Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault Partners with Endeavor Health

Northwest CASA (Center Against Sexual Assault) is proud to announce its selection as a partner in Endeavor Health's 2025 Community Investment Fund (CIF). Northwest CASA has been awarded $500,000 over a two-year duration to purchase and renovate a new building, expand its trauma-informed services, increase staff, and volunteer capacity, and implement support groups for vulnerable communities.

The new space will also feature a modernized training room for presentations to partners, positioning the building as a healing center for the community.

“Each year there is greater demand for our services. We have outgrown our rental space and are eager to purchase a healing space to address the diverse needs of survivors. Additional space allows us to grow our staff, intern, and volunteer programs,” explained Carrie Estrada, LCSW, Executive Director, Northwest CASA.

Estrada emphasizes that the additional space provides access to greater programming such as group work, a training space and community space for our Young Ambassador teens to get more involved with our mission. “Our ultimate goal is to be able to provide these services on demand and without a waitlist for such vital services,” she added.

Creating a Far More Comprehensive Healing Center

“Having diverse programming will allow survivors to heal in ways specific to their journey. Having proper space allows Northwest CASA to provide on demand services and additional community resources. We are humbled by this opportunity and are eager to bring FREE high-quality services to our community of survivors. We understand the assignment and will work diligently with our many community partners to end sexual violence.” Estrada explained.

Endeavor Health selected Northwest CASA as one of forty-four local organizations across the Chicagoland area to collaborate on programs focused on behavioral health, food and housing insecurity and access to care.

“At the heart of the Community Investment Fund is our role as a convener, connecting organizations and fostering partnerships that amplify their collective impact,” said Kristen Murtos, Chief Innovation & Transformation Officer at Endeavor Health.

“By bringing together diverse community groups, we don’t just fund projects—we create opportunities for collaboration that drive innovation, spark new ideas and deliver solutions that are greater than the sum of the parts,” she added.

Northwest CASA has a long history supporting the Endeavor Health community. It provides medical advocacy at Northwest Community, Glenview, Skokie, and Evanston Hospitals. Northwest CASA works to address the pervasive challenge of sexual violence in the Chicagoland suburbs, which significantly impacts the mental and physical health of all those in our community. Survivors who experience sexual violence often face long-term consequences, including trauma, depression, anxiety, physical injuries, and barriers to accessing healthcare.

About Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault

Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault (Northwest CASA), was formed in 1975 by volunteers to establish victim centered services and community education for sexual assault (SA) survivors. NWCASA’s mission is to empower individuals impacted by sexual harm and engage communities to end sexual violence.

NWCASA accomplishes this by providing crisis intervention and free counseling services to victims/survivors and their significant others; medical and criminal justice advocacy; education and prevention groups; assuring services are available in underserved populations.

Counseling is provided to individuals, families and in groups; is available free of charge and in English and Spanish. Crisis intervention, medical and criminal justice advocacy services are available 24/7 through a crisis hotline. Education and training are provided to the community including first responders to sexual assault.

For more information about Northwest CASA, located in Arlington Heights, and its efforts in ending sexual violence, please visit www.nwcasa.org . To learn more about Endeavor Health’s Community Investment Fund, visit endeavorhealth.org/cif.

About Endeavor Health

Endeavor Health℠ is a Chicagoland-based integrated health system driven by our mission to help everyone in our communities be their best. As Illinois’ third-largest health system and third-largest medical group, we proudly serve an area of more than 4.2 million residents across seven northeast Illinois counties.

Our more than 27,600 team members, including more than 1,700 employed physicians, are the heart of our organization, delivering seamless access to personalized, pioneering, world-class patient care across more than 300 ambulatory locations and nine hospitals, including eight Magnet-recognized acute care hospitals – Edward (Naperville), Elmhurst, Evanston, Glenbrook (Glenview), Highland Park, Northwest Community (Arlington Heights), Skokie and Swedish (Chicago) and Linden Oaks Behavioral Health Hospital (Naperville).