Resilience
Monica Watson is an experienced patient advocate with a focus on providing medical and legal support to survivors of rape at Rape Victim Advocates since November 2016. In addition to advocacy work, Monica has been employed as an operations associate at Trunk Club since July 2015, where responsibilities include managing inventory and product organization. Previous roles include line cook positions at Giordano's and Einstein Bros, along with internship experience at the Human Rights Campaign. Monica also has experience in food preparation at Aramark/Scotland Yard and served as a teacher's aide at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning. Educational qualifications include a Master of Arts in Written Communication from National Louis University and a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Monmouth College.
Resilience
Resilience (formerly RVA) is an Illinois not-for-profit organization made up of many individuals with two primary goals: to assure that survivors of sexual assault are treated with dignity and compassion; and to affect changes in the way the legal system, medical institutions and society as a whole respond to survivors. Resilience focuses on both social service and social change. Through our presence in Chicago area emergency rooms, we provide nonjudgmental emotional support to victims of sexual violence, enabling them to become survivors. By providing basic legal and medical information, and referrals to other service organizations, we help the survivor make informed decisions. We also offer survivors continued support through telephone follow-up and our staff of counselors and legal advocates. Through these services, we enable survivors to regain control over their lives as quickly as possible. Through our work with the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and other area institutions, we strive to improve the treatment of survivors as a group in our society. Resilience offers three distinct program areas: Counseling (individual and group), Advocacy (legal and medical) and Education & Training.