Dear WINGS Family,

Each year, WINGS strives to serve more families than the previous year. As the incidence of domestic violence remains high, we all know we have to work harder than ever to bring awareness and resources to address the issue. The Board and staff worked hard to roll out a new 3-year Strategic Plan to outline the roadmap for growth, while maintaining excellence.

In the fall of 2021, WINGS hit a huge milestone of providing

1,000,000 nights of shelter!!!!

This amazing accomplishment was followed by the “promotion”☺ of Rita Canning to Board Chair Emeritus. Rita has been the driving force behind WINGS for 30 years giving endless hours to strategize ways to gain new donors and grow the organization. Through all of the years, she showed genuine care and concern for every survivor of domestic violence who entered our doors. She dreamed of a Safe House in the region of Chicago near her home and then made that dream come true. Her legacy lives in the many, many women, men and children who will be saved from a life of abuse. We are truly grateful for her kindness, leadership and unending support!

The year also revealed amazing wins in the advocacy of historic increased funding at the city and state levels and new federal funding. These increases have made it possible for WINGS to expand housing and services across the Chicago region resulting in a 65% increase in nights of shelter year over year!

To top it all off, WINGS was very honored to join forces with A New Direction, a 10-year domestic violence counseling agency in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago. This partnership will ensure that survivors of domestic violence in that region will have access to services and top-notch counseling services.

Thank you to everyone who made Fiscal Year 2022 one of the best years we have ever had at WINGS! 

Sincerely,
Rebecca Darr
President & CEO