Palatine shelter's fundraising house raffle falls short

It was a lofty fundraiser that didn't pay off - and one they'll never try again.

Had everything gone perfectly, the Chicago Dream Home Raffle would have plugged a $500,000 hole for the not-for-profit organization Women in Need Growing Stronger.

Instead, ticket sales fell way short and nobody won the custom-built dream home. More importantly, WINGS is still stuck with a budget shortfall and now expects to reduce domestic violence services.

The Palatine-based agency has places for 120 women and children at an emergency domestic violence shelter in Rolling Meadows and 24 transitional homes and apartments in the Northwest suburbs.

WINGS now expects to reduce capacity - through attrition - to 90 places. Spokeswoman Sheila King emphasized that nobody will be asked to leave; spots just won't be filled.

King said demand for the $100 tickets was strong until the devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January. That combined with the economic mess at home all but halted sales.

"One goal was to expand and diversify our donor base, and the fundraiser accomplished that. But even the most affluent people are feeling tighter budgets," King said. "It was an unfortunate confluence of a natural disaster and the economy."

The grand-prize winner was to get the choice of providing a lot and getting a custom-built home worth $1.3 million or getting $1 million in cash.

While that didn't happen, WINGS maintains it fulfilled its legal obligations. The contest rules on the raffle Web site state that if less than 22,000 tickets were sold, all prizes would be awarded but the home, and the grand prize would instead be half of the proceeds after all the other prizes were awarded. E-mails were sent to ticket holders notifying them that was the case.

In the end, WINGS and fundraiser partners Homes for Hope and HomeAid Chicago sold about 5,000 tickets. About 200 people won prizes.

"We are very disappointed that we could not give away the largest prize, but gratified that we could award the other prizes promoted in this raffle," Executive Director Rebecca Darr said.

WINGS relies almost exclusively on private donations, except for a $9,000 grant the Illinois Attorney General's office has given the last four years.

Its $4 million operating budget will be cut to $3.5 million starting July 1. The Rolling Meadows safe house alone costs $1 million to run annually.

Looking ahead, WINGS has several fundraising events on tap including a luncheon featuring domestic violence survivor and advocate Carolyn Cox on Friday, April 30, at Makray Golf Club in Barrington.

WINGS also accepts donations made in honor of a special woman as a way to celebrate Mother's Day and sends a card on behalf of the donor.

"WINGS needs the support of the community more than ever," Darr said.

For details, go to wingsprogram.com.