The WISH Drop-In Centre Society is a registered non-profit agency that offers a safe haven for high-risk, street involved women sex trade workers. WISH operates out of the First United Church at the corner of Gore and Hastings Streets in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. It has a large living room area which contains couches, mattresses on the floor, a television and area where women may obtain make-up, sundries and towels for showering; a foyer where food is served and tables are available; a washroom with showers; and the use of a boardroom for the Learning Centre (three evenings a week) and public health nurses (one evening a week). The facilities are not adequate for the numbers of women requiring the use of the Drop-In Centre and for the different activities occurring each evening. However, despite the cramped quarters, there is always a sense of welcome, safety and acceptance throughout the Drop-In.

For a few hours a night, WISH provides hot meals, showers, clothing, personal hygiene care, and a place to watch television, connect with other women, relax and sleep. WISH offers a variety of on-site services in collaboration with other service providers such as the following: On-site Health Service, Safety Night and Outreach through a variety of connected providers. The Centre promotes non-judgmental support and advocacy. It is open six nights a week from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM every night except Saturday. The Society has been in existence since 1987 and has grown from an organization serving a dozen sex-trade workers to serving about 60 women per night in 2001. In the past two years, those numbers have doubled.

In 1999/2000, WISH board members approached Capilano College to consider setting up a literacy program for women at the Drop-In. The Community Development and Outreach Department of Capilano College was already partnering with the Carnegie Community Centre to do literacy work in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). In 2000, WISH and Capilano successfully sought National Literacy Secretariat funds to undertake a participatory literacy needs assessment with sex-trade workers in the DTES, funded through a cost-shared grant. The needs assessment found that women using the Drop-In Centre had various levels of literacy and educational backgrounds. We learned that women are not involved in literacy activities because of poverty, abuse, addictions, and victimization. They did not access other community education opportunities because they felt unsafe, judged or unwelcome because of their work in the sex trade and active addictions.