Two women from completely different worlds are proving that when you team up for a good cause, amazing things can happen.
One is 60-year-old Willette Benford, who spent nearly half her life — 24 years — behind bars in Illinois. She was released early thanks to changes in state law, but what she did with that freedom is what really makes her story remarkable.
While in prison, Benford did not waste time. She earned her GED, an associate’s degree, became an ordained minister, and took on the role of counselor for other inmates who needed support.
When she got out, she landed at Grace House, a nonprofit ministry that helps women transition out of prison with housing, counseling, and other essentials. From there, her life kept building momentum. She was hired as a legislative assistant for Chicago alderman Walter Burnett Jr., a role she calls proof of what is possible.
“I am what it looks like to give someone a fair chance,” Benford told CBS News Chicago, WBBM-TV 2. “Not a handout, but a hand up.”
That attitude caught the attention of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who appointed Benford as the city’s very first director of reentry. Her mission was to help people coming out of jail find stability, especially by changing how the city handled background checks so past convictions did not automatically shut people out of local jobs.
Her work did not just impress the mayor. Illinois First Lady M. K. Pritzker had been growing passionate about helping women after incarceration, and she first met Benford at Grace House. She kept tabs on her progress and, in 2023, offered her a role as senior advisor on women’s issues in her office.
“She brings an intelligence and a vigor to this work that I do not think anybody else could do,” Pritzker told CBS. “I believe in Willette and I think there is good in every person, and there is a whole lot of good in Willette.”
Now these two women — one who spent decades in prison, the other married to the governor — are teaming up to make sure other women get the same second chances Benford had. Their focus is on breaking down barriers to housing, employment, and mental health care for women leaving the prison system.
Next up is a pilot program that will offer 100 recently released women access to childcare, housing, and job training — a combination that could completely change the trajectory of their lives.
For Pritzker, the lesson is simple but powerful. “You know, the lesson is you just really should not judge people,” she said. “You need to give people grace, and it is really amazing what two women from two completely different backgrounds can do when they join forces.”
Because of their work, more women in Illinois will soon have a real shot at rewriting their stories, just like Willette Benford did. And if these two women are any example, sometimes the most unexpected partnerships can spark the biggest change.