2025 IMPACT REPORT
A LETTER FROM
THE PRESIDENT & CEO
This past year has been one of extraordinary momentum for The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence. Across every program, partnership, and community we touched, our mission to end gender-based violence and build a safer, more just Illinois came to life in powerful and measurable ways. The pages that follow reflect not only the depth of our work, but the collective strength of survivors, advocates, service providers, and partners who make this movement possible.
In 2025, we expanded our reach, deepened our impact, and advanced bold solutions to some of the most urgent challenges facing survivors today. From transformative policy victories and groundbreaking pilot initiatives to record setting financial assistance and unprecedented demand at the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline, our organization met rising needs with compassion, innovation, and unwavering resolve. We strengthened community partnerships, invested in emerging leaders, and built new pathways to safety, stability, and healing.
As we look ahead, our commitment remains steadfast. The challenges facing survivors are complex, but so is our collective power to meet them with courage, creativity, and care. With the continued partnership of our member organizations, supporters, and community leaders, The Network will keep pushing for policies that protect survivors, expanding programs that meet their most urgent needs, and building systems that honor their dignity and resilience. Together, we are shaping a future where safety is a right, not a privilege, and where every survivor has the resources and support to thrive.
Thank you for your support in 2025 and beyond.
Kindly,
 |
AMANDA PYRON President & CEO The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence |
WHO WE ARE
The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence is a collective of 56 partner organizations dedicated to improving the lives of those impacted by gender-based violence through education, public policy and advocacy, and connecting community members with direct service providers. The Network is on a mission to end gender-based violence in our homes, our communities, and our world.
Our organization’s work is rooted in understanding and compassionate guidance. We reach and support survivors directly through the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline; we serve our member organizations who work in this space through training and resources; and we advocate for policies and investments
that improve the lives of survivors and organizations who serve them.
2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sarah Rocher
Co-Chair
Sarah Suter Simon
Co-Chair
Rachael Brinker
Treasurer
Bonnie Noel
Secretary
Rebecca Darr
Anika Sterling Flores
Ji Hye Kim
Avon Lok
Matthew McKenna
Adam Murad
Noor Naseer
Jane Scudder
Olga Selina
Robert Skubic
Jelahn Stewart
Megha Trivedi
My mother, Julie Marie Elguezabal, was full of grace—beautiful, nurturing, and stronger than anyone ever knew. None of those words fully capture who she was. And using the word
was still breaks me. She was my mother, another woman murdered by her husband, another woman failed by the system.
She met my father in her twenties and had me at 30. I can’t remember a childhood without abuse. Like many women, she tried everything to fix her marriage—therapy, hope, silence, speaking up. The one thing she didn’t try until April 2024 was divorce. She planned her escape, found places to go, talked to lawyers. But every day she lived with threats from a man with guns, a record, and nothing to lose. Two weeks after she mentioned divorce, she was gone.
Domestic violence left my home a year ago, but not my life. I fight the effects of my childhood every day. I wish my dad had changed. I wish my mom had been protected. I wish my little sister could grow up with parents cheering her on at every milestone. Instead, our happiest days will always carry the weight of what happened.
This isn’t about my father—it’s about the failures that allowed this to happen. The police, the county, politicians, monitoring systems… all the people who promised she’d be safe. How many times was she failed? How many women have to be?
Change requires action: more safe housing, better education, better training, no more victim-blaming, and no more ignoring warning signs. Minding your own business can cost a life.blaming, and no more ignoring warning signs. Minding your own business can cost a life.
The Network’s Survivor Fund helped me when everything collapsed. I was still in high school, suddenly responsible for a home, bills, and my 15-year-old sister. I had no credit, no guidance, and nowhere to go. The fund kept us from losing our home and gave me time to breathe, to survive, to grow up while grieving.
Without it, I don’t know where I’d be. They gave me stability, support, and a chance at a future. My deepest gratitude goes to The Network and the Survivor Fund. Thank you.
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY
The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence partners with community-based organizations, direct service providers, and survivors to make local supports stronger, easier to access, and rooted in real needs.
With your support, we meet survivors where they are and elevate solutions that come from lived experience.
Through community events, trainings, advocacy, youth programs, and statewide partnerships, we raise awareness, dispel myths about domestic and dating violence, and amplify vital resources like the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline. By embedding prevention and support into the places people live, gather, and seek help, we ensure services are local, visible, and trusted.
This community-centered approach informs every project across The Network, so each initiative is built on accessibility, equity, and genuine community priorities.
“This year marked The Network’s second appearance at the women’s resource fair, Sábado de Poderosas—and it became a moment we won’t soon forget. As we greeted attendees, a community member approached our table with tears in her eyes and gratitude in her voice. Last year, we connected her with the Survivor Fund, which helped her leave an unsafe situation, and the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline guided her to counseling support.
Today, she told us she’s practicing yoga, finding her breath again, and showing up for support groups where she feels seen and supported. Her story is a powerful reminder of resilience—and of what can happen when a community comes together to lift someone up on their healing journey.”
ENSURING SURVIVORS CAN AFFORD SAFETY
As part of our efforts to be survivor-informed and survivor-centered, The Network created the Survivor Fund in 2020. Economic abuse affects 99% of survivors of gender-based violence, and financial instability is one of the biggest barriers to safety. The Network responds with a comprehensive suite of programs that combine emergency financial aid, housing advocacy, and long-term economic supports.
The Network runs the largest financial assistance program for survivors in the United States. Through the Survivor Fund, we deliver life-changing funding that helps survivors stay safe, housed, and independent.
Building on lessons from this work, The Network launched Affording Survival in July 2024 — a pilot guaranteeing 12 months of income, stable housing support, and financial coaching for 76 survivors and their children across Chicagoland. A full evaluation by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research will be released in 2026.
OUR HOUSING ADVOCACY WORK COMPLEMENTS THESE EFFORTS, SPANNING CRISIS INTERVENTION TO LONG-TERM AFFORDABLE HOUSING SOLUTIONS. IN 2025 THIS INCLUDED:
– A statewide training series and technical assistance workshops for providers;
– National technical assistance on VAWA protections;
– The Safe Homes Act Tool, giving survivors and advocates clear, accessible legal and housing guidance.
Together, these programs recognize that safety is more than leaving. It’s having the financial and housing stability to remain safe.
PROVIDING IMMEDIATE, ACCESSIBLE SUPPORT THROUGH THE ILLINOIS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE
The Network operates the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline, a free, 24/7, trauma-informed lifeline. Since expanding statewide in 2008, trained Victim Information and Referral Advocates (VIRAs) have answered more than 750,000 calls. In 2025, the Hotline was codified into statute thanks to The Network’s advocacy.
The Hotline offers safety planning, shelter and transportation coordination, and referrals to local providers, with language access in more than 240 languages. It is often the first connection that links survivors to the Survivor Fund, housing support, counseling, and local services—serving as a critical bridge across The Network’s support ecosystem.
“The support I received with this funding was nothing short of a blessing, and it was greatly appreciated. It eased a heavy financial burden during a difficult time and helped me not to return to the domestic violence situation I was recently in. It allowed me to focus on caring for my baby and working toward my goals without as much stress. During the time I had it, I was able to pay off a few things that were past due, and for that, I’m grateful!”
CREATING RESPONSIVE SYSTEMS
The Network’s work goes beyond direct services to reshape the systems that affect survivors’ lives, addressing immediate needs while working to remove the root causes of harm.
WITH ADVOCATES ACROSS ILLINOIS, THE NETWORK SECURED MAJOR POLICY WINS IN 2025 THAT STRENGTHENED PROTECTIONS FOR SURVIVORS, INCLUDING:
– The passage of Karina’s Law;
– Legislation providing relief for survivors burdened by coerced debt (effective January 2026);
– Expanded access to crisis assistance funding through the federal family violence option;
– Required gender-based violence training for the Prisoner Review Board and the creation of a Director of Victim Services.
At the same time, The Network bolstered the field with extensive training and technical assistance on topics such as GBV and sex work advocacy, accountability, trafficking and stalking, and cultural humility. This knowledge-sharing extended internationally through a partnership in Morocco focused on community-based responses to gender-based violence.
These responses also led The Network to launch the Intersections Project, which tackles the overlap between domestic violence and community violence. In pilot sites across Chicago, Baltimore, and Oakland, local coordinators are forging coordinated responses between DV providers and CV outreach teams, strengthening safety nets for survivors facing both forms of violence.
“An immigrant woman from Mexico, who worked dead-end jobs and survived an abusive husband, will now go on to save the lives of other domestic violence victims. Your name, Mom, outlives the man who spent his life trying to break you … But you won. And I will spend every day making sure the world knows it.”
“A VIRA took a late night call from a woman traveling with four young children, her voice strained with fear and exhaustion. She needed to reach a shelter, but with no transportation available and her phone barely working, she felt completely exposed.
When the shelter suggested she walk, the VIRA immediately recognized the danger. Expecting a mother to navigate unfamiliar streets at night with four small children was not safe. She advocated firmly for another option, refusing to let the family face unnecessary risk.
After persistent coordination, a Safe Ride was secured. The VIRA offered to stay on the line, but for the first time that night, the caller felt secure enough to continue on her own.
When she arrived at the shelter, relief washed over her. After a long day of uncertainty, she and her children finally had a safe place to rest. She expressed deep gratitude and said she would not hesitate to reach out to the ILDV Hotline again if she needed support in the future.”
MOBILIZING COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND AWARENESS
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT POWERS THE NETWORK’S MISSION THROUGH AWARENESS-BUILDING AND FUNDRAISING INITIATIVES.
– Run Domestic Violence Out of Town, The Network’s Chicago Marathon team, brought together 72 runners who raised nearly $150,000.
– The annual Leading Together Partnership Breakfast convened more than 200 supporters during Domestic Violence Awareness Month to celebrate collective progress, including the passage
of Karina’s Law.
– In March 2025, over 225 community members attended Reclaiming Our Love: Social Justice & Domestic Violence, The Network’s first in-person social justice conference, deepening
relationships and collective action across the movement.
These events and initiatives amplify survivor voices, broaden public understanding, and strengthen the community committed to ending gender-based violence, strengthening safety nets
for survivors facing both forms of violence.
“The speakers were amazing. Seriously, very profound and comprehensive on the subject. Both speakers seemed well-versed in the topic, but also knew so much about the subject at hand.”
JOIN THE WEAVING CIRCLE!
Monthly giving means we have the resources to be there for survivors every single day. It’s the most effective way to give. Select Monthly Recurring Gift on our donate page today!
“The funding I received from The Network has been a true lifeline. It enabled me to stay in the safety of my own apartment, which gave me the stability I needed to focus on my healing journey. This support has had an immeasurable impact on my emotional well-being, and I am in a much better place now than I have been in a long time. I am deeply grateful to my DV advocate for informing me about this opportunity. It made all the difference.”
