In November, women who use the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre (DEWC) asked the centre to be remain open after regular hours and act as a shelter for homeless women. With the help of volunteers, the Elder's Council and staff members the centre acted as shelter to over fifty women each night. In December the provincial government granted to centre a one time funding of $80,000 to allow DEWC to operate as an emergency shelter for women for the next couple of months. Read a press release about the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre and a CBC article, "Women occupy Vancouver drop-in centre."