APATHY RUINS PLANS TO HELP B.C. PROSTITUTES

Ambitious Projects Fall On Tough Times

VANCOUVER -- The desperate lives of drug addicts who worked as
prostitutes were thrust into the limelight after pig farmer Robert
Pickton was charged in 2002 with killing women who worked along the
strolls of Vancouver's skid row.

People who said they wanted to make a difference in the lives of
women addicted to drugs came out with ambitious plans to provide new
detoxification beds, rural transition houses and a safe house.

But raising money proved difficult and fundraisers discovered major
donors in the city were uncomfortable being associated with a charity
devoted to drug-addicted prostitutes.

"Women in the sex trade are a hard sell," said Elaine Allan, who used
to work at a women's drop-in centre in the eastside neighbourhood and
knew some of the dead women.

"Unfortunately there is a stigma that exists around prostitution,"
said Anna Lilly, spokesperson for a celebrity effort that failed to
raise enough funds to reach its goal.

The charities were also undermined by messy internal disputes and a
bitter competition for funds. They quarrelled over who could speak on
behalf of the victims' families, even arguing publicly about who
could use the phrase "missing women."

Interviews this week with those involved in fundraising revealed that
numerous plans have fizzled out during the past 4 1/2 years. Trust
funds for donations have withered. Ambitious plans were shelved.

Valerie Hughes was despondent when she looked back on how little has
been accomplished. "Talking to you made me so sad," Ms. Hughes said
about an earlier interview. Her sister, Kerry Koski, was allegedly
killed by Mr. Pickton.

Ms. Hughes spearheaded a campaign by the Missing Women's Legacy
Society for a new facility to help drug addicts in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside. After four years of fundraising, the legacy
society has assets of $21,630, according to its most recent annual
statement. It collected $760 last year.

"We were so touched by the response at first," she said. "We based
our plans on the continuation of the response. We learned that the
media and the public have a very short attention span."

Mr. Pickton was arrested on Feb. 22, 2002. He has been charged with
the murders of 26 women who were addicted to drugs and worked as
prostitutes, mostly in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. If
convicted on all charges, the 56-year-old Port Coquitlam bachelor
would be among the deadliest serial killers in North America.

The Pickton trial, which began on Jan. 30, starts again on Sept. 8
after a month-long recess. As the lawyers work on their courtroom
strategy for the next phase in the trial, family, friends and
community activists said in interviews this week they are beginning
to think again about how to use the onslaught of attention that will
invariably accompany the court proceedings.

Numerous initiatives in recent years have helped agencies provide
services to addicts and others in the Downtown Eastside. But those
involved in charities specifically earmarked for drug-addicted
prostitutes said their projects never really caught fire.

The Buried Heart Society planned to provide a new treatment and
recovery home for addicted women in the Downtown Eastside.

The charity had to abandon its plans and settle for distributing
modest grants of a few thousand dollars each to some groups active in
the neighbourhood.

The facility was to be financed mostly with proceedings from a
celebrity CD, recorded in 2002 by some of Canada's top music talent:
Colin James, Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page, Gord Downie of
Tragically Hip, Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, Neil Osborne of 54-40 and
other musicians.

Official records were not available this week. Ms. Lilly estimated
the project raised around $25,000 for Buried Heart.

Plans for a recovery home never got off the ground. "It involved more
funding than we provided and they had no other source," Ms. Lilly said.

The fundraisers tried to encourage corporations and non-profit groups
to buy the CD in bulk and give the music to their employees. "But we
got nowhere. People felt uncomfortable with the subject matter, which
was discouraging," she said.

Jack Cummer worked four years on a CD in honour of his granddaughter,
Andrea Joesbury. He wanted to raise money to help women with drug
problems move out of prostitution. He arranged for poet Susan
Musgrave to write the lyrics to a song called Missing.

The CD, which was released this spring, has not yet brought in much
money. Mr. Cummer, 76, said he was frustrated by the lack of
promotion for the CD. "It seems to have fallen by the wayside," he
said. "Just because someone says it was a good idea does not mean
people will really get behind it."

Ms. Hughes said the Missing Women's Legacy Society campaign for an
opiate detoxification centre and for "legacy house," a haven for
women, stalled in 2004. A house had been donated but the charity
could not come up with enough money to fix up the place to meet
municipal safety standards. Reluctantly, Ms. Hughes had to forfeit
the donated house.

Ms. Hughes, 50, said she had serious health problems in 2004, after
police told her about the fate of her sister. She became both
physically and emotionally exhausted.

Since becoming active again earlier this year, she has been working
mostly on putting together memorial quilts. The charity is now
dedicated to providing "quilts of hope" to women and children at
risk. Ms. Hughes also has plans to support an art therapy program at
Peardonville House, a drug rehabilitation centre for women in Abbotsford, B.C.

"Emotionally, I'm not able to do more. I do some fundraising, public
speaking. But sometimes it's really hard," she said, adding that
distributing memorial quilts is now her priority. "I really need 10
more sewing machines," she said.

Limited Successes Of Charities For Troubled Women

Here are some charities that had limited success in raising funds for
women addicted to drugs and working as prostitutes:

The Missing Women's Legacy Society hoped to set up a rapid opiate
detoxification centre in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and a "legacy
house" safe haven for women. After four years it had assets of
$21,630. The society collected $760 last year.

The Streets Where You Live was patterned after the celebrity song We
Are the World, which raised $50-million (U.S.) in the 1980s to help
famine relief efforts in Ethiopia. Streets brought together Colin
James, Steven Pages of the Barenaked Ladies, Gord Downey of the
Tragically Hip, Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, Neil Osborne of 54-40 and
other musicians. The song raised $20,000 to $25,000.

Funds from the CD were given to a charity called the Buried Heart
Society, which also received $27,000 in 2003 from an auction of art
by inmates. Organizers hoped for enough funds to cover the cost of a
treatment and recovery home for addicted women in the Downtown
Eastside. Via Nova Foundation, based in a church, was to build the
residential treatment centre. Via Nova fell apart after its most
active supporters moved on to other projects.

Another tribute song called Missing with lyrics penned by poet Susan
Musgrave took four years to put together. The recording was released
this year. The money was to support a program run by Haven Society in
Nanaimo, to help homeless women secure housing and develop life
skills. So far, the proceeds have been minimal.