The Drop-In Centre is a safe, welcoming and non-judgemental space for all self-identified women, including trans women, who are current or former sex workers.

Read the feedback from any of the women who have accessed The Mobile Access Project (MAP) Van, and you understand the urgent importance of this service which makes more than 1,400 connections with women every month.

The majority of women who access support at WISH rely on street-based sex work as their sole source of income, leaving them more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence.

Indigenous women are over-represented in street-based sex work in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: more than 50 percent of WISH participants are Indigenous, and many have experienced severe trauma related to colonization, residential schools, and ongoing racism and discrimination.

The Transitions project supports women in moving to safer sex work, or to reduce their reliance on sex work, or to eventually exiting altogether.

Most women involved in street-based sex work struggle to meet their basic needs and, as the result of considerable stigma, systemic poverty, abuse or trauma, often experience low self-esteem.

WISH participants can engage in a range of musical experiences through the WISH Music Therapy program, helping to care for their holistic self through musical education, song-sharing and psycho-education.

Women who engage in street-based sex work require regular health care, but often face barriers to access, including a feeling of judgement and stigma from healthcare professionals, not feeling safe in local clinics or potentially seeing dealers or abusive male partners in traditional healthcare spaces.