’s been six months since WISH opened the doors to Canada’s first-ever 24/7 temporary emergency shelter for street-based sex workers. Since then, we’ve seen an overwhelming demand for the space, resulting in the shelter being at capacity since opening day. Sadly, this means women are turned away from the shelter every single day.

On March 11th, we held our first-ever WISH Talks virtual event in honour of International Women’s Day. WISH Talks is intended to be an ongoing series through which we hope to collaboratively create impact through conversations.