Programs
Drop-In Centre
The Drop-In Centre is a safe, welcoming, and non-judgmental space for all self-identified women, including trans women, who are current or former sex workers. The Drop-In is open from 6pm–12 noon, 18 hours per day, 365 days a year.
The Drop-In Centre supports the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of its participants. It is a place for participants to have a hot meal, take a shower, and access clothing and personal care items such as toiletries, beauty products, first aid, and feminine hygiene products; items they would otherwise have difficulty obtaining. Harm reduction supplies and materials are also available in the Drop-In.
WISH’s Drop-In offers a safe space to relax and connect with a community of street-based sex workers alongside caring staff and volunteers. Friendship and conversation illuminate the space each evening.
“Call it home, call it family, call it whatever you want, but we all come here to take care of ourselves.” – WISH participant
WISH Drop-In Centre is a confidential space where a participant’s privacy and security is a priority. The Drop-In is only open to participants, staff, and invited guests. We welcome approximately 330-350 women to the Drop-In Centre every night and day, with demand increasing every year. We serve approximately 9,000 meals every month. Donation rooms are accessed an average of 1,800 times each month by some of Vancouver’s most vulnerable women.
Through specific programs (see our other services page), special events and celebrations, we help participants live as positively and safely as possible. For example, with WISH as an official polling station, we provide women the ability to vote for the very policies that affect them. Our celebrations of International Women’s Day, Orange Shirt Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas offer a sense of camaraderie and occasion.
Generously funded by:
BC Housing
City of Vancouver
Centerm Port of Vancouver
Central City Foundation
What's Happening
UPDATED Program Information for Participants
Address: 330 Alexander Street
Phone: (604) 681-9244
Hours: 6pm-12pm (the next day), 365 days of the year
March 2024 WISH Drop-In Calendar
Meal times:
- Dinner: 6pm-8pm
- Evening Snack: 10pm
- Overnight Meal: 1am-4am
- Overnight Snack: 5am
- Breakfast: 7am-9am
- Morning Snack: 10:30am
Hours of Note:
- Donations Room: 6-9pm; 12am-4am; 9-10:30am
- Make-Up Room: 6-9pm; 12am-4am; 9-11:30am
- Showers: 6pm-10:30am
- Bathrooms: 6pm – 11:30am
WISH is a Space That is:
- Open to all self-identified women and gender-diverse folks who are past or current sex workers
- Welcoming to trans women
- Safe for all religions, races, ethnicities, and sexualities
- Non-judgmental, accepting, and supportive
- Shared by all participants equally
- Free of violence, racism, transphobia, bullying, and harassment
Program Partners:
- Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction
- SALAL
- Kilala-Lelum Health Centre
- VPD Sex Worker Liaison Unit
- Capilano University
- Atira Women’s Resource Society