2022 was a year of continued growth for Rise, with new positions increasing our capacity to help women and gender diverse people throughout the province. We saw a significant increase in people seeking services, and Rise was able to assist a record number, 2,172.

2021 was a year of unprecedented growth for Rise. Last year we continued to adapt to the COVID pandemic and the exacerbated gender-based violence experienced by many of our clients. Our team worked alongside community partners around British Columbia and with many organisations in the lower mainland to expand access to legal services.

Thank you for your support and encouragement over the last year – a year that has highlighted the ways in which women and all those marginalized by gender oppression are particularly impacted by family violence, economic insecurity, the climate crisis, and intersecting oppressions.

Providing legal services to the many women in BC who can’t access counsel has always been a daunting prospect, and it has taken determination and innovation over the last three and a half years to build a women’s legal centre from the ground up. But here we are in 2019, stronger than ever. We are thrilled to have completed our pilot phase at the end of 2018, and are now looking to the future with optimism and resolution