The efforts of a Palatine-based charity for victims of domestic violence were boosted with a $250,000 donation to build a cafe and career center at a new shelter on the Southwest Side of Chicago.
Grammy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson helped celebrate the donation to WINGS from Verizon.
WINGS provides a 45-bed emergency shelter in Rolling Meadows and a variety of services for victims of domestic violence and now will open a 40-bed shelter called WINGS Metro.
“They [victims] don’t pay for anything,” said Rebecca Darr, chief executive officer of WINGS. “We take care of all their needs,” including clothes, food and counseling, securing orders of protection and jobs.
Darr said WINGS Metro is scheduled to open in the spring or summer.
“We are extremely speechless and appreciative,” she said of the donation and celebrity endorsement.
WINGS also operates a home in Palatine that can house three to four families at a time for up to six months and a resale store with proceeds funding the programs.
“We’ll take them from anywhere in the country if they can get to us,” Darr said.