Since our start in June of 2020, we have distributed $1.6 million worth of direct aid to sex workers of color in Oregon—focusing on Black, Indigenous, transgender, and houseless sex workers. We distribute direct aid in the form of rental relief, gift cards, emergency go-bags, STD tests, COVID-19 tests, safer sex supplies, personal protection equipment, culturally-specific hygiene supplies, menstrual supplies, Plan B, toys for children, diapers, and more. To date, we have received over 2500 applications for aid from sex workers of color living in Oregon.

Our Outreach programming differs from other organizations, in our focus on peer-led interactions. Our outreach team consists of Black, Indigenous, and/or transgender sex workers and sex workers of color. We have first hand experience and understanding that within this community, members are very cautious and due to the stigma and subsequent dangers around their line of work. Sex workers may often feel uncomfortable placing their trust and confidence in anyone. Haymarket Pole Collective is an organization for sex workers by sex workers. It not only understands the unique barriers that prevent this community from seeking help, but it also understands that it is imperative to provide a feeling of safety and trust to this community. Haymarket Pole Collective is honored to be one of the few organizations that has built trust within the Portland sex worker community.

The main feature of our Healing Justice Program is our 1-1 Sponsored Therapy Program. This program has been in the works since 2020, and has had numerous iterations to craft an accessible and engaging space for marginalized sex workers. In 2020, we create three pilot support groups that were facilitated by Black, brown, and Indigenous therapists who were trauma informed and explicitly allied with sex workers. We then shifted our program to a 1-1 therapy model to encourage attendance and create more tailored environments for community members. In 2021, HMPC sponsored nine Black, brown, Indigenous, and or transgender sex workers to attend free therapy with a Black, Brown, Indigenous, and or transgender therapist that we personally matched them with.

As a reflection of our growth, Haymarket Pole Collective's Healing Justice Program now matches 49 Black, brown, Indigenous, and or trans sex workers with culturally specific, sex-worker-allied providers of color. We pay our program participants a monthly stipend to attend FREE therapy for a year. Offering this stipend is in line with one of our core beliefs: that sex workers of color are deserving of care, peace of mind, and liberation from systemic barriers.

Our intake specialist painstakingly matched 49 community members with culturally specific therapists. Consider this testimony from a community member in our 1-1 Sponsored Therapy Program: “This program has affected my life in so many positive ways. I was almost entirely disconnected from myself and my loved ones due to years of unsolved and unspoken trauma. Things are so much different now than they were in July when I first had my appointment with my chosen therapist. I couldn't have chosen a better therapist for myself, I feel so much better and so much more seen knowing I have things in common with the person supporting my mental and emotional health. My favorite things about the entire experience have been feeling more centered and feeling more at ease in my day to day.”

In the future, we hope to expand and replicate our program. We are working closely with Black and Pink nationals, an LGBTQ abolitionist advocacy organization, around replicating our programming at their various chapters. We still have a significant waitlist, and hope to attain sustainable funding to continue the program for years to come.