Joyful Giving Catalog 2024

Arts Alliance Forest Park

Become a Member and Create With Us! Arts Alliance Forest Park. The Catalyst for Creativity. 

Members enjoy a variety of benefits including discounts to events, advanced notice to opportunities to showcase your talent, all while collaborating with other local organizations and businesses including Forest Park Theatre, the Park District, Historical Society and the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce. 

Programs include the well-attended and known StoopSessions, Tellers’ Night, GarageGalleries, Makers’ Market and FiberFlash. 

You were born creative. Join the only Forest Park arts organization that assembles like-minded art enthusiasts for the love, fun and beauty of art.

Join us! Visit forestparkarts.org/become-a member-1

Austin Coming Together

Austin Coming Together (ACT)’s mission is to increase the collective impact of our 50+ member organizations on improving education and economic development outcomes for Chicago’s Austin community. Since 2010, we’ve been connecting residents to services, attracting investments for the community, and building capacity for policy change. Recent efforts include co-developing the former Emmet School into the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation and supporting the Austin Eats Initiative, a 20+ group focused on strengthening the community’s food access infrastructure.

Learn how Austin is leading efforts to move forward together, and how you can support, at AustinComingTogether.org/AustinCares

Beyond Hunger

For 45 years Beyond Hunger has been harnessing the power of communities to create a hunger-free future. Our food pantry, home delivery program, nutrition education classes, and benefits services program provides hunger relief that goes beyond basic nourishment. Our goal is to provide our clients with the immediate and long-term tools they need, ensuring that no one is left behind in the battle against food insecurity. This work is not possible without our community. Whether you volunteer, advocate for those in need, or donate, you are essential in moving our mission forward. With your support, we believe hunger is solvable.

Learn more about how you can get involved in the fight to end hunger by visiting

www.gobeyondhunger.org or donating using this QR Code.

BUILD

Since 1969, we have embedded mentors in schools and across neighborhoods to connect with youth who need support. Wrapping young people in the opportunities and care they deserve, we help them build hope, resilience, and a path to a promising future. We engage youth at every stage, with specialized teams dedicated to street violence interventions, gang detachments, creative after-school programming, academic school, college support, mental health care, community violence crisis response, and enrichment activities ranging from art and music to sports, podcasting, engineering, and gardening. Potential doesn’t discriminate, neither should opportunity.

Join us in BUILDing a better future: www.buildchicago.org

CAYR Connections

CAYR Connections is a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in Oak Park. CAYR stands for “Come As You Are,” and we advocate for embracing neurodiversity, the natural variation of human brains. We believe that there is no “right” type of brain, and that an inclusive, accessible society improves the world for everyone, not just neurodivergent (Autistic, ADHD, etc.) individuals. 

Your donation helps us fund current programs and create new ones, too! We are working on a neurodiversity-affirming afterschool and summer program for 2025. 

Visit www.cayrconnections.org to learn more. Your generosity helps celebrate “minds of all kinds.”

The Day Nursery

The Oak Park & River Forest Day Nursery, located at 1139 Randolph Street in Oak Park, educates young children ages 2 to age 6, and offers working families a safe and nurturing environment for young minds to learn and grow. We are proud to share our most recent assessment scores for meeting or exceeding age exceptions for literacy & language, 93%; social-emotional, 87%; and physical development, 95%. Please consider a tax-deductible gift to provide affordable and equitable access to high quality education for all young children.

Visit https://thedaynursery.org/ to donate today. Thank you.

Deborah’s Place

For women experiencing homelessness in Chicago, Deborah’s Place opens the door to opportunity and stability. Going beyond just shelter, Deborah’s Place provides a supportive community and wrap-around services. Each year hundreds of women receive dedicated guidance as they pursue their goals for healthier, safer, more independent lives. With a key in her pocket and a team by her side, anything is possible on her journey.

You can help Deborah’s Place change lives by donating or volunteering. Learn more at https://www.deborahsplace.org

The Collaboration for Early Childhood

Early care and education is the workforce behind the workforce. It makes everything else possible, and it allows children to reach their full potential from day one. We are a community-driven organization that cultivates the development of the whole child, birth to age five, by engaging families, local organizations, early childhood educators, caregivers, and health providers to create equitable, nurturing, and interconnected systems of support. Donate today to ensure that our community continues to be a place where families and their babies have the care, relationships, and resources needed to thrive!

Invest in early childhood. Whatever the size, your donation will make an important impact. Learn more and give at www.collab4kids.org.

Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park

The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park is a non-profit 501(c)(3) literary arts and educational foundation dedicated to thoughtful reading and writing. The foundation offers a wide variety of programming, all open to the public, to nurture and encourage creative expression for students and for people of all ages. Through tours and exhibits at Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace museum, the foundation fosters an understanding of his life and work, his Oak Park origins and his impact on world literature. Your gift supports creative outlets for people of all ages through professional teacher development, local author and performing artist programs, inter-generational engagement, a writer-in-residence program, as well as student writing workshops, mentorships, and scholarships.

For more information about us or to donate online go to hemingwaybirthplace.com or mail us at: Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, P.O. Box 2222, Oak Park, IL  60303-2222.

Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory

Built in 1929, the Oak Park Conservatory is a Historic Property of the Park District of Oak Park. Free to the public with 50,000 visitors annually, the Conservatory is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Conservatory offers three indoor showrooms featuring more than 3,000 plants and two outdoor gardens including a play area for toddlers. The Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory offers a wide range of programs focused on enriching the visitor experience at the Conservatory. From volunteering to educational and recreational opportunities, tours, and classes, there is something for everyone to enjoy year-round.

To learn more or to join, visit fopcon.org.

Growing Community Media

Growing Community Media is the reader supported newsroom behind four great local news publications covering our neighborhoods and villages. We publish the Austin Weekly News, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park & River Forest, Forest Park Review and Riverside-Brookfield Landmark. We focus our efforts on Essential Civics — five vital purposes which have never been more important. Democracy. Accountability. Equity. Connection. Civility. Our reporters tell stories which strengthen the fabric of our communities while holding local governments and institutions to account. We know local news is the glue which holds our communities together and we depend on our readers to support our journalism.

Donate for news that matters to you at growingcommunitymedia.org/donate

Hephzibah Children’s Association

Founded in 1897, Hephzibah Children’s Association is Oak Park’s oldest social service agency. Serving children and families for over 125 years, Hephzibah’s mission of helping children thrive and families flourish is muti-faceted. We offer a residential treatment program for severely abused, neglected, and traumatized children and those in need of behavioral intervention ages 3-11. In addition, Hepzibah offers foster care services, comprehensive services for children and families in crisis, positive parenting services and an abuse & neglect prevention program. Hephzibah also provides affordable after-school care and summer camp for Oak Park families of all income levels.

To make a donation, visit www.hephzibahhome.org/donate-now

Holiday Food and Gift Basket

Holiday Food and Gift Basket, a program of the Community of Congregations, has been spreading holiday joy to families in Oak Park and River Forest since the 1970’s.

In November, every family referred to us receives a grocery gift card paid for withdonations. On the second Saturday of December, volunteers deliver holiday gifts that have been purchased by sponsors from a provided wish list. Our small program has a big impact because of the support of community members like you.

Visit our website at www.communityofcongregations.org/holiday-food-gift-basket to find out how you can be a donor, sponsor, or volunteer.

Housing Forward

Housing Forward is passionately focused on one vision – ending homelessness.

Housing Forward is a recognized leader in suburban Cook County offering a coordinated response for people experiencing a housing crisis to quickly resolve their situation. We believe in bold, comprehensive approaches to prevent homelessness whenever possible, respond to people in housing crises, and create stability through permanent housing for the most vulnerable members of our community. Each year we assist more than 2,000 individuals and families with comprehensive, wrap-around support from the onset of a financial or housing crisis to its resolution.

To learn more, donate, or to get involved, visit housingforward.org, email development@housingforward.org, or call 708.338.1724

The Imagine Foundation

The mission of the OPRFHS Imagine Foundation is to champion community excellence by raising funds to support OPRF facilities improvements to meet evolving educational needs. The Foundation was created by community volunteers who understand that the school district cannot cover the costs of the entire Imagine Plan out of its cash reserves, nor can taxpayers. The Foundation is an independent nonprofit that works in partnership with the school to augment public investment with private philanthropy.

Imagine Foundation invites you to take part in this unique community system of support by donating to help secure the future of OPRF Huskies! www.imagine-foundation.org/donate

L’Arche Chicago

Life is better together…

Quality care for adults with intellectual & developmental disabilities extends beyond the basics of supporting someone with their basic living and medical needs. It’s about creating opportunities to say, “I’m living my best life” and mean it! L’Arche Chicago is committed to the highest quality of care for our core members (adults with disabilities), and our intentional community makes it possible for us to experience life to the fullest, together. Mutual relationships transform lives at all three of our homes, located in Forest Park and the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. Our newest home in Oak Park will serve four more individuals and is thoughtfully designed to be ADA compliant and universally designed to meet all current and future accessibility needs.

You make our community stronger – Join us by making a gift today! www.larchechicago.org | 708-660-1600 | hello@larchechicago.org

Learning Edge

For over 30 years, Learning Edge has been a part of the Oak Park and Austin communities. Our mission is to strive for more equity in education by providing Chicago-area students who live in underserved communities free one-to-one tutoring and academic enrichment opportunities enhanced by caring, mentoring relationships. We help students improve their foundational math and reading skills, complete their homework, and foster their love of learning. Your support helps us provide school-year tutoring to over 100 students in grades K through 12 each year.

To donate or volunteer, please visit our website www.learningedgetutoring.org.

Maywood Youth Mentoring Program 

Organized in 1993 as a 501c3, the Maywood Youth Mentoring Program has served hundreds of middle to high-school youth providing a variety of programs, workshops, field trips, and experiences designed to increase academic potential and instill cultural pride. Since 2008, the program has hosted free monthly youth breakfasts with topics ranging from anger management and conflict resolution, etiquette, police/community interactions, sexual health, drug and alcohol avoidance, and academic excellence. Youths practice critical thinking skills to encourage positive life choices. Volunteer mentors interact with youths, providing positive role models for college and career choices.  Funds are needed to continuously provide free services and incentives for participation.  

To volunteer, or to donate, visit us at maywoodyouthmentoring.org, or contact Barbara Cole, founder/CEO, at barbaracole@maywoodyouthmentoring.org or 708-344-3577.

New Moms

No one should parent alone. For more than 40 years, New Moms has partnered with young moms, 24 and younger, to help them build the confidence needed to achieve long-lasting success. We understand how homelessness and poverty impacts young families. Through housing, paid job training, and family support, our holistic approach provides support for young moms affected by systemic barriers. By fostering each moms’s unique talents, we blend behavioral research, effective strategies, and practical experience to create pathways for young families to unlock brighter futures.

Join us in this life-changing work. Visit newmoms.org/season/

The Neighborhood Bridge

The Neighborhood Bridge (TNB) is a nonprofit established in 2023 that is working to connect Austin neighborhood families to existing high-performing human service providers. Our singular goal is to help families tackle their most pressing needs—for primary and mental health care, food and housing support, financial counseling, job readiness, and family counseling, among others.

While resources exist to help Austin residents, families often struggle to access them.

TNB will provide the support they need to “bridge the gap.”

To learn more about how you can help families access the services they need and deserve, go to theneighborhoodbridge.org.

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association strengthens our community through learning, giving, and sharing our landmark building through space grants to local nonprofits, who account for 80% of its usage.  We provide community outreach, scholarships, and public programming in five areas: music, art, literature, science, and social sciences. The Nineteenth Century is the owner of 178 Forest Avenue, commonly referred to as the Nineteenth Century Club. Our charitable and cultural activities are supported by our members, volunteers, donors, and by the events held at the building. Programs are open to all and we welcome all ages to join. Our Monday programs are now being live-streamed as well as available a week later on our website for all to enjoy.

If you would like information about volunteering, joining or donating, please call us at 708-386-2729 email to info@nineteenthcentury.org. You can also make donations at nineteenthcentury.org.

Oak Park Area Lesbian & Gay Association Plus (OPALGA+)

The OPALGA+ Scholarship Fund provides financial support for the post-high school education of local students who have demonstrated service and advocacy to the LGBTQIA+ community. Young LGBTQIA+ people face unique challenges in high school and college; students with LGBTQIA+ parents have distinct experiences shaped by their families. The scholarship program depends on the year-round generosity of OPALGA+ members and community support. Since 2014, OPALGA+ has awarded over $220,000 in scholarships and plans to award up to $60,000 in 2025.

To learn more or to donate to the scholarship fund, visit opalga.org/donate.

Oak Park Regional Housing Center

Oak Park Regional Housing Center has celebrated 52 years with the mission to achieve vibrant communities while promoting intentional and stable residential integration throughout Oak Park and the surrounding communities. OPRHC is the only HUD approved non- profit agency in Oak Park promoting intentional integrative housing stability options while increasing housing inventory. Consider giving a tax-deductible year end donation so that we may reach our goal to raise $25,000 by December 31, 2024!  These funds will help us continue to help integrate and invigorate the Greater Westside communities for up to 100 individuals in the first quarter of 2025!   

You may donate at: oprhc.org/donate. To learn more, please call 708-848-7150, or email: info@oprhc.org

Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation invests in our future. We bring together nonprofits, businesses, civic officials, and caring residents to uncover and tackle issues of vital importance, and to attract resources to address unmet needs. Today we share our community’s vision to increase high quality childcare and education, support healthcare and mental health services, grow financial security, and enhance safety, belonging and stability for all who live and work in our region.

Join the Foundation and help fulfill our vision of a racially just society in which all members of our community thrive and prosper. Donate today at oprfcf.org.

OPRFHS Scholarship Foundation

100 Years of Impact: OPRFHS Scholarship Foundation

In celebration of OPRFHS’s 100th anniversary, we proudly reflect on the impact of your generosity. This year, 92 scholarships totaling $222,150 helped students pursue their dreams at 4-year universities, 2-year colleges, and trade schools. Since 1924, the Foundation has supported diverse paths to success in academics, leadership, the arts, and beyond.

Join us in continuing this proud legacy—your support creates lasting opportunities for future generations. Visit scholarships4oprfhs.org to make a difference today.

Oak Park River Forest Museum

Oak Park River Forest Museum is the caretaker of local history and community storyteller. It offers many programs and exhibits for visitors and can be rented for private events. The museum, located in a renovated 1898 firehouse at Lake and Lombard next to Stevenson Park, is operated by The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest.  Check out our family-friendly Hometown Legends Scavenger Hunt that challenges visitors to find LEGO versions of famous residents hidden around the museum. A gift of any amount funds our 2025 activities, research center, and knowledgeable staff. 

Learn more and donate at oprfmuseum.org or call 708-848-6755.

One Earth Collective

One Earth curates vibrant environmental programming that inspires action, facilitates learning, promotes justice, and fosters equity and inclusion to create resilient communities and a healthier planet. We focus our work in 3 areas – One Earth Film Festival, One Earth Youth Voices, and One Earth Local. One Earth Film Fest’s 14th season will take place April 16th-22nd, 2025. We’re excited to welcome Chicagoland audiences back live, in addition to our virtual screenings. Join us for captivating films, engaging discussion, impactful action opportunities and community-building. Memberships start at $35.

Learn more and donate at oneearthfilmfest.org/give

Opportunity Knocks

Opportunity Knocks was founded in 2009 by families and embraced by a community that recognized significant opportunities to develop more substantial and responsive programs, support and partnerships where people with different abilities would be more present with interdependent connections. We strive to be co-creators of programs, enterprise, and partnerships that contribute to developing a community where people with different abilities are able to live, work, learn, grow and pursue a life of their design. As a 95% privately funded organization, we depend on the community’s generosity to advance our mission. Your support is appreciated.

Visit opportunityknocksnow.org to learn more.

OPRF IWS

Since 1916, OPRF IWS has supported families through the IWS Children’s Clinic, providing medical, dental, and behavioral health services to underserved infants, children, and young adults up to age 21, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. The Clinic serves families in the western suburbs, Chicago, and Cook and DuPage counties. In FY2024, it provided over 8,000 visits to nearly 3,000 patients. OPRF IWS is powered by its donors, staff, members, and volunteers. Join us in advancing the health and well-being of children in need.

To learn more and donate, visit oprfiws.org.

Pillars Community Health

Pillars Community Health is a nonprofit provider of medical, dental, behavioral health, and domestic and sexual violence services to individuals and families who need care. We envision communities where all people have equal access to the care they need, when they need it. Pillars Community Health works to improve the health of our communities and empower individuals through compassionate, whole-person care. Whole-Person Care begins with a Whole Community Caring. Visit: www.pillarscommunityhealth.org and join our Community of Caring.

Consider donating to Pillars Community Health this season at pillarscommunityhealth.org/donate, so that we may continue serving the needs of every individual in our community.

PING! (Providing Instruments for the Next Generation)

PING! is a community nonprofit organization providing band and orchestra instruments, mentoring, workshops, and access to lessons, music camps, and trips to students who benefit from support that are in grades 4 through 12 in Oak Park and River Forest, Illinois, public schools. In a community with very high-quality school music programs, PING! students can be on par with peers regardless of their financial situations and feel like they belong. PING! programming also brings diversity to instrumental music classrooms and beyond, providing access to some traditionally underrepresented populations.

Donate: //pingoprf.org/donate. Instrument donations: info@pingoprf.org

Progress Center for Independent Living

Founded in 1988, Progress Center for Independent Living is a cross-disability organization governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities. Progress Center serves people with all types of disabilities in Suburban Cook County. We assist individuals in pursuit of their self-determined goals. Progress Center recognizes the innate rights, needs and diversity of the disabled, works toward their integration into community life, and serves as an agent of social change. Progress Center is dedicated to building a society in which people with disabilities exercise the same freedoms, rights, and civil liberties as everyone else.

Donate today and learn more at http://progresscil.org/

River Forest Public Library Foundation

Listing: In person and online, River Forest Public Library serves everyone from toddlers to seniors by connecting them with information, entertainment, and each other in a welcoming space. RFPL Foundation works to ensure the vitality of the Library through advocacy, fundraising, and grants. Foundation grants have enabled the Library to repurpose mechanical room space to build a new multi-purpose meeting room and ADA compliant restroom, refresh the Children’s and Teen spaces, maintain the Memorial Garden for gatherings, offer community events like the Dooley Band concert and Summer Reading Kickoff, and more.

Please donate at rfplfoundation.org and help your Library continue to serve and connect our community for generations to come.

Sarah’s Inn

Sarah’s Inn is a community-based organization whose mission is to improve the lives of those affected by domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence for future generations. We offer services in three areas of program focus: Intervention services for families affected by domestic violence that includes Advocacy and Counseling; Prevention education for youth to give them the tools to develop healthy relationships; and Training and Education for professionals and community-based organizations to create a network of skilled ambassadors. Intervention services are confidential, bilingual (English/Spanish), and offered free of charge to survivors and their children.

Make a donation at sarahsinn.org/donate

Share Food Share Love Food Pantry

Our food pantry serves 15 villages, where over 7,000 of our neighbors are living below the poverty line. Most (83%) live in just 7 of our 15 villages. Which makes ours a region of “haves” and “have-nots”. But we are all neighbors here. Like many food pantries, we are a not-for-profit business. Which means our collective purpose is to one day go out of business: We are working collectively toward a time when neighbors in our region are no longer oppressed with hunger. A time when enough of us have come together to uplift all of us.

End Hunger. Uplift Neighbors. Learn how you can help at sharefoodsharelove.org

The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest

The award-winning Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest and its esteemed conductor Jay Friedman continue to bring extraordinary and accessible concerts to our community. Ticket sales provide less than half the funds needed for the Symphony’s performances. Your gift keeps the orchestra going strong and allows us to maintain affordable ticket prices, including free admission for all students through college. Please help us continue and strengthen our tradition of bringing beautiful and inspiring music to Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park and neighboring communities.

Make your end-of-year tax-deductible donation at SymphonyOPRF.org, or: P.O. Box 3564, Oak Park, IL 60303-3564.

Thrive Counseling Center

Thrive Counseling Center has provided mental health services to Oak Park and surrounding communities for over 120 years. We build healthy minds, families, and communities by empowering people to attain mental and emotional well-being, regardless of their ability to pay. We envision a world where mental health is valued, proactively nurtured, and in reach of everyone.

• Individual therapy
• Group therapy
• Psychiatry and medication management
• 24/7 Crisis intervention
• Case management
• Suicide awareness and prevention training
• Thrive Talks community education programs

Open Monday-Thursday 9am-8pm, Friday 9am-5pm, and Saturday from 9am-2pm. To learn more or donate, please visit thrivecc.org or call 708-383-7500.

Way Back Inn

Since 1974, Way Back Inn has successfully provided long-term residential and outpatient treatment for substance use and gambling disorders. Our mission is to rebuild lives damaged by addiction in a personalized healing environment. This holiday season, we ask that you gift responsibly with the youth in your family. Children who have early exposure to gambling experiences, including lottery tickets, are more likely to develop a gambling problem later in life. 

For more information or to make a donation to our program, go to: www.waybackinn.org or call us at 708-345-8422.

West Cook YMCA

When you give to the West Cook YMCA, you impact our community today and tomorrow. 

100% of your tax-deductible donation goes directly to providing scholarships to children, adults, and seniors- your friends and neighbors-transforming their lives through access to health screenings, chronic disease prevention programs, after-school programs, swim lessons, homeless prevention for residents, and Y memberships that can open the door to help each person become their best self.

To donate, visit //westcookymca.org/give or send your check to West Cook YMCA, 255 S. Marion St., Oak Park, IL 60302.  (708-383-5200)

West Suburban Special Recreation Association

West Suburban Special Recreation Association (WSSRA) provides recreational programming for individuals with disabilities who reside in Oak Park, River Forest and nine other surrounding communities.  Donations to WSSRA help provide financial assistance to those participating in our year-round programs and summer day camp.  

To make a donation please visit wssra.net.

Wonder Works Children’s Museum in Oak Park

Wonder Works Children’s Museum has been a community gem on North Avenue since 2003. Our small but mighty museum plays a very important role in nurturing young minds, fostering a love of learning, and bolstering social and emotional skills. In 2024, we continued to grow museum access for ALL children through discounted admission for families with financial needs, sensory-friendly play sessions, and social service agency partnerships. As a 501c3 non-profit organization, individual donations to Wonder Works Children’s Museum are crucial to bringing our mission and programs to life.

Visit Wonder-Works.org/give to donate and support the museum.