Purpose: To increase congregational vitality, enhance mission, and strengthen collective witness.
Partnership Defined: Relationships with executive staff and key program directors of organizations whose purpose, mission and values are aligned with increasing vitality and strengthening mission with the congregations in the Chicago Presbytery. These relationships are maintained by the Director of Collaboration and Community Partnerships, who serves as a bridge, catalyst, facilitator and support for congregations to establish their own partnerships with these organizations as desired and to offer presbytery-wide offerings if sufficient interest. Our goal is to support building healthy collaborations, and intentional, strategic and sustainable partnerships to advance our collective work in mission.
Community Partners
This is not an exhaustive list of Community Partners*. These are collaborative partners who do not receive funding from the presbytery, apart from when we partner to sponsor an event (expenses are typically food, handouts, subsidized registration fees).
*Listed alphabetically.
Congregations are invited to reach out to organizations listed below on their own, and are also encouraged to reach out to our Director of Collaboration and Community Partnerships for additional opportunities.
For a list of volunteer and collaboration opportunities, see our Resources> for Mission page.
Advocate Health Care: The Center for Faith and Community Health Transformation
The Center for Faith and Community Health Transformation, or The Center, was formed to transform the health of our communities through faith-rooted, collaborative action. We work to create health equity and are a joint initiative of Advocate Health Care and the Office for Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Information about offered programs, resources and toolkits are available on the website.
Chicago Regional Organizing for AntiRacism (CROAR)
Chicago ROAR is a regional program of Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training. The purpose of Chicago ROAR is to dismantle systemic racism and build antiracist multicultural diversity within institutions and communities implemented primarily by training institutional transformation teams.
The City of Chicago Department of Public Health
Our Public Health system has a direct impact on the quality of this vibrant city.
Community Renewal Society
Community Renewal Society (CRS) is a faith-based organization that works with people and communities to address racism and poverty. CRS transforms society towards greater justice and compassion.
Christopher House
Christopher House is a family of schools that helps low-income, at-risk families succeed in school, the workplace, and life. Through their unique and innovative approach, they are effectively closing the opportunity gap through a continuum of personalized education with immersive family support, starting at birth.
Erie Neighborhood House
At Erie Neighborhood House, children and youth, adults and families alike are empowered to reach their potential and collaborate to build proud, powerful communities all across the city of Chicago.
Facing Forward to End Homelessness
Envisioning a better future is the first step to empowerment. We turn our backs on homelessness and position ourselves to envision what’s next. We break the cycle of homelessness in Chicago by providing housing and social services that empower individuals to face forward to a new future. We know that connecting people to safe, stable, long-term housing first creates the best platform to address the root causes of homelessness.
Faith in Place
Faith in Place empowers Illinois people of all faiths to be leaders in caring for the Earth, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities. Since 1999, Faith in Place has worked with over 1,000 houses of worship throughout Illinois to protect our common land, air, and water. With outreach staff working across the state, Faith in Place inspires faithful people to care for the Earth through four program areas: Energy & Climate Change, Sustainable Food & Land Use, Water Preservation, and Advocacy.
Health & Medicine Policy Research Group
The Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative represents a broad range of organizations, thought and practice leaders, and agencies committed to expanding the understanding of the impact of childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the health and well-being of Illinois children and their communities.
Interfaith Mental Health Coalition
Connecting faith leaders with mental health resources. IMHC is a coalition of mental health service providers, public officials, faith leaders, and advocates in the suburban Chicago and collar counties working to increase support for persons coping with mental illness and their families.
Jones Center
The mission of Jones Center is to strengthen family ties, to emphasize the worth of God’s children (all persons), and to answer a community need.
National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) Chicago
The mission of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Chicago is to provide hope and improve the quality of life for those whose lives are affected by mental illness. NAMI Chicago maintains many important partnerships in the community. Through their education and programming, they work with mental health providers, providers of support services, schools, community based organizations, faith based organizations, law enforcement, the criminal court system, and many others.
Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (ReCAST)
ReCAST is committed to Chicago becoming a trauma-informed city by helping to build healthy, resilient communities. Click below to learn more of how ReCAST is ensuring the promotion of resilience and equity in communities, creating access to quality supports, and with community input, providing ideas for communities to become trauma-informed.