Below the Radar Transcript
Episode 87: Supporting Harm Reduction through Covid-19 — with Mebrat Beyene
Speakers: Paige Smith, Am Johal, Mebrat Beyene
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Paige Smith 0:06
Hi everyone, I'm Paige Smith with Below the Radar, a knowledge democracy podcast. Below the Radar is created by SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement and is recorded on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
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Paige Smith 0:23
On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Mebrat Beyene, Executive Director of WISH drop-in centre society. They are in conversation about how COVID-19 responses are playing out in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and how WISH has stepped up their support for street based sex workers at a time of multiple coinciding crisis's. I hope you enjoy this important episode.
Am Johal 0:57
Hi there welcome to Below the Radar, really excited to have Mebrat Beyene with us today, the executive director of WISH. Welcome Mebrat.
Mebrat Beyene 1:07
Oh, it's great to be here. I'm excited to talk to you again.
Am Johal 1:11
Mebrat, maybe we can just begin if you could just introduce yourself a little bit?
Mebrat Beyene 1:15
Sure. Um, so yeah, I'm Mebrat Beyene and I'm the Executive Director of WISH drop in centre society in the Downtown Eastside. I am and my entire family, we are uninvited settlers to these lands. We are from Eritrea, which is in East Africa. And I was raised in Montreal, and now make Vancouver my home and have now been the executive director of WISH for five and a half years.
Am Johal 1:43
I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit more about what WISH does? A number of our members of our audience will know you or know about the organization for many years, but some of our listeners are from outside of Vancouver. In terms of what the work that WISH does.
Mebrat Beyene 1:15
Sure. Yeah. So WISH is now in its 36th year, and what WISH does is specifically support women, that is cis and trans women and gender diverse folks who are in street based sex work. And so the reason for the focus on street based sex work is that all the forms of sex work, that is the one that has typically the most amount of danger and also the least amount of choice. So and because we're based in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, what we're really talking about is sex work within the context of poverty, and within the context of homelessness, and a worsening homelessness crisis, and all of the social issues that we see at play in the Downtown Eastside. So really, what we're dealing with is issues of equity, and issues of ensuring that women have access to opportunities to make free healthy and safe choices, which is the vision statement of WISH as well. And so what WISH does to respond is a model of a number of different frontline programs that sort of fill that triage need that really meet immediate basic health and safety needs. The drop in being the largest one in which our name comes from, the mobile access project, the map van, and starting on Monday, the brand new shelter. And as of COVID, the fourth frontline program is also a 24/7 outdoor safe respite site. So those frontline programs are typically how sex workers come to us in the first place. And then once ready, or depending on whatever goals folks have, they may access one or more of what we call capacity building programs at WISH. So those ones that have developed over the years based on the needs identified by the community and by participants and by staff that are seeing trends and issues. And so those programs look like things like Aboriginal health and safety, a supportive employment program, which is actually the next busiest and biggest program at WISH. A health clinic, transitions program, music therapy, pet therapy, and sort of the list goes on from there of all the different types of wraparound supports and services.
Am Johal 1:15
Obviously, you're working in a complex environment, supporting groups of people who have particular vulnerabilities already prior to the pandemic, when the pandemic hit, and there were the initial set of restrictions that came into place, you know, mid late March, how did that affect the services that you're offering, or the kind of effects on the ground that you saw early days of the pandemic because it kind of hit quite suddenly, and particularly in this neighborhood?
Mebrat Beyene 1:15
Yeah, what we saw early on was certainly not the effects of COVID positive results. It was definitely the exacerbation of pre-existing crises, and namely, of poverty, of homelessness, and then a worsening drug supply within the ongoing opioid crisis. So what we saw was actually very immediate for the women that we support the effects of so many services programs, businesses, community centers, libraries, closing, and some very basic, basic things like sanitation, just suddenly, there was no access, or very limited access to spaces, sanitation, bathrooms, showers, etc. For WISH, our goal, recognizing that we're a low barrier frontline program, our goal was to never close our doors, regardless of what was happening for COVID and what was happening for lockdown. So what we did was, and it still feels like a blur at the time, when protocols and understanding of the virus was changing, not by the day, but just sometimes by the hour. So sometimes we'd implement something with the morning shift and by the overnight shift, it was no longer, you know, that change had to happen. It was just such a whiplash time for everybody. But we basically were in complete and constant contact with the health authorities, and our partners and other service providers and partners at BC housing, etc. We quickly pivoted to determine how many people could safely be in the drop in, we very quickly moved as many programs and all the food service to the outdoor back lot. And because it was spring and coming into summer, it was actually easier to do that.
Mebrat Beyene 6:26
So we worked out the no congregating around food and moved everything outside. The programs that we suspended were things like the volunteer program so that we would have fewer people coming in. Unfortunately, we also had to stop accepting clothing donations, which many organizations did. And I think that some of those things are part of what may have insulated the Downtown Eastside at the time, and helped to keep COVID out at the time. But what we were immediately seeing was the effects of spaces being close, or hours being cut back considerably. So people literally having no places to go to just hang out, access to services and programs, and then access to sanitation. So not only did we not close our doors, we actually worked really hard to advocate for funding to increase hours. So we were able to open the drop in for longer hours so that the indoor bathrooms and showers can be available longer. And we were successful in getting one of the washroom trailers by the City of Vancouver to be placed out back in WISH's lot for 24 access to washrooms there as well. And the list sort of goes on from there. In terms of the other types of programs we put in place.
Am Johal 7:45
Yeah, I guess even when corner stores closed the taxes to food provision was another major issue that I heard from other organizations. Wondering if you can talk a little bit about how you sort of read the situation right now. It's sort of late October, by the time this episode comes out. It'll be early November. But there's obviously been an arc and learning along the way here. But what do you see as some of the major issues going into the fall and the spring?
Mebrat Beyene 8:15
Yeah, I think some of the major issues are, you know, if another lockdown happens, figuring out ways for spaces to stay open. It was really clear during that first wave that that in and of itself really caused a lot of challenges for folks. Another big challenge is that this time around, we are seeing COVID positive results in the Downtown Eastside whereas we weren't in the first wave. So that's definitely of concern, and determining whether there are enough testing hours and resources in the Downtown Eastside, whether there's enough immediate self isolation spaces being identified, if multiple organizations and SROs and spaces in the Downtown Eastside start to see cases, are we ready for that? And then finally, I would say the weather piece, because a number of us have created outdoor spaces as a way of safely keeping the numbers up and not having to turn people away. And also, in terms of following the health advice, being outdoors is clearly a lot safer. But with the weather turning, how do you continue to do that? And we haven't quite put all the pieces together for safe, cost effective ways to do that. I mean, clearly, we're not trying to heat the outdoors as though it's an indoor space, but even just making it possible to hang out outside is going to continue to be a challenge. And then lastly, I would say if there isn't some really, really tangible, quite dramatic measures to make drugs that safe drug supply, very accessible across the neighborhood. We're going to continue to see deaths related to overdoses and fewer from COVID.
Am Johal 10:04
Yeah, that's certainly been the case since April, in terms of the numbers of deaths that have been happening, wondering from your vantage point, you know, clearly this came up very suddenly, there were attempts at government response from the Health Authority. And as agencies, bigger public agencies are attempting to respond and also support community organizations. In the vantage point that you're in, you probably have a lot to say about what worked well, and what didn't. And I guess also, you know, Community Foundation's that stepped in and you and I were involved a little bit with the Vancouver Foundation Committee. But do you have any sort of initial thoughts around what worked well, and what didn't? Because in some sense, there's the kind of chaos that comes up with sudden changes, and sometimes well, meaning government policy can sometimes have the exact opposite effect, as you mentioned, but any kind of reflections on that? Because I think it's important for the government to hear back these things as well.
Mebrat Beyene 11:03
Yeah, I will say. So being a service provider of a drop in space that's funded by BC Housing, they responded incredibly quickly, I really do have to say that they were right on it, incredibly responsive, a lot of information coming forward, including when they weren't clear on, you know, what was emerging, they proactively had a lot of information coming to all of us as service providers. Same thing from Vancouver Coastal Health, that lots of information coming through. And then I would say in terms of the funders, what was really quite remarkable to see early on, from the non government funders, like foundations, in particular, how nimble they were. And yeah, you alluded to the Vancouver Foundation process that we were part of, but I really do have to say that that was quite remarkable, you know, it went so quickly, that you really do need the reflection after the fact to really understand the impact of that, but that they mobilized so quickly, and worked across multiple foundations working collaboratively together, to both fundraise quickly, and then get those dollars out to community as quickly as possible with very few cumbersome barriers, right. And very overtly recognizing that, you know, a large organization like WISH that actually has a dedicated fundraiser can turn out a grant, but a much smaller organization that is either, you know, it's one staff person, kind of doing everything, or maybe volunteers, writing grants, quickly turning them around, having all the pieces put together. And I remember that too. I remember the earlier years of what that's like, but these processes were very understanding of those barriers, and that those barriers would be worse during a pandemic, clearly. So there's so many lessons from that process, that the application process wasn't cutting corners, still getting the same level of information needed. And so the accountability and due diligence is still there. But getting those dollars out the door so much faster. And the decisions made so much faster, is certainly something I hope will continue moving forward. The other thing that I really remark on is within the Downtown Eastside, how quickly the service providers all came together, to understand the virus and the pandemic, and to start sharing immediately amongst each other, what we were all seeing, what we were experiencing, and then starting to respond together. So you know, rather than all of us trying to do little pieces on our own in our silos, we all came together so that things like food, production and provision throughout the neighborhood was centralized based on what we all agreed to do. And so our partners that do food provision, like Potluck, like have, they took the lead for all of us on securing food donations, rather than all of us trying to make connections with individual restaurants and so on. So that kind of response was quite remarkable. I mean, many of us work together anyway. But I think there was sort of an unparalleled, and it's continuing till today, unparalleled amount of collaboration and partnership across the Downtown Eastside, which is something that people don't often see from outside of the Downtown Eastside. I think there's sometimes this impression that there's just this chaotic hodgepodge of service providers, which isn't the case and certainly wasn't the case during COVID. It was really quite an easy, grassroots, naturally building, collaboration and coordinated response.
Am Johal 14:52
Right now all of the three levels of government are going through their budget cycle planning for the next fiscal year. From your vantage point, what would you think would be good investments in the context that we're in right now? And also any sort of ideas around policy change that would positively affect conditions on the ground in this context?
Mebrat Beyene 15:15
Yeah, so many of my colleagues would probably say some of the same things. But you know, what I'm going to focus on what the impacts have been on sex workers and street based extra workers that we support. This is a group that, arguably, was the first to see a complete and sudden loss of income as a result of COVID and lockdown, but it's also the group that has had the least amount of access to emergency income replacement. So it's been fascinating to watch how much more comfortable people are with the idea of a guaranteed basic income. And that, you know, conversations at the federal level about nobody will be left behind, and nobody will fall through the cracks. And, and hearing even conservative politicians, basically talking about guaranteed basic income was quite fascinating to watch and sort of realizing, okay, so you can see it, you can see the benefit within the context of a global pandemic. Why can't you see it in the context of some of the pre existing crises that are existing? So I would really like to see sex workers, and in particular street based sex workers that are often outside of the economy, and maybe completely outside of being in the tax system, and still so stigmatized and criminalized and not able to access those, that there is an explicit response to that, that that is following the advice of sex work support organizations across the country. So everything from emergency cash relief, that is administered through sex work support organizations across the country, to much more lenient, and low barrier versions of CERB that specifically name sex work, and not, you know, we've had no adequate response from the federal government about that, in fact, just a complete silence, and shying away from, from the issue, despite their ability to talk about the informal economy and the informal cash economy, which at the best of times, is already overwhelmingly women, and folks of color. So I would focus on those pieces and want to really see some movement there. And then when talking about all three levels of government, again, working out drug supply, in a very, very dramatic way needs to happen. So if we're thinking about preventing deaths, in the same way that the approach was around COVID, and if the number of deaths is what's telling you how dire a crisis is, why isn't the opioid crisis and why isn't a poisoned drug supply? And the number of deaths that we've seen there? Why is that not taking more of a precedence? Why are we not doing the same daily briefings? Why are we not seeing the same level of mass mobilization of resources, and stakeholders across all jurisdictions? To tackle the number of deaths we've seen resulting from overdoses. It's astonishing, and the number of deaths compared to COVID are comparable. So I would want to see something around that as well. And then finally, housing, housing, housing, housing, I mean, you know, we can't move fast enough on having as many housing options all the way from shelters, to temporary housing, to temporary modular housing all the way up to full, permanent housing. They can't come online fast enough. So yeah, working collaboratively across all levels of government to make sure that there are no more barriers to getting housing up and running for as many people as possible.
Am Johal 19:03
Mebrat, is there anything you'd like to add? And how can members of the public support the work that WISH does I assume they could donate through your website or other ways?
Mebrat Beyene 19:12
Yeah, we launched the Courage Campaign right at the beginning of COVID, when we started to see that we needed to continue to be as nimble as possible and sort of be able to just create a new program on the fly, as well as shore up resources without really knowing what's going to be coming down the pike in the next six to nine, twelve months. So you can visit us at wish-vancouuver.net. You can find us on social media as well. Yeah, there's multiple ways that you can donate including items like actual clothing items, and so on that women need. Becoming a monthly donor at this time really provides us quite a bit of stability, if that's a possibility of folks. We are a little bit limited in the physical donations that we can receive.
Mebrat Beyene 20:00
But we are launching something through Shopify, which is a way for people to donate to a specific shopping list that we have, sort of the top items that are always needed, things like underwear, socks, leggings, hoodies, toothbrushes, those kinds of things. So we're really excited to be launching that very soon. And we can't quite take volunteers yet. But we encourage people to keep in touch with us. Be added to a waitlist for volunteering, and once we can start to bring the numbers up again, we'd love to have all of our volunteers and then some back again. But in the meantime, donations, financial donations at this time, make the biggest amount of impact for us.
Am Johal 20:01
Mebrat, I thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. And thank you so much to you and the staff team at WISH for the great work that you do in the neighborhood. It's so important and it's really important that people hear out in the public, issues on the ground, and hopefully there'll be some policymakers and others that listen to this as well. Thank you.
Mebrat Beyene 21:01
Thank you. It's really good to see you again. Take care
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Paige Smith 21:12
Thanks for tuning in to this important conversation with Mebrat Beyene. You can learn more about WISH and how you can support their work in the links in our show notes. Thank you again for listening, and we'll see you next time on Below the Radar.
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