Learn More about A New Direction and Program Coordinator Rita’s Dedication to Survivors

Posted by Sarah Swiston
On February 28, 2024
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A New Direction (AND) became a program of WINGS in 2022; however, Program Coordinator Rita has been dedicated to serving survivors in the Beverly – Morgan Park neighborhoods for 40 years. Learn more about A New Direction and Program Coordinator Rita’s Dedication to Survivors in the community.

A New Direction provides the following services at no cost to clients:

Domestic violence education
Crisis intervention, safety planning, counseling, education, and support
Resource referrals
Legal advocacy to navigate Illinois’ legal system for:
- Divorces
- Orders of protection
- Parenting plans
- Child support cases

Over WINGS Fiscal Year 2023, A New Direction served 52 survivors with 960 hours of service. In 2021, Rita received a coveted National Purple Ribbon Award for Lifetime Achievement.

View A New Direction’s Brochure

Ericka, AND Administrative & Development Manager, with Rita, AND Program Coordinator, at Purple Tie Ball South Event.

Domestic Violence Education

Community Outreach

Rita works alongside Ericka, AND Administrative and Development Manager to provide education and outreach at community events in Beverly/Morgan Park. Ericka serves on the District 22 Domestic Violence Subcommittee and attends the group’s monthly meetings. To bring awareness to the community, AND participates in numerous presentations and community events to share education materials and information on services.

: Ericka gave a presentation to the sophomore English classes at Mount Carmel High School on Teen Dating Violence, to complement their curriculum that addresses the issue.

: Rita gives a Domestic Violence virtual presentation to members of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Tau Psi Zeta Chapter, Stork’s Nest/DV Committee.

: AND/WINGS provided volunteers for the Wine Run 5K at Wild Blossom Meadery. Rita and Ericka helped coordinate the event, hosted a resource table, and connected with community members. A portion of the proceeds from the run benefitted AND.

Power and Control Wheel

Rita presents the Power and Control Wheel at community event: Paint Away DV.

“One important item I often bring up in presentations is the Power and Control wheel developed by the late Ellen Pence and her colleagues,” Rita shares. Ellen Pence is considered a pioneer in creating and promoting innovative ways to address domestic violence.

In the early 1980s, Ellen Pence founded the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, which became known as the Duluth Model. The model uses an inter-agency approach in which law enforcement, courts, social services, and more work together to assess risk and protect survivors of domestic violence.

Through working with survivors, the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project identified what was happening within their relationships. After interviewing hundreds of victims, the Power and Control Wheel was created.

The Power and Control Wheel shows tactics that abusers use to maintain power and control over survivors.

View Power and Control Wheels

Learn more about Ellen Pence’s legacy here

Legal Advocacy

Legal Referrals

Many survivors coming to AND need access to legal resources. As AND’s Program Coordinator, Rita guides survivors through legal challenges. Rita maintains relationships with private attorneys who specialize in the civil legal system and understand domestic violence.

In addition to providing these legal referrals, Rita educates survivors on the legal processes so that they do not need to spend valuable time and money having to ask lawyers general questions. Her expertise is vast and her dedication to domestic violence is inspiring.

Rita also informs survivors laws that could assist them including the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA). VESSA allows survivors of domestic violence the ability to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave over a 12-month period to seek medical help, legal assistance, counseling, safety planning and more without discrimination from employers.

Rita shares, “More and more clients are using VESSA to attend court dates for orders of protection, mediation, and family court commitments.”

She adds, “I don’t empower survivors, but I provide them with education to empower themselves.”

There for the Journey

In addition to guiding survivors through legal challenges, Rita also assists clients throughout their entire journey to freedom.

A large majority of the clients she sees are married with children, which legal issues can complicate survivors from just leaving.

Rita has seen many examples of financial abuse and how abusers have attempted to hide assets.
Even after the divorces are final, survivors still may visit Rita to continue to work through legal or co-parenting issues.

One survivor shared, “This journey is long and hard and does not end simply when someone leaves. That is one of the reasons why AND’s services so important to our community.”

Another AND/WINGS survivor shared, “Working with Rita, I felt like the whole divorce process was doing something for me, instead of something that was being done to me.”

Creating Guides for Others

Rita shares, “Former clients will come back to share how they are doing now and update me on their children. Other clients will come back to donate needed items or toys around the holidays. It happens all the time.

The success of A New Direction is in its ability to empower themselves and go back into the community.

It is the clients that spread the good word. Those who have traveled the journey to break the cycle of violence become advocates for others as they transform from victim, to survivor, to guide.”