Program offers Edmonton prostitutes another chance

By Pamela Di Pinto

EDMONTON – Every girl is different.

There’s the morphine addict who’s so mentally ill she can’t even remember how many children she’s had. There’s another addict a few blocks away – this time crack – who has flunked-out of every treatment centre in the province. Then there’s the “cutter” who slices herself, hoping the blood will stop johns from abusing her.

Kari Thomason has worked with these girls before. They are her “regulars.” She is in the business of trying to save them.

Thomason is the coordinator of SNUG, an outreach program designed to help prostitutes get off the streets and into a new life.

As Thomason explains, the life many of these women have now is far from pretty, and even farther from what they want.

“Not one time will you ever hear, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to be a hooker,’” she said. “Never is that a dream. Never is that a reality. There’s no such thing as Pretty Woman here.”

What is SNUG?

The SNUG program was started in 2005 as a joint initiative between social service agencies and the police with one goal in mind: help sex trade workers leave their life on the streets behind.

Today, the program is run out of the city’s west end at Metis Child and Family Services, who work closely with EPS.

Thomason and her co-worker Jack Kraus spend five days a week, 10 hours a day, working at the street-level with these girls, armed with snacks, condoms and two black binders to keep track of all the women they work with.

Every month, they will also run snag and snug operations, where male police officers will go undercover as “johns” to catch prostitutes. Once the girls are “snagged,” they are brought to Kari to be “snugged.”

This involves an interview, detox and follow-up assistance in whatever form needed, whether it be advocacy in court, counseling, new baby clothes, or something as simple as hand-holding — as long as it gets them on the path to recovery.

And of course, the girls will never leave hungry.

Good food, good people and good connections

Thomason’s right-hand man, Kraus, is an EPS vice unit retiree who put down his badge three years ago and picked up a spatula.

On operational nights, Kraus can be found in the kitchen cooking up some of his specialties for the women, police officers, volunteers — everyone. They all eat from the same pot in his kitchen.

One dish that no one can seem to get enough of is his famous pickle soup.

“We’ve got working girls that order, ‘Oh, whenever the next bust is, make pickle soup,’” said Thomason, laughing. “We’ve got cops putting in orders.”

Kraus said the most important part of SNUG — and the reason why it has been so successful — is the relationships they build with these women.

“They have to trust us, they have to know that we have their best interests at heart and they have to know that it’s unqualified,” he said. “We’re not looking for something in return.”

Street mom

Many of these girls have never had a trusting relationship in their lives, but their connection to Thomason is undeniable. She actually grew up with a lot of them, even some that have been found murdered.

“It was difficult because those were like my little girls, and having them being found gutted and filleted is the hardest thing to take because they are like my family,” said Thomason.

As for the girls who continue to roam the streets, Thomason knows each of them by name. She gives all of them her cell phone number too, and lets them know they can call anytime.

But Thomason is by no means “nice.” She is a straight talker with a hard exterior, who has taken on the role of street mom for many of these girls.

“She’s gives them shit when they need it, kicks their ass when they need it, she tends to their wounds when they need it, she sympathizes with them if that’s what they need, and she helps them out if that’s what they need,” said Kraus.

Her hard-hitting approach works, too. According to Thomason, more than half of the girls who enter the program actually stay off the streets. But in the bigger picture, Thomason said it’s a small victory.

“For every one girl we take off the streets, there’s always two or three to take her place,” she said. “That’s the sad reality of it.”

Nobody planned to be here

Every girl has a different story as to how she ended up working on the streets. Connie Marciniuk, a regular volunteer with SNUG, said listening to the girls tell their stories is always a huge eye-opener for her.

“I grew up in a very white picket fence, little relatively “normal” family, so to hear those things, it was really heart-breaking to see that’s how people within our society and within our culture and just human beings are treated,” she said. “It’s so sad and so unfortunate.”

Many of the girls prostitute themselves to feed an addiction to drugs or alcohol. Some need the money to pay for food, diapers or rent. Others are put out on the streets by their own families to pay for their nasty habits.

For a majority of them, Thomason said their willingness to sell themselves comes from a lifetime of sexual abuse.

“Their mentality is, ‘well, I mind as well charge for it instead of giving it away for free,’” she said.  “Where is the justice for these girls?  There isn’t.”

Never give up

Thomason and Kraus live by a promise that they will never give up on their girls, no matter how many times they fall off.

Thomason said very few of them believe in themselves, much less expect others to believe in them. And while instilling them with confidence is the hardest part of her job, she said it is the most rewarding.

“Trying to give themselves empowerment is the biggest struggle — to get them to believe in themselves. But once they do, it’s the greatest gift ever to see. They just shine.”

“That’s what keeps me in the game — for this. It’s the joy of seeing them succeed.”

And she isn’t going anywhere for a while.

“This is where I belong. This is what I want to do.”

Listen to one of Edmonton’s prostitues speak out about life on the street.

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