DP World Community Kinship wants to highlight charitable organizations that aid the Vancouver community, and how both corporations and individuals can support their work during this challenging time.
The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) has provided a safe haven for women-identifying people since 1978. Through both its Drop-In Centre and 24 Hour Emergency Shelter DEWC provides services and support to more than 500 women of all ages daily. Among DEWC’s Drop-In day program offerings are clothing, toiletries, showers, meals, advocacy, housing outreach and computer access. The DEWC 24 hour Emergency shelter offers all of the above coupled with 57 beds, 24 hours a day.
While this is always challenging work, the COVID-19 pandemic has made these challenges even greater. However, DEWC has risen to meet them.
Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre during COVID-19
To abide by health and safety guidelines while still serving their clients, the DEWC Drop-In has modified its operations. Generous donations of gloves, masks, and hand sanitizer have allowed the centre’s staff to protect themselves and their clients, making it possible to maintain their services.
Some of the shelter kitchen staff members have not been able to work during this time because of their risk status, so meal donations from companies have helped tremendously. It has been heart-warming to have companies who would normally be open re-purpose their staff and facilities to assist in this challenging time.
The Drop-In started offering walk-up meals rather than having clients come into the space to eat.
The toilet access at the centre was critical to maintain. Public toilets, including portable toilets, can be dangerous for women, and many of the centre’s clients are reluctant to use them unless they have a friend who can act as a lookout. DEWC modified their operations, allowing clients to use the restrooms one by one when they were open during the day, to maintain this important service.
One service DEWC staff will restart safely is providing opportunities for respite, social contact and relaxation. These programs allow the centre and its clients to make connections and relieve the stresses of their lives. During this time when tensions are high, these opportunities are more critical than ever. The Drop-In space also allows for housing workers, the victim service worker and mental health advocate meet women with safe distancing to address issues that women were experiencing pre-Covid which are now even more magnified and pressing.
DEWC Aids the Most Vulnerable
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside area has tremendous challenges in the forms of poverty, marginalization, drug addiction and mental health. However, it is also known for its resilience and strength, in part thanks to the work of organizations such as DEWC. Women are 40% of the population of the area and at high risk of victimization. There are more than 250 service providers working in the Downtown Eastside area, but only three are women-only spaces, one of which is DEWC. A survey of the many women who live in the Downtown Eastside, showed 75%, do not feel safe on the streets or in public. DEWC offers them a refuge and a foundation from which to build a better future.
DEWC is also an extremely efficient charitable organization. More than 90% of donations go directly to the women who visit the center, in the forms of support services, food, clothing and necessities. The busy kitchen at DEWC provides meals, including daily hot lunch, afternoon snacks, breakfast 6 days a week and, dinner for after-hours groups. Currently the Drop-In serves an average of 100 breakfasts each day and approximately 250 lunches. Pre-Covid, 350 lunches a day were served at the Drop-In.
The DEWC 24-hour Emergency Shelter provides 3 meals a day for the 50 women who have been staying there during Covid. Outside of Covid times the shelter also provides meals to women in the community but due to the current situation, meals are primarily for women in the shelter with some takeout for women who are in need.
Drug addiction is also a crisis that has only been made more acute by the pandemic, and an area in which DEWC is working to aid their clients. British Columbia has instituted a safe drug supply program to prevent the sale and consumption of street drugs, because of the personal and societal dangers of the illicit drug market. However, the safe supply program means people must have access to a doctor to utilize the program, which many of DEWC’s clients don’t have. Making these connections is critical so these women avoid the risks of acquiring and using street drugs. As a part of this program, the women are also in contact with doctors and DEWC staff and volunteers, allowing more opportunities for intervention.
How Can You Help?
As with many charitable organizations, DEWC has faced funding challenges during this time. The fundraising events that support their meal program have been cancelled, even as the need for DEWC’s consistent services is greater than ever. The centre is grateful for food donations from companies large and small. Some of their donors have not been able to remain open to the public during this time, so they are devoting time and resources to helping organizations such as DEWC. Meals and snacks are an ongoing and urgent need in the community.
At the moment, the centre is accepting only new clothing donations. Especially needed are basics, such as socks, bras, and underwear. As always, sanitary wipes and hand sanitizers are an ongoing need, as well as toiletries and sanitary supplies: pads, tampons, incontinence supplies, shampoo, conditioner, soap, shaving cream, razors, lotion and deodorant.
However, since DEWC’s storage space is limited, cash donations will allow them to make the most use of your resources and theirs. In this way, they can buy what they need when they need it, when they can get the most value for their dollars.
Signs of Hope in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
Thanks to the hard work of organizations such as DEWC, there have been no COVID-19 deaths or outbreaks in shelters in the Downtown Eastside area. Government and nonprofit efforts to create a comprehensive testing strategy and house at-risk individuals while still providing for their basic needs has controlled the outbreak for the moment. Of course, maintaining this success requires ongoing vigilance and support.
Connect With DEWC
Learn more about the vital work the staff and volunteers at DEWC are doing, and how you or your organization can help. The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre website offers detailed information on the community’s need, the centre’s efforts, and how your donation dollars are used to benefit women in need. The centre’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds will keep you up to date on its programs, events, and urgent needs for community assistance.