Invest in the Community
The Community
Here at Park we believe in order to fulfill our vision of renewing the city, we must be invested in our community. We partner with several organizations in the city to give you as many opportunities as possible.
Breakthrough Urban Ministries
Breakthrough operates two homeless shelters on Chicago’s west side, one for homeless men and one for homeless women. Together, the two shelters serve nearly 1,000 homeless adults each year, provide 24,000 nights of shelter, serve over 70,000 meals, distribute 10,000 bags of groceries to low-income families in the neighborhood, and offer employment training, on-site health care, and addictions counseling to hundreds of homeless individuals each year.
Breakthrough also partners with families to surround young people with role models and a caring environment encompassing the whole age range from toddlers to teenagers. Breakthrough offers an after school program that provides academic enrichment, as well as a sports and fitness program that engages young athletes in year-round sports leagues while teaching sportsmanship, leadership, healthy lifestyles and spiritual development.
We welcome new volunteers to partner with us in our ministry to overcome poverty, addiction, and isolation in our community.
Manna Ministry-Great for Small Groups
Tutoring
Life Transforming Skills
Street Outreach
Pre-School Teaching
Coaching
Fresh Market
More Information:
Contact Amy Duesing at or 773.722.1144 ext. 271 or fill out the Breakthrough volunteer form to get started.
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By The Hand Club For Kids
By The Hand is an after-school program with an emphasis on academics and a commitment to nurturing the whole child—mind, body and soul. Founded in Cabrini-Green and located strategically throughout some of Chicago's most impoverished inner-city communities, where overcrowded and underfunded schools abound, By The Hand is filling a special need—and with great success. Kids are saying no to drugs, gang violence and teenage pregnancy. They are rejecting illiteracy and poverty as a way of life. Instead, they are developing into honor-roll students and changing the trajectory of their lives. When you partner with By The Hand, you are helping kids realize their full potential. In doing so, you are making a difference for generations to come.
There is no greater way to shape the future than by investing your time in a child. At most, it only takes a few hours a week. But the investment can last a lifetime and affect generations to come.
More Information:
If you are interested in volunteering for a day please contact Erin at or (312) 636-2732 to schedule a visit. Or please fill out the By The Hand Club For Kids volunteer application to get started.
GRIP/SLAM
GRIP Outreach for Youth's mission is to…REACH at-risk youth, CONNECT at-risk youth, DEVELOP them holistically...In Jesus Christ to the Glory of God.
SLAM (Saving Lives through Athletic Ministries) is a sports & team-building outreach for at-risk high school youth, many of whom struggle with fatherlessness, gangs, drugs, alcohol, sex abuse, teen pregnancy, etc. SLAM is a night of high energy and action-packed fun filled with sports, team-building, Christian hip-hop music, drama, video, teaching, small group discussions, pizza, and lots of hugs. SLAM is a great environment for our army of adult volunteers to start building meaningful life-long relationships with our kids.
More Information:
If interested in office or program volunteer opportunities, please contact Thad Nichols at