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Downtown Vancouver sexual assault support team suspends operations due to lack of funding

Organizer, Stacey Forrester says the group helps more than a hundred people along Granville street every month. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Bayne Stanley

A team that works to prevent sexual assault in downtown Vancouver has suspended operations due to lack of funding.

Good Night Out Vancouver is a four-person non-profit, who spends their Friday and Saturday nights down in the Granville Entertainment District, helping late-night partiers get home safe.

Organizer Stacey Forrester says they specifically watch out for women.

“Street team operates from midnight ’til 3:30 a.m., and they help people who are over intoxicated or lost their friends,” Forrester explained.

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The group is partially funded by the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Business Association.

But Forrester says they still had to come up with $18,000, and at a time when they’re needed most, she said, they couldn’t come up with the money.

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“In May and June, the numbers start to rise,” Forrester said. “We go from helping about 140 people a month to 160-170.”

In July of last year, they helped 340 people.

Forrester says the group has halted operations for now, but has applied for a grant to get them back on the streets.

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