Get Involved with Heartland Alliance

Heartland Alliance hosts impactful events, activities, and campaigns throughout the year in addition to connecting over 1000 active volunteers to long-term opportunities. Please see below for a few options on how to join us in becoming Courageous Champion of human rights!

URGENT NEED: Help our Afghan Refugees

Heartland Alliance unites in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and seeks to provide safety, healing, and justice for the Afghan people. The Alliance welcomes Afghans families and unaccompanied children to Chicago as we work to resettle them and connect them to essential services, including education, employment, housing, case management, wellness and family support services. We need your help as we work to assist this newly arriving group. Make an Impact with our Afghan Refugees by completing a Refugee and Immigrant Services Volunteer Form or by purchasing items from our Refugee and Immigrant Services  Amazon wish list.

More ways to help.

SUPPORT A FAMILY OR PROGRAM DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Join Heartland Alliance in our annual Holiday Giving Campaign and make an impact by sharing your care, concern, and solidarity with our most vulnerable neighbors across Chicago. Please visit our Holiday Giving Campaign site for additional information!

Spend a day at our urban farm

Our FarmWorks program is accepting volunteers in groups of 20 or less throughout the farming season (March to Mid-November) to make an impact in a safe, social-distancing environment. Farm tasks vary throughout the season and can consist of weeding, shoveling, harvesting planting, and various other tasks. Please contact cejohnson@heartlandalliance.org to schedule a group or individual visit.

Host a food drive

Our Vital Bridges Food Program works to provide critical services including food and nutrition counseling to low-income Chicagoans living with HIV and AIDS. Please contact cejohnson@heartlandalliance.org for more information on how to host a food drive.

Speak with our experts

Audience Awareness events are aimed to introduce audiences to the work we do.  By leveraging talent and expertise from our own Courageous Champions, we are able to share direct service and policy experience and create enthusiasm around Heartland Alliance’s work and the impact we are having with the people across Chicago and beyond. Some topics we have covered include:

• Creating a Safer Chicago: The Ripple Effect
• Moving the Needle on Women’s Economic Empowerment
• In Search of Home: Refugee Resettlement
• Farming for Health and Sustainable Agriculture
• Permanent Punishments: Confronting Barriers to Normalcy After Being Incarcerated

Please contact cejohnson@heartlandalliance.org for more information on hosting an Audience Awareness event.

ACTIVE VOLUNTEERING

We do require a minimum of three month commitment for the volunteer opportunities below due to the sensitive work we do with vulnerable populations.

• At Heartland Alliance, one way we provide equity and opportunity for all is by supporting refugees and immigrants as they transition into new communities, jobs, and chapters in their lives. If you are interested in mentoring adult or youth participants and helping them to reach their goals in their new home, please contact Alyssa Wilson at alwilson@heartlandalliance.org. If you are interested in tutoring English and assisting participants gain basic academic skills, contact Lindsay Crammond at lcrammond@heartlandalliance.org.
• Heartland Alliance’s founding mission was to help vulnerable travelers who need guidance and support during their journeys, and we still support that mission today. If you are interested in assisting people who are navigating an unfamiliar environment from the safety and comfort of your own home, please contact Volunteer Manager Tony Medina at AMedina@heartlandalliance.org.