Organizations

Youth Outreach Services

Youth Outreach Services promotes the strengths and abilities of youth and families by providing community-based services that empower and enrich each to face life’s challenges with confidence, competence and dignity.

YOUth Can Chicago

YOUth CAN Chicago’s mission is to intervene in the lives of low income youth in the community by enriching their academic, cultural and social development through academic assistance, computer technology, art, entrepreneurship and music programs. YOUth CAN strengthen the self-preservation skills of community youth by giving them the tools necessary for success.  “Discovering the potential in YOU!”

Students learn entrepreneurship by developing, creating, marketing and selling the products they create.

Yoga Gardens

Yoga Gardens NFP is a women founded not-for -profit organization which began in Chicago. Our goal is to aid and uplift communities in impoverished Chicago neighborhoods by teaching & practicing peace, and by making healthy and nutritious foods available. Through yoga, meditation, healthier food options, and beautifying the neighborhood, we relieve stress and disease in areas where these difficulties are most prevalent. We revitalize vacant lots in developing residential areas, which often accumulate garbage, attract criminal activity, and ultimately become a burden on the residents. Yoga Gardens transforms each lot into a thriving yoga & gardening community space.

Westside Health Authority

Westside Health Authority serves the Austin neighborhood and the greater Westside of Chicago. WHA’s mission is to use the capacity of local residents to improve the health and well-being of the community. For WHA, health is defined broadly to include the social and physical environment which contributes to the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of a person. It also includes relationships with family, friends and neighbors, and the ability to find stable employment. Though focused on serving the West Side, WHA serves communities throughout Chicago.

UCAN Chicago

UCAN strives to build strong youth and families through compassionate healing, education and empowerment. UCAN operates under the cornerstones of a consistent presence, meaningful programming and unrivaled diversity. UCAN serves over 13,000 at-risk children, youth and families across Illinois through more than 30 programs that create a healing process for youth who have experienced trauma and provide a continuum of care.

Open Books

Open Books’ mission is to transform lives through reading, writing, and the GIVING power of used books.

Each year, Open Books and our corps of volunteers bring joyful experiences to 6,000 children through our literacy programs, which are designed to boost confidence, help students see themselves as readers and writers, and provide them with access to books.

Every writing program also provides students with an opportunity to become published authors. Through our book granting programs, we donate more than 150,000 books to children, families, and under-resourced communities across Chicagoland.

Mothers and Men Against Senseless Killings (MASK)

MASK’s history/mission: MASK was established in 2015 as a way to put eyes on the streets, interrupt violence and crime, and teach children to grow up as friends rather than enemies. A group of caring individuals in the community began to simply hang out on the block, cook food, and emanate love. Our presence was felt. People began to notice neighbors were watching out for each other, and it was contagious. Now this method of injecting good vibes in troubled areas is catching on in more communities. Our primary mission is to build stronger communities through a focus on violence prevention, food insecurity, and housing. Additionally, MASK partners to ensure that community members have access to necessary city services, opportunities for education & professional skills growth, and economic development. If you wish to donate money, please know we are a 501(c)3, EIN: 81-3209025, and donations are tax deductible. Your gift will be used directly in support of feeding our communities, summer programming, back to school drives, holiday events, and the Lot in Englewood, Chicago. MASK is currently working in the following Chicago neighborhoods: Englewood/Hyde Park/Lawndale.