When we began the literacy work at WISH, there were many questions and few resources that spoke to the context of a crisis centre for women working in the sextrade. Many resources are written for literacy projects that assist women in recovery but almost nothing that addresses women whose lives are based on the street. No one in the literature discusses the challenges of learning when you are high, sleepdeprived or in withdrawal. We found nothing that talked about women on the street using learning as part of their personal harm reduction plan.

Women who use the services of the WISH Drop-In Centre are a group who struggles with a multiplicity of social issues: substance abuse, violence, poverty, homelessness and poor health are the major ones. Separation from children, social isolation, mental illness, being in conflict with the law, low self-esteem and underemployment are others. An initial literature review showed us that there is a dearth of literacy research for this group of learners. While there is research that examines the effect of many of these issues on learning, we did not find any material that examines the cumulative effect of these issues on learners. In addition, there is little information or curriculum materials designed for female sex trade workers. In working with this group, we were looking for information and ideas that would help us provide safety, acceptance, challenge and opportunities for increased self-esteem, within the context of chaos, grinding poverty, violence and substance abuse. How do you support learners who have been traumatized and continually face violence?

Researchers have examined the effect of many of these factors on learners, dealing with individual aspects of the issue we explore in this project, which is the cumulative effect of all these factors on learners. Jenny Horsman (2002), Betsy Trumpener (2000) and Bev Sochatsky (2002) have each developed curriculum materials and ideas for working with women who have experienced trauma; men and women affected by homelessness; and women in conflict with the law, three characteristics we often find in women we work with. Despite the fact that the activities suggested in these texts needed modifications for our group, the effect of these works was one of encouragement. We were encouraged by the fact that others are taking the learning needs of marginalized people seriously and working to reshape the way we deliver literacy instruction so as wide a group as possible can benefit from learning. The fact that they were carving out new territory and integrating art, music, cooking, crafts, and healing with literacy instruction, encouraged us to keep working and researching to find things that worked for women at WISH. The works cited above have helped us to frame our understanding of this issue and will certainly help us to support learners in the next stage. These texts, published during the course of this research, were each helpful in offering a boost of optimism, hope and ideas.