Wheels For Women

Join us for a night of music to raise funds for the organization Wheels For Women!

When: Saturday, January 11th, 2020 at 6:30pm.

Where: Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60640 (Foster & Paulina)

No need to purchase tickets in advance. Donations ($15 recommended) will be taken at the door.

"Wheels for Women works in partnership with the Sakhi Shelter for victims of domestic violence in Kerala, India to provide shelter residents and community members with the training necessary to become licensed auto rickshaw drivers (like taxi drivers in the U.S.). Through this training, abused women and victims of the sex trade gain the job skills needed to work towards financial independence and away from their abusers.

In 2010 Professor Kathleen Mulligan traveled to Kerala, India as a Fulbright scholar ....  One night she was invited to teach a workshop at the Sakhi Shelter. At the end of the evening, Kathleen’s husband, David Studwell, asked the director of the shelter what they needed more than anything. “We need a vehicle”, she said. “We need a way to rescue desperate women in the middle of the night”. Out of that conversation Wheels for Women was born.  The money raised from benefit cabarets has purchased an additional auto rickshaw for the shelter and trained over twenty shelter residents as licensed auto rickshaw drivers. As Beena Sebastian, the director of the shelter says: 'Female auto rickshaw drivers are rare in India, but we are starting a revolution!'"