Western Illinois Regional Council-Community Action Agency (WIRC-CAA) Victim Services, a nonprofit crisis counseling agency, has promoted one of their own to serve in a leadership role. Alisha Eidson has been selected as the Associate Director of Victim Services, a new role for the growing agency.
Eidson has an extensive educational background in psychology and experience working with child sexual assault survivors. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Science in Experimental Psychology. She is currently working on her Master of Social Work degree, and expects to graduate in May 2024. Eidson joined the Victim Services team in 2019 as the Sexual Assault Child Counselor. In that role, she provided free counseling to children, and provided critical emotional support during the court process and sexual assault medical exams.
Eidson was promoted recently to her current supervisory role of Associate Director of Victim Services. She now assists the Victim Services Director, Debbie Collins, with managing the program and guiding program development.
Collins says she is thankful to have Eidson as a member of her team. “She has great leadership skills, a positive attitude, is a team player, and a great counselor,” said Collins. “She is a strong and smart individual who shows empathy, loyalty, and dedication as a person, employee, counselor, and advocate. We are truly lucky to have a leader like Alisha.”
Eidson is passionate about her career and helping survivors of abuse. “The most fulfilling parts of my job are assisting survivors through the healing process as well as supporting staff as they work with survivors,” said Eidson. “All of our services are free. Survivors are going through enough mentally and physically, and the cost of services is not something that they should be burdened with.”
WIRC-CAA Victim Services provides confidential crisis counseling and advocacy to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and/or stalking in multiple western Illinois counties. All services are free to survivors and their loved ones. If you have experienced abuse at any point in your life, call Victim Services’ 24/7 crisis hotline at 309-837-5555 to speak with a counselor or advocate.