Pivot Legal Society is a legal advocacy organization based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homele ...

. Founded in 2001, Pivot's goal is to represent and defend the interests of marginalized communities affected by poverty and social exclusion. It accomplishes this through strategic litigation and public advocacy directed at government. Pivot Legal Society has four main campaign areas: homelessness and housing justice, sex work law reform, drug policy, and policing and police accountability.

Hope in Shadows

Hope in Shadows is a photography contest organized by Pivot Legal Society, for residents of the Downtown Eastside since 2003. Every summer, up to 200 residents are given single-use cameras and encouraged to capture their community and their lives through images. The contest is designed to raise awareness about life in the Downtown Eastside, presenting reality from a distinctly personal point of view. Forty photographs are chosen by a panel of Vancouver artists and photographers, which are put on display on the street outside the Carnegie Community Centre. Here, local residents can vote to select the winning entries, which are compiled in an annual calendar, sold by residents on the streets of Vancouver. In 2010 216 local residents received job training to sell the 2011 Hope in Shadows calendar. More than $130,000 was earned by licensed street vendors selling 2011 calendars. The Hope in Shadows book won the 2008 City of Vancouver Book Award in October 2008 and has now sold more than 5,000 copies on the streets (if they had been sold in bookstores it would be an official B.C. Best Seller).

External links

Pivot Legal Society - Official Web SiteHope in Shadows - Official Web Site
{{Authority control Legal organizations based in British Columbia 2000 establishments in British Columbia Organizations based in Vancouver Legal advocacy organizations based in Canada Sex and the law Downtown Eastside