Dylan Short

'SNUG' outreach helping sex trade workers since 2005 folding due to funding loss

Kari Thomason continues to do street checks on her own time with other volunteers. SunMedia

The outreach program SNUG, which has helped countless women and girls on Edmonton streets, is folding in the wake of funding issues.

SNUG, created in 2005 following the formation of a provincial police task force in 2003 to investigate the killing and dumping of multiple sex trade workers in the Edmonton area, assisted clients with street checks, collecting DNA and reporting bad dates. SNUG was cut in February after federal funding expired and was not renewed.

While the program's co-founder Kari Thomason continues to do street checks on her own time with other volunteers, she said the loss of SNUG means many vulnerable women, men and transgender people will now be without other supports.

"We went to streets the other night to talk to some of the girls and they're just pissed," Thomason said this week. "They're like, 'We have nobody now that watches out for us.'"

Since the program was initiated in the early 2000s, Thomason developed relationships with countless street workers, leading to more reporting of johns, pimps and bad dates.

"If we don't see them on the streets for a month or even a couple of weeks, we'll contact people," said Thomason. "Sadly, we've had to be the ones to report several girls missing because we were the last ones to see them."

Thomason said she plans to meet with other community organizations and submit funding proposals to keep running the award-winning program.

Donald Langford, executive director of the Metis Family and Child Services, said the organization is losing two other programs among funding uncertainty from the province leading to eight employees being terminated.

He said he is also waiting to hear back on funding proposals he submitted to the federal government.

"(Friday) I sat down and I'm writing eight termination letters effective March 31," said Langford. "I hope I get funding and I hope I get a new contract from this initiative, but I still have to terminate these people or at least give them letters of terminations and hope that we get the funding."

Langford said Metis Family and Child Services will no longer be able to help about 400 young people and close to 80 families once all three programs are cut. The organization currently provides in-home family support, youth supports and family violence relief services.

"It's a whole bunch of different things. It would be good if we just have one specific thing that we did for a family but families are so dynamic and different. What we do is meet the individual needs the family that comes in," said Langford.

The provincial government announced in November it was cancelling about 450 grants and contracts with 300 organizations as it reworks how it funds and organizes programs that prevent children from being apprehended into government care. The cuts are set to come into effect as of March 31.

"Decisions have not yet been made about who will provide services going forward, nor how much their contract amounts will be," said Children's Services Minister Rebecca Schulz in a statement Friday. "That review process is ongoing and we expect to announce the new contracts in mid-March."

The review is set to address inconsistencies and fill gaps in services provided, said Schulz.