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The outreach program SNUG, which has helped countless women and girls on Edmonton streets, is folding in the wake of funding issues.

SNUG, created in 2005 following the formation of a provincial police task force in 2003 to investigate the killing and dumping of multiple sex trade workers in the Edmonton area, assisted clients with street checks, collecting DNA and reporting bad dates. SNUG was cut in February after federal funding expired and was not renewed.

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While the program’s co-founder Kari Thomason continues to do street checks on her own time with other volunteers, she said the loss of SNUG means many vulnerable women, men and transgender people will now be without other supports.

“We went to streets the other night to talk to some of the girls and they’re just pissed,” Thomason said this week. “They’re like, ‘We have nobody now that watches out for us.’ ”

Since the program was initiated in the early 2000s, Thomason developed relationships with countless street workers, leading to more reporting of johns, pimps and bad dates.