H.O.P.E. is the nighttime outreach for homeless and exploited women in the Kelowna area, specifically in the downtown core. There are very limited resources in the Okanagan for the homeless, especially for women and children. H.O.P.E. volunteers go out seven nights a week at dusk and walk the streets of downtown with the goal of providing the women they encounter with the support and tools they need for survival. The volunteers carry supply bags with basic necessities to give out. Additionally, the volunteers build relationships with the women, encouraging and supporting them get the help they need. Volunteers note the names and ages of these girls and women and H.O.P.E. executives keep try to track the women to ensure their safety. In addition, volunteers take "bad date reports" and report instances of violence and abuse that sex-workers encounter. Bad Date Reports are circulated Okanagan wide to Prince George, Kamloops, Merritt, Penticton, Vernon and Kelowna. In addition, the volunteers inform the women of the local resource centres and services in the Okanagan. Ultimately, H.O.P.E. is constantly seeking funding to sustain the night time outreach and purchase supplies for the volunteers to hand out on the streets.

​

Harm Reduction: H.O.P.E. Volunteers carry both injection kits and smoking kits and distributing to men and women. The community is leading this movement, as it is necessary to keep people safe and healthy. It is inevitable that individuals on the streets will be using these items; therefore it is important that clean needles are supplied to prevent re-use of dirty needles. This is critical in preventing the spread of numerous diseases. This effort will also stop the black market transactions of over priced clean needles.

​

Bad Date Reporting: Since 2000, the “Bad Date Alert”, which was implemented to decrease and deter violence against women, provide information and resources to sex-trade workers and exploited women, to help them stay safe and to provide an effective tool for the local RCMP and other police agencies to investigate crimes. H.O.P.E. Outreach distributes and collects this information.

​

Narcan: Full training is provided to our volunteers on how the Narcan, anti-overdose program works. Naloxone is an anti-overdose drug for opiate users. Avid users can receive a free kit, so in the emergency of overdose, this can be administered and save lives.

 

Orientation: Once per month, two-hour orientations are held. Includes training for street level outreach, Bad Date reporting, Narcan training, and Harm Reduction training. The potential new volunteer will also complete two shadowing shifts, with our trained volunteers, on the street.