With Heavy Hearts, Clear Eyes, and Enduring Gratitude: Closure Announcement
To our beloved members, allies, and community partners,
It is with heavy hearts that we share this update. Despite the tireless work of staff, the Board, and community over the past 6 months, PACE Society has not been able to recover and source new funding at this time. As a result, we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close our doors after 31 years of operation. Our final day of programming will be July 31st. Out of deep respect and care, we have tried to inform our members directly, in a trauma informed way, before sharing this update more broadly.
After months of exhausting every available path, we’ve come to this decision with heavy hearts but clear eyes, knowing we did not arrive here without trying everything we could. Many factors have brought us to this point, namely, operational challenges, funding gaps, and debts. We are still working through the impacts of our charitable status being temporarily revoked, which has restricted our ability to apply for a broad range of new funding sources, and are still awaiting news from the Canada Revenue Agency on whether they will reapprove our status.
We are truly sorry to everyone in the community for this state of affairs — and for the uncertainty, frustration, and grief the news of this service closure will cause. PACE has been a vital safe space and lifeline for our community — offering essential programs and services that have supported countless people over the past 31 years. We have provided life-saving harm reduction, outreach, emotional support, and advocacy that are grounded in lived experience, cultural humility, and trust with those we have been lucky enough to serve.
We are incredibly grateful for the way the community has shown up for us these past few months, for every donation and fundraiser that has come through. These contributions are going directly towards feast and ceremony costs, legacy expenses, member and staff support, and to resolving existing debts. The feast will take the place of our annual holiday party, and will provide a space for grieving, celebrating, and saying goodbye in a trauma-informed, and culturally sensitive way. The ceremony will be led by Audrey Siegl and is open to members of our extended community.
We continue to work diligently to explore options to sustain and revive PACE, including transferring, archiving or preserving parts of our work. Our Board of Directors will continue this work including pushing for reform on sex workers’ rights, safety, and access to justice. Further, PACE will maintain its registration as a non-profit society in BC in hopes we can come back in some form in the future.
Throughout all of this, one truth remains: sex workers will continue to organize. We encourage everyone to keep the spirit of PACE alive by forming mutual aid circles and community support systems. Stay connected. Keep showing up for each other. This work didn’t start here, and it doesn’t end here. Our work has always been rooted in community, and it’s been an honour to collaborate with those who share that vision.
We’re calling on all levels of government to step up and to provide robust, sustained funding for grassroots, peer-led organizations. Peer-led groups like PACE are often the first and only point of support for people navigating stigma, criminalization, poverty, and systemic violence.
If governments are serious about building safer, more just communities, they must invest in the very organizations that meet people where they’re at and prioritize community-led responses, centered in harm reduction and a trauma informed lens.
To our funders, partners, volunteers, and — most importantly — our members: thank you. Your support over the years, and especially over these last few months, showing up for the community in so many vibrant and beautiful ways, and your understanding during this complex and emotional time while we navigate uncertain waters, means everything. We are committed to doing everything we can to get PACE back on its feet.
While we thank the media for their interest, we will not be giving comments or interviews at this time. Questions and concerns from community members can be directed to board@pace-society.org or communications@pace-society.org.
With the greatest respect and love,
PACE Board of Directors