Connections for the Homeless, Inc.

We work across the northern suburbs to provide a broad range of programs and services. We restore our participants’ hope, capacity, and confidence to ensure they have the opportunity to live and thrive in our community.

For each person we serve, we seek to:
-Strengthen their housing stability through our eviction prevention, shelter, and housing programs.
-Improve well-being and confidence by offering a range of physical and behavioral health services that are free of charge and open to every person we serve.
-Increase income to help improve long-term sustainability by offering education and employment services and support in the maintenance/connecting to public benefits (e.g. Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, TANF, etc.).
-Foster connections to the community, neighbors, and peers to build a network of support and outlets for recreation and selfcare.
-Support children on their path to academic achievement with family and child-based supports and resources, along with access to a range of child-specific activities (e.g. sleep away summer camp, tutoring, holiday parties, etc.).

We serve more than 4,000 people annually from 52 Chicagoland communities. Driven by our core values, we provides families with financial assistance to prevent homelessness, shelter people in crisis, house individuals and families, and organize our community through our direct advocacy efforts. We build supportive relationships with our participants that make is possible for us to prevent and end homelessness, one person at a time.

Guiding this work is our ongoing commitment to advance equity and anti-racism. To truly end homelessness, we must identify and address where discrimination, disparities and racism show up within and outside of Connections. We know we have more work to do to fully embed anti-racism into all parts of our work. We are tackling this and leveraging relationships with local partners and experts to help create a more equitable agency, and ultimately to create a more equitable community.

With the support of our community, we provide all the things our participants need to remain stable. In partnership with more than 1,300 annual volunteers and 1,000 donors, we provide our participants with the tools and resources that help them move forward with dignity and confidence​.

A year ago, Connections was developing a new strategic plan and identifying bold strategies to better serve our participants. With careful planning and phenomenal support from our community, we are transforming the agency. Since January, we have expanded our supporters, our programs, the number of participants we serve, and by these means, expanded our impact. During the past fiscal year, is resulted in:

 800% more drop-in services provided to people living on the street;
 36% more families prevented from losing their home; and,
 34% more people had their immediate physical and mental health needs met.

This type of building community to end homelessness is not unique, however, the manner in which Connections invests and supports community-building is unique indeed. We create an environment where everyone is on equal footing, valuing different experiences and backgrounds to affirm individual dignity. Our spaces are safe and welcoming to encourage relationships and empower decision making based on personal expertise. When we come to the table together, with this foundation of respect and appreciation for one another, we can build hope, trust, and connections. This is how we serve and catalyze our community to end homelessness, one person at a time.