Women of Distinction Magazine Selects Debra Vines as a Distinguished Professional in Her Field

    FOREST PARK, IL, March 20, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Debra Vines, Founder, Executive Director, The Answer Inc. Autism Awareness and Support Agency, has been recognized as a Distinguished Professional in her field through Women of Distinction Magazine. Debra Vines will be featured in Women of Distinction Magazine in 2016.

Founder and Executive Director of The Answers, Inc., Autism and Support Agency, Debra Vines has been bringing autism awareness to her community for eight years. Founded in 2007, she wanted to really make a difference. Advocating for families in the Capitol, she also raises funds to keep her non-profit open and their resources available. Planning and executing various fundraisers throughout the year, she also handles case management, creates programs for participants by autism/developmental disorders, builds policies, and provides resources, training courses for first responders, and IEP support.

"I wanted to use my expertise to help other families suffering in silence," Vines said, whose community had very little resources at the time. "I also wanted to bring the much needed awareness to the community-at-large. To see a family that we have serviced grow in their journey to help yet another family is worth all the effort."

Vines' son, Jason, was directly impacted by autism, and serves as her inspiration to make change. Having partnered with several renowned agencies over the years to help break the stigma that is often attached to autism, Vines and her team has worked with TAP, Seguin Services, Provison School for Exceptional Children, and Opportunity Knocks, to name a few. The Answer Inc. also hosted the very first Autism Walk-A-Thon in Proviso Township to sponsor program participants to a weeklong horseback riding camp and raise awareness. They've also sponsored 250 children and adults from ages 7 to 50 thus far.

The Autism Inc. has appeared on Comcast Community Essentials, in segments on Channel 7 News, on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, as well as many other local radio stations promoting autism, and in numerous newspapers, including the West Suburban Journal, the Pioneer Press, the Suburban Journal, the Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune.

Vines was honored with The Fred Hampton Scholarship Award, Women Ambassadors of Christ Award, Women's Treatment Center Rising Star Award, Proviso Community Crisis Committee Award, Keiche Cafe Mother of the Year Award, and Hillside Commission Dr. Martin Luther King Dream Award. She served on the 4th District Assistant Majority Leader Senator Kimberly Lightford's Women Committee, as a Co-Coordinator for Operation Safe Child, as a Peer Reviewer for the Department of Defense for Autism, as a Committee Member of Autism of Illinois TASC FORCE, has served on the board for Youth On The Move, and as Founder and Facilitator of Bullying is Not The Answer, all of which either directly or indirectly affect children or children with autism. Vines has been so instrumental in her community that she was named the first African American woman to start an agency for autism in Proviso Township, Illinois. Her agency has been so successful that they were able to write and pass a bill in 2015 relating to the Priority Urgency of Needs (SB226), or PUNS, a statewide database that records information about individuals with developmental disabilities who are potentially in need of services. The State uses the data to select individuals for services as funding becomes available, to develop proposals and materials for budgeting, and to plan for future needs.

Recently, Vines began hosting The Answer Inc. Show, a monthly show on Public Access Television to publicize resources and education from guests specifically in the autism/special needs field.

About Women of Distinction Magazine:
Women of Distinction Magazine strives to continually bring the very best out in each article published and highlight Women of Distinction. Women of Distinction Magazine's mission is to have a platform where women can grow, inspire, empower, educate and encourage professionals from any industry by sharing stories of courage and success.

Contact:
Women of Distinction Magazine, Melville, NY
631-465-9024 [email protected]

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