Northwest CASA announces first Film and Wine Festival on April 25
Community residents are invited to help make history with the staff and friends of Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault (NWCASA) at the inaugural Northwest CASA Film and Wine Festival from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, April 25.
The Film and Wine Festival fundraising event will be held at the Buffalo Grove Park District Community Arts Center, 225 McHenry Road, Buffalo Grove.
For information and to purchase tickets visit, secure.givelively.org/event/northwest-center-against-sexual-assault/northwest-casa-film-and-wine-festival-2024
“Join in this momentous occasion and be part of a groundbreaking event celebrating film, community, and support for survivors,” said Carrie Estrada, executive director, NWCASA, based in Arlington Heights with a satellite office located in McHenry.
“Attendees will enjoy an evening of cinema created by women, about women, yet for all to enjoy. This selection of diverse short films was carefully chosen by the dedicated Northwest CASA team who support survivors in your community every day,” Estrada added.
The $75 admission ticket grants access to all film screenings, hors d’oeuvres, wine, a silent auction, spirited intermissions and immeasurable inspiration.
All event proceeds support the NWCASA’s mission in the community to empower individuals impacted by sexual harm and engage communities to end sexual violence.
For information, contact Kristen Barry at NWCASA at kbarry@nwcasa.org or visit nwcasa.org.
The month of April is “Sexual Assault Awareness Month” and is important for raising awareness about the prevalence of sexual violence, empowering survivors to share their stories, promoting prevention efforts, advocating for policy change, fostering community engagement, and highlighting support services, like NWCASA, for survivors. It serves as a crucial platform for education, empowerment, and action against sexual violence.
NWCASA’s need for funding as critical as ever.
Estrada points out, “We need our community to know it was February, 2023, we found out the devastating news that one of our largest federal grants funding sexual assault services in Illinois received a statewide cut of $9 million. The demand for our services is too great to lose local resources when we already have a growing waitlist for counseling services and our advocates are working around the clock.”
“We receive hundreds of hotline calls a year, and last year we were dispatched to the hospital for medical advocacy 395 times. Now is not the time for our community to lose these critical resources,” Estrada emphasized. “The funding deficit and resulting reduction of needed services directly harms survivors impacted by sexual violence which will impact the local community.”
NWCASA is the only comprehensive sexual assault agency that provides free services to survivors of sexual harm and their loved ones within the North and Northwest suburbs of Cook County and McHenry County.
NWCASA has been responding to the needs of survivors of sexual violence and their significant others for more than 40 years. NWCASA is a not-for-profit 501 c (3) organization.
A 24 hour/seven day a week sexual assault trauma crisis hotline is available: (888) 802-8890. N
WCASA is a governing body member of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
For information and to donate, visit nwcasa.org.
For further information, contact Carrie Estrada, executive director at cestrada@nwcasa.org or call (847) 806-6526, ext. 140.
NWCASA is at 415 W. Golf Road, Suite 47, in Arlington Heights.