With the help of thousands of donors, volunteers and staff, WINGS offers its services to men, women, and families that are survivors of domestic violence. WINGS does this in a myriad of ways, but it mainly accomplishes this goal through its housing program. WINGS safe houses, shared transitional homes, and permanent houses help tens of thousands of survivors each year. And while both shelters are in the greater Chicago area, the shelters cater to a large variety of people. Since I’ve begun my internship, we have received guests from Illinois, the Midwest, New York, and Arizona; as WINGS is one of the few domestic violence agencies in the Midwest that is large enough to offer housing services to men (and boys older than thirteen that might be fleeing with parents) along with women.
No one knows better the direction of WINGS than CEO Rebecca Darr who came to speak at our final day of training. With the opening of WINGS Metro last Valentine’s Day, WINGS became one of the largest domestic violence service and housing provider in the state of Illinois. And, while Darr hopes that WINGS will expand into cities all over the country, she truly wishes that her job ultimately becomes negligible as domestic violence becomes a thing of the past.
Though we are a long way from eradicating domestic violence, WINGS does what it can to help those in all forms of domestic violence situations. For those staying in the shelter, WINGS staff provide intakes, program referrals, phones through Verizon’s Project HopeLine, mechanical services through an affiliated church program, legal advice, a safety plan, and a plethora of other services. For those who use the WINGS hotline and who are alumni of the WINGS program, many of the same services are provided. Safety Plans are perhaps one of the most important services that WINGS provides. Guests along with various staff members collaborate together to create emergency plans for a multitude of different scenarios. Even if a victim is not ready to flee their abuser or they have successfully gone through WINGS’s entire housing program, they still create a safety plan because one never knows what scenario they can be found in as victims and survivors. WINGS also does outreach work in the community trying to educate men, women, and teens about domestic violence and dating violence.
Summer Camp primarily focuses on the children and how we can provide them with a safe space in which they can interact with peers and have fun. We do this through a variety of activities that stimulate conversation, movement, and thought. Many kids in the camp have never had experiences that are considered “normal” such as a celebrated birthday or watching fireworks on the Fourth of July. Thus, one of my favorite parts of camp is coming up with new, fun activities that the kids can then take with them and do themselves. At the end of each day of camp we do a different craft, showing the children what they can create when they put their minds to it. One child, Brad*, is oftentimes unresponsive and lashes out without notice, but when it comes time for craft he is actively engaged in creating a work of art for both himself and his mother. Creating a paper plate pirate ship is a big deal to some of the kids who have never made anything for themselves in their lives. I love being able to provide them with new experiences and activities, and—if I get to make a pirate ship or two along the way— I’m a happy camper.
Additional information, statistics, and facts about domestic violence can be accessed here.