WINGS Fiscal Year 2024 in Review

Spreading Our WINGS

This past year WINGS President & CEO Rebecca Darr recognized 25 years of being at the helm of WINGS and received numerous accolades, including a National Purple Ribbon Award for Nonprofit Executive of the Year. Additionally, WINGS had many achievements: opened the new Foglia Family Resource Center, began a new Brain Injury Collaboration, and honored 11 graduates of WINGS housing programs. Learn more about WINGS Fiscal Year 2024 in Review.

Recognizing the Need

In 2023, the statewide Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline received a significant increase in requests for domestic violence shelters.

• In 2023, 5,883 contacts to the Illinois Hotline were in need of domestic violence shelters in Chicago, representing a 43% increase over 2022.

• Statewide there were 23,855 contacts for domestic violence shelters, a 45% increase over the previous year.

• For a third of the year, 124 days, there were no beds or cribs available in Chicago domestic violence shelters.
  • This represents a 29% increase over 2022

Rebecca Darr spoke to ABC News Chicago about the alarming statistics. She shared, “When someone is fleeing domestic violence, that is the most dangerous time for them. [A time] when they are most likely going to be hurt or killed, because the abuser is losing control over them…I think people are realizing that if they are with someone who is threatening to kill them, that threat is real.”

Program Highlights

WINGS Safe Houses

WINGS Safe Houses provide crucial shelter in areas where domestic violence services are in great need. The agency’s Suburban Safe House is the only domestic violence shelter in northwest Cook County and WINGS Metro is one of only a handful of domestic violence shelters in the city of Chicago.

Open 24 hours, WINGS Safe Houses provide critical emergency shelter as well as resources for stability.

In FY2024, WINGS Safe Houses served 371 survivors including 212 children with 24,700 nights of shelter.

Of Safe House clients completing an exit survey:

• 91% reported feeling safe.
• 90% felt more knowledgeable of community resources.
• 72% felt more financially stable.
• 87% moved to more secure housing including homeownership, private housing, public housing, family/friends, or WINGS Transitional Housing program.

Housing Programs

In FY2024, WINGS Housing Programs served 387 survivors, including 247 children, with 82,324 nights of housing.

WINGS has a large variety of housing programs including:

• Shared Living – Two to three families living in a residence at no cost for up to six months. WINGS operates three shared living homes in Palatine, Park Ridge and Schaumburg.
• Transitional Housing – Households stay in WINGS leased transitional apartments for up to two years. Clients pay 30% of their adjusted gross income to offset expenses.
  • 83% of Transitional Housing clients reported moving to more stable housing when exiting the program.
• Permanent Supportive Housing – WINGS has 8 long-term residences for survivors who have a documented disability.
• Neighborhood Stabilization Program – A low-income housing program where households pay for utilities and rent under market value levels.
• Rapid Rehousing – WINGS has 55 Rapid Rehousing units citywide and 40 units throughout the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago.
  • 96% of Rapid Rehousing survivors completing an exit survey reported moving to more stable housing when exiting the program.

Celebration of Courage

This summer, WINGS held its annual Celebration of Courage through a virtual event. Eleven graduates of WINGS Housing programs and their children were recognized.

Several graduates sent in uplifting videos reflecting on their time at WINGS. Hearing from clients directly in their own words about the journey with WINGS was inspiring.

• Many mentioned initially feeling nervous or broken when they first came to WINGS.
• Most shared specific examples of how and who at WINGS has helped them.
• All shared gratitude for WINGS and radiated optimism.

WINGS staff describing graduates at the Celebration of Courage.

Community Based Services

This year WINGS Community Based Services served 463 survivors, including 34 children.

• New! – Foglia Family Resource Center – In FY2024, the Foglia Family Resource Center (FFRC) opened its doors to serve adult, teen and child survivors in the community. WINGS FFRC provides a wide range of free, trauma-informed support services in English or Spanish as well as virtual or in-person. Qualified professionals provide a number of services at the FFRC including domestic violence education, safety planning, individual counseling, support groups and more. Read more here.
• Hospital Partnerships – WINGS staff educates healthcare professionals about domestic violence and offers bedside safety planning, counseling, and referrals to patients.
  • FY2024 this program served 75 survivors and trained 827 medical professionals and community members.
  • This year WINGS began pioneering a coordinated response for survivors recovering from brain injuries. WINGS and nine partner agencies are working with local hospitals to create a toolkit and develop procedures for domestic violence survivors recovering from brain injuries. Learn more here.
• Survivor Lifeline – Survivor mentors are matched with survivors moving from domestic violence shelters into housing. Forming a connection to a mentor with shared experiences, clients are linked to resources, assisted with budgets to maintain housing, and supported in their career aspirations.
  • Over FY2024, Survivor Lifeline provided mentors to 82 survivors.
  • Learn more here!
• ALAS (Advocating for Latinas Achieving Self-Sufficiency) – Volunteer mentors serve Latinx clients in a culturally competent manner and provide on-site collaborations with local health and human services, police departments and schools. FY2024 this program served 12 survivors.
• A New Direction – Community-based domestic violence counseling, legal advocacy, and referrals based in the Chicago neighborhoods of Beverly/Morgan Park.
  • Over FY2024, AND served 46 survivors and provided 984 hours of service.
  • Learn more here!

Children and Family Services

Did you know that in 2022 there was a 106% increase in requests for children’s services to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline over the prior year? In response to this increased need, over the last two years WINGS has continued to grow the Children and Family Services Program through hiring more exceptional staff, providing Teen Dating Violence Education to youth, and offering counseling and support groups to youth in the community through the new Foglia Family Resource Center (FFRC).

WINGS Children and Family Services program provides a continuum of services to children recovering from the trauma of domestic violence. Over FY2024, WINGS served 493 children.

Outcomes

• 97% of guardians attending Parenting Groups reported learning new skills and 96% surveyed reported that they would use the information and skills that they learned.
• 96% of children were able to identify two actions to take to feel safe
• 91% of children reported they understood the violence that occurred in their family was not their fault.

Honoring 25 Years

This year marks the 25^th year of Rebecca Darr leading WINGS Program, Inc. Growing the agency from $350,000 to over $12 million, Rebecca Darr has led WINGS through numerous program expansions. Starting in January, Rebecca held monthly gatherings to commemorate agency milestones and service expansions. Celebrations were held in Des Plaines, Chicago, Rolling Meadows, WINGS Resale fashion show and more.

Over the course of the year, Rebecca received numerous honors. She received a National Purple Ribbon Award for Nonprofit Executive of the Year, a House Resolution by Representative Brad Stephens, a Senate Certificate of Recognition from State Senator Laura Murphy, and a key to Hoffman Estates from Mayor William McLeod.

“Rebecca’s leadership over the last 25 years has driven WINGS to be the amazing organization it is today. The heart and passion that Rebecca has dedicated to WINGS mission has had a tremendous impact that I am truly in awe of. The execution of her vision has made a difference in the lives of many, turning vulnerability into hope, strength, and confidence. It is exciting to witness Rebecca’s vision continue to evolve as WINGS continues to grow,” WINGS Board Chair, Ellaine Sambo-Reyther shares.

Rebecca Darr holds a House Resolution from Brad Stephens. From left: Rebecca Darr, WINGS President & CEO; Representative Brad Stephens; Ellaine Sambo-Reyther, WINGS Board of Directors Chair.

Awards

Over FY2024, WINGS received two national Purple Ribbon Awards from DomesticShelters.org:

Spring 2024:

• Executive of the Year – Rebecca Darr
• Outstanding Fundraising Event – Sweet Home Chicago

To be considered, agencies complete applications in specific categories. The judging panel consists of reviewers who work in or with domestic violence agencies. Learn more here.

Thank You to our Community of Supporters!

We could not achieve these outcomes, without our dedicated staff, financial supporters, volunteers, in-kind donors and more!

Interested in ways you can make a difference in a survivor’s journey to freedom?