Looking to make an impact in your community?
We have a place for you to help.
When you volunteer at Connections, you help meet the basic needs of participants, allowing them to focus on their families and their futures. These volunteer contributions also allow the Connections team to focus on providing our wrap-around services, eviction prevention, housing, and shelter to over 5,000 participants in our community each year.
We work with individual volunteers; school, faith-based, and community partners; and corporate partners. We have opportunities to volunteer on-site or off-site, and we can help you set up a drive to collect donations that we most urgently need.
How do you want to plug in?
Volunteer Opportunities
Review all of our opportunities or use the selector below to view only those options most relevant to you.
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Make Breakfast
Cook breakfast or donate breakfast food items, such as pastries, fruit, yogurt, milk, and juice boxes on behalf of our participants at the Margarita Inn. Delivery times are between 7-9pm the day before breakfast is served.
Remote, Individual/Family, Community Partner
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Make Lunch
We need 160+ bagged lunches across our 3 sites—Hilda's Place, the Main Office, and Margarita Inn on a daily basis. Prepare sandwiches, along with a snack and a drink, as an individual, or as a group. Delivery times vary between the afternoon before to the day of. More details are available when you click below.
Sign-up to make bagged lunches >
Remote, Individual/Family, Community Partner, Corporate
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Drop-in Volunteer
Assist our participants with accessing their basic needs and helping them feel comfortable as they navigate case management and health care services, clothing room, laundry, showers, food pantry, and other services. Volunteer at our front desk, or in our clothing room.
On-site, Individual/Family, Community Partner
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Make Dinner
Volunteers are needed to prepare 35 hot meals each night for our Emergency Shelter program. Meals include an entrée, a side, and a beverage. Prepare whatever kind of dish you desire! This is a great activity to do as a group or as an individual. You may also choose to order dinner from any local restaurant to be delivered to us. Delivery times are between 5-5:30pm.
Remote, Individual/Family, Community Partner
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Organize a Drive
Organize a drive in your work, school, place of worship, or residential community to help meet the most urgent, critical basic needs of our participants. Setup a food drive, a clothing drive, a hygiene drive, or even a household goods drive.
For more information, contact the Volunteer Lead at volunteer@connect2home.org
Or, call 847-475-7070 x 217
Remote, Individual/Family, Corporate, Community Partner
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Advocate for Affordable Housing
Join us in advocating to increase affordable housing in communities throughout the North Shore. In addition, we're raising awareness of issues contributing to homelessness, such as income inequality.
Remote, Individual/Family
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Food Truck Unload
Help us unload our monthly deliveries from Greater Chicago Food Depository on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month.
Individual/Family, Corporate, Community Partner
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Group Service Projects
Connections for the Homeless welcomes groups of colleagues, students, or faith communities to organize and engage in a service project on-site or off-site. We offer group opportunities regularly on Wednesday afternoons and the second Saturday of the month for a Saturday of Service for up to 25 people. Details here.
Want to learn more about how to engage your group? Contact us.Join us for a Service Day project >
On-site, Corporate, Community Partner
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Junior Council
High school students in North Suburban Cook County are encouraged to get involved with Connections through Junior Council. Students in Junior Council collaborate as representatives of their respective schools to learn about homelessness, organize donation drives, and participate in service learning opportunities on site. Junior Council meets virtually once a month and has a number of in-person volunteer opportunities.
To sign up, email volunteer@connect2home.org.
On-site, Community Partner, Individual/Family
In-kind Giving Opportunities
We encourage individuals, families, school and faith groups, and small to large businesses to conduct drives for any and all of the items that Connections needs to serve its participants.
Volunteer Impact
Are you wondering how making 50 bag lunches can make a real difference? Every volunteer contribution aids in the fight to end homelessness in our community!