+ Donations

One of the easiest ways for residents to support our new neighbors is dropping off donation items at the 1st Ward office. We are very fortunate to have the Migrant Welcome Center located in the 1st Ward, which is a “one-stop-shop” for families to enroll their children in school, receive vaccines, speak with a therapist, get referrals for any other resources, and ultimately get to leave with some much-needed survival supplies. To ensure that the Welcome Center can continue to run smoothly in supporting our new arrivals, we provide donations for the staff as well as for the migrant families who are receiving services there. Below is a list of items we generally have the highest need for:

For the Welcome Center:

• Paper towels
• Clorox Wipes
• Face Masks
• Standard white copy paper
• Post-its
• Highlighters

For the families:

• Any means of transportation for migrants (pick-up & drop off) to the Welcome Center (Uber/Lyft)
• Any kind of food/snacks, not including pantry items (parents have to wait for the process for about 3-4 hours, so tend to get hungry)
• Any healthy beverages or water (kids receive vaccines and need to drink fluids with sugar to recuperate)
• Any toys for children
• Hygiene items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.)
• Diapers and baby wipes
• Winter clothes/shoes for all ages, including adults
• Toilet paper
• Pads for women
• School supplies, including backpacks

Looking to donate an item that’s not listed here? Feel free to give our office a call to see if we can accept it!

+ Volunteer Opportunities

If you are interested in donating your time to help support our new arrival efforts, please see various opportunities below that are looking for additional volunteer assistance!

• Cradles to Crayons

  Cradles to Crayons provides children with the essential items they need to thrive including gently used or new clothing, school supplies, diapers, coats, hygiene products, and winter accessories. Recently, CPS has collaborated with Cradles to Crayons to meet the needs of new arrival children enrolled in schools.Distribution is managed by community partners. Volunteer opportunities include staffing donation drives, sorting items, and more.

• Share Our Space

  Share Our Spare is a community resource of essentials, education and advocacy for families living in poverty and the agencies that serve them. Share Our space works to fill the essential needs of Chicago area children from birth to age 5. Volunteer opportunities surround sorting items and quality-checking donations.

• The Resurrection Project

  The Resurrection Project (TRP) hosts Employment Authorization Document (EAD) & Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Clinic workshops every Tuesday - Friday in downtown Chicago. Over 260 non-profit legal service organization staff have volunteered for workshops, including 461 pro bono attorneys and paralegals. Volunteer opportunities include assisting new arrivals in preparing their immigration applications.

+ Housing

The vast majority of our new arrivals are currently staying at city-run shelters. The ultimate goal for these families is to acquire permanent housing, and there are a couple programs that they can tap into in order to help them achieve this goal. If you are a landlord looking to learn more about these programs, please connect with our office for more information and to help facilitate!

• Asylum Seeker Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ASERAP)

  • Any asylum-seeker that has been staying at one of the City-run shelters is eligible for ASERAP, a state-funded program that pays for 3 months rent (plus any move-in fee) for a family to be placed in housing. The landlord and Catholic Charities (the organization managing the implementation of this program) enter into an attestation stating that Catholic Charities will pay the landlord directly and upfront, and once all the paperwork is signed the family can move into the unit.
  • Fast-track program: In order to help expedite the process of signing a contract with a landlord, Catholic Charities and IHDA created a fast-track program that allows new arrivals to search for housing and landlords willing to participate in the program on their own. Please note that while families may do the initial outreach on their own, a case manager at the shelter must still draft the agreement and follow internal procedures for the funding to be released for that family. Volunteers are not eligible to do so.

• Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund (CLIHTF)

  • CLIHTF’s mission is to meet the permanent housing needs of Chicago’s very low-income residents. The Trust Fund assists residents living in poverty, with incomes not exceeding 30 percent of area median income, by providing well-maintained and affordable housing. Because they do not have any citizenship requirements of their tenants, they are a great option for new arrivals to establish themselves in housing. Unlike ASERAP above, CLIHTF enters into standard year-long contracts with landlords so provide added stability for both tenants and landlords.

+ Employment

NEW MIGRANT HIRING OPPORTUNITY:

State Job Training and Workforce Programs

This program will provide workforce and training services to underserved communities, particularly immigrants, migrants, and refugees who need the training to access employment or skill upgrades to advance in their employment. The workers must currently reside in Illinois and are eligible to work in Illinois at the completion of the program. All applicants must demonstrate partnerships with employers and educational entities to create local and regional strategies. Additionally, applicants should consider incorporating Barrier Reduction funding into the training strategy to support participant completion of training and retention in employment. Deadline: June 30, 2024

Are you a business owner looking to make a difference? Potentially the greatest impact you can have on a new arrival is creating an opportunity for employment and thus self-sufficiency. Please fill out the below form to let our office know if you would be willing to participate in any workforce development, employee training, or hiring opportunities for migrants.