The New Hope Society is looking for a new home.
The volunteer-run service, which provides a drop-in centre and safe space for survival sex workers and other sexually exploited youth, is being forced out of its Fourth Avenue location by Dec. 31 and project co-ordinator Jan Wilson has begun the process of exploring potential new sites.
"I see it as a challenge, but I'm totally optimistic that something will come up," Wilson said. "We need a place, we're going to find something. We'll find some place, somewhere."
She's buoyed by the fact the community has stepped in the past whenever New Hope was in need of food and clothing donations or volunteer help.
The BC Government and Services Employees' Union has donated the space New Hope has used to operate since 2005, but with the building for sale that won't be an option beyond this year.
Wilson has surveyed the women who use the service and they said they'd like the new place to be on the edge of downtown and have a similar layout to the current location with room for food preparation and a place to watch movies.
The main function of the society is that it gives the women a mental and physical break from what they experience on the street. Wilson also puts on information sessions ranging from dealing with addictions to how to handle bad dates.
"They have the ability to feel safe enough here that they can leave the street on the street and be here and be themselves," Wilson said.
She started helping out at New Hope in 2009 and she immediately clicked with women who use the service and has been working there ever since.
"They teach me as much as I teach them," Wilson said. "They'll say, 'I'm not good at anything' and I'll say, 'You're good at surviving.' The majority of people would never survive what they go through."
New Hope used to be open five days a week, which gave its clients peace of mind knowing they would have a safe space to go if they needed a break from the street or wanted to find out about treatment options. However a loss of funding has seen the facility reduce its hours steadily since January 2011 and it's now only open on Tuesdays.
Wilson has files for 140 active clients who use the service and said in any given week about 18 to 35 of them drop in. When the facility was open five days a week it averaged about 15 to 25 clients a day.
Without the funding to be open five days, Wilson isn't able to deliver as many programs and is unable to check in on as many of the women.
"My goal is to have it open everyday because that's what (the women) want," she said. "They want to place to come everyday."
