Domestic Violence Shelter Planned for Chicago Lawn

A new domestic violence shelter is scheduled to open in June 2014 and will be located on the city’s Southwest Side in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. At least 10 permanent housing units will be built on-site to provide necessary affordable housing when victims are ready to leave the shelter. The project will also include an income generating business such as a resale shop or coffee shop on the first floor which can also serve as an employment training site.
A new domestic violence shelter is scheduled to open in June 2014 and will be located on the city’s Southwest Side in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. At least 10 permanent housing units will be built on-site to provide necessary affordable housing when victims are ready to leave the shelter. The project will also include an income generating business such as a resale shop or coffee shop on the first floor which can also serve as an employment training site.
Photo By: City of Chicago Image

By Deborah Bayliss

A $4.2 million dollar domestic violence shelter is planned for the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. The City of Chicago will contribute $1.8 million generated from the VIP Gentleman’s Club lawsuit settlement.

The City claimed in the lawsuit that VIP disregarded for several years, an ordinance on how much skin dancers could expose while performing. The club argued that the ordinance was unconstitutional and that their dancers caused no harm to the public. Prior to the settlement, the City had been in a 19-year battle to shut down VIP, Chicago’s only topless bar.

“Domestic violence is an issue that few want to talk about, but we must address because victims should not have to suffer in silence,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “It is important that women and families have the support they need to turn the page and take the next step forward in their lives.”

Emanuel recently announced details for the first expansion in the number of domestic violence shelters in Chicago in more than a decade.

Scheduled to open June 2014, the new shelter called “WINGS Metro,” is a partnership effort between Women in Need Growing Stronger (WINGS), Metropolitan Family Services, and the Greater Southwest Development Corporation, and will serve as many as 100 families in its first full year of operation and is expected to increase the number of available beds in Chicago by almost 36 percent, taking the overall number from 112 to 152.

“We will significantly add to the range of resources available in Chicago through this new shelter and provide additional funding for court advocacy services so that women and their families,” said Emanuel.

At least 10 permanent housing units will be built on-site to provide affordable housing when victims are ready to leave the shelter. The project will also include an income generating business such as a resale or coffee shop on the first floor which will also serve as an employment training site.

“As a champion of domestic violence victims’ rights, Mayor Emanuel called on the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) to come up with a solution to increase the number of available beds in the City of Chicago,” said DFSS Commissioner Evelyn Diaz.

“WINGS Metro is proud to partner with the City of Chicago on this unique collaboration to create a new safe, comfortable environment of Domestic Violence victims,” said Rebecca Darr, WINGS Executive Director.

As Chicago’s first suite-based domestic violence shelter, WINGS Metro design is expected to increase client privacy and promote a more harmonious existence between families.

“This shelter and housing program, using an innovative model and working with local experts, promises to be a welcome relief to survivors in Chicago,” said Kim Gandy, President and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

Mayor Emanuel also announced the City will invest $123,000 to provide court advocates assisting an additional 1,500 this year to victims of domestic violence as they go through the legal proceedings related to their cases.

“We applaud the Mayor’s support for additional court advocates to help domestic violence victims achieve safety through the legal system and hold more domestic abusers accountable,” said Dawn Dalton, Executive Director of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network. “More and more victims of domestic violence will now go to court and seek justice because they will know that the people with the knowledge to assist them will be there for them.”

Additionally, the City will also donate $500,000 worth of vacant city land to the project to house the development. The partnership that will handle construction and implementation of the shelter is actively fundraising to provide close to $3 million in the remaining funds.

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