{"id":30562,"date":"2016-02-17T17:02:30","date_gmt":"2016-02-17T23:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=30562"},"modified":"2016-02-18T09:03:32","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T15:03:32","slug":"new-wings-metro-womens-shelter-opens-on-southwest-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/new-wings-metro-womens-shelter-opens-on-southwest-side\/","title":{"rendered":"New WINGS Metro women&#8217;s shelter opens on Southwest Side"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Text by Elyse Samuels<br \/>\nAudio by Jenny Lee<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"City opens first new domestic violence shelter in over a decade by MedillReports\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?visual=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F247592697&#038;show_artwork=true&#038;maxwidth=800&#038;maxheight=1000&#038;dnt=1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">\u201cTo have something that can save other women\u2019s lives,\u201d Amanda Sexton said referring to her mother\u2019s death, \u201cthat really means a lot to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amanda\u2019s mother, Brenda Sexton, was a Chicago police officer in the 9th Police District. She died at the hands of her abusive boyfriend 15 years ago. <\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>With tears in her eyes, Sexton attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of a new WINGS Metro shelter on the Southwest Side last week. The shelter, which includes a garden named in honor of her mother, is part of the WINGS Program, Inc., one of the largest non-profit organizations committed to fighting domestic violence in Chicago. <\/p>\n<p>This is the first domestic violence shelter to open in the city in over a decade. WINGS CEO Rebecca Darr said she hopes the shelter will help prevent more stories like Sexton\u2019s. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30580\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30580\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/Sexton-kids.jpg\" alt=\"Sexton-kids\" width=\"600\" height=\"402\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/Sexton-kids.jpg 600w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/Sexton-kids-300x201.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30580\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brenda Sexton&#8217;s five children attended the ceremony in honor of their mother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mayor Rahm Emanuel spoke at the ribbon cutting, citing the need for a larger focus on domestic violence issues and saying, \u201cIt\u2019s the Number One phone call to 911.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>When asked why it has taken so long to open a women\u2019s shelter Darr\u2019s answer was simple.\u201cMoney.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cProjects like this typically don\u2019t happen,\u201d Darr said. \u201cIn many of the states, none of the state budget goes to support domestic violence. This facility alone will cost $1.2 million.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>This particular project had some unusual city support, including the donated building, which ironically was the old police station where Brenda Sexton worked. Additionally, the city contributed $1.8 million from a settlement in a 2013 lawsuit against the VIP\u2019s Gentleman\u2019s Club in Lincoln Park. Emanuel called the use for the money \u201cpoetic justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the end of his speech, Emanuel sighed with relief, \u201cNow, I\u2019ve accomplished my goal of getting through this speech without crying. I\u2019m proud of WINGS, I want them to keep on calling on us to be better angels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Purple is the official color representing the fight against domestic violence and is  symbolic of the military Purple Heart, which is given for valor. Mary Carollo is sewing the purple fabric from the ceremonial ribbons into a quilt for the center. VersAnnette Blackman, a domestic violence victim, spoke at the opening and created all of the art pieces that adorn the walls of the shelter. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30591\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30591\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/art.jpg\" alt=\"art\" width=\"600\" height=\"578\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/art.jpg 600w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/art-300x289.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30591\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">VersAnnette Blackman now uses her art to empower other domestic violence victims.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Blackman spent 10 months in a WINGS shelter in Palatine eight years ago with her two children, who were 8 and 10 at the time. In her greatest time of need, she explained, she had nowhere to go in the city before she found WINGS\u2019 suburban location. She said this shelter will add resources for women in the city. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDomestic violence is an issue that we can\u2019t afford not to respond to,\u201d Blackman said. \u201cSo here I am. Here we are. Mountains are moving. It&#8217;s a new day in Chicago\u2026this gives my heart so much joy.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The shelter officially opened on Valentine\u2019s Day and will host 20 women during the first month of operation. Ultimately the shelter will accommodate a total of 52 women. The City of Chicago predicts the shelter with 40 temporary beds, five apartments, counseling services, and general support will increase the city\u2019s capacity to help families by 35 percent. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that people come here and say, &#8216;wow this is really nice,&#8217;\u201d Blackman said. \u201cAnd they start to feel differently about themselves and what they can do and what they can expect. All the things you would want a woman in that situation to have, she\u2019ll get here.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Photo at top: Mayor Rahm Emanuel cuts ceremonial ribbon in opening of new WINGS&#8217; Metro shelter, the first in a decade. (Elyse Samuels\/MEDILL)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Text by Elyse Samuels Audio by Jenny Lee \u201cTo have something that can save other women\u2019s lives,\u201d Amanda Sexton said referring to her mother\u2019s death, \u201cthat really means a lot to us.\u201d Amanda\u2019s mother, Brenda Sexton, was a Chicago police officer in the 9th Police District. She died at the hands of her abusive boyfriend [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":30575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[585],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2016"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New WINGS Metro women&#039;s shelter opens on Southwest Side - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/new-wings-metro-womens-shelter-opens-on-southwest-side\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New WINGS Metro women&#039;s shelter opens on Southwest Side - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Text by Elyse Samuels Audio by Jenny Lee \u201cTo have something that can save other women\u2019s lives,\u201d Amanda Sexton said referring to her mother\u2019s death, \u201cthat really means a lot to us.\u201d Amanda\u2019s mother, Brenda Sexton, was a Chicago police officer in the 9th Police District. 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