Every year, Southwest donates school supplies for children, Thanksgiving baskets, and funding, says Eloise Spencer, director of WellSpring. “We can always count on them,” she adds.
In his acceptance remarks, pastor Evan Goranson noted that domestic violence occurs in the church’s upscale neighborhood of Homer Glen, as it does in the impoverished neighborhood of Englewood on the south side of Chicago, where WellSpring is situated.
WellSpring offers a variety of services to its clients, including temporary shelter and counseling. “We given them their selves back,” Spencer says. “The domestic violence continues because they don’t think they’re worth anything.”
Spencer relates the story of a woman who benefited last week from training she had received at WellSpring. The husband broke into her house and began to choke her. Using skills she learned through the ministry, she was able to calm him down. When he ultimately fell asleep on the couch, she called police, who discovered the man was carrying a gun when they arrested him.
Southwest Covenant was one of six organizations or individuals honored during a special luncheon at Malcom X Community College. The keynote speaker was Carol L. Adams, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services. Local public television station WYCC-TV filmed the event, which will be part of a broadcast at a later date.
WellSpring operates under the guidance of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence of the Evangelical Covenant Church. For more information on combating domestic violence, visit the WellSpring website as well as the Advocacy for Victims of Abuse (AVA) website – the AVA program is sponsored by Women Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
