AmeriCorps is a national service program that involves people in "getting things done" in communities. AmeriCorps Members develop an ethic of service while strengthening local communities. The charge of individual AmeriCorps programs are determined by the local needs of communities with many focusing on education, human service and support needs, environmental quality, public health, or public safety.
Each year in Illinois, thousands of AmeriCorps Members give millions of dollars in service back to their communities. For up-to-date information on the impact on our state, visit AmeriCorps.gov.
Serve Illinois administers 31 AmeriCorps*State programs in operation for the 2011-2012 program year and more than 1,00 Members committing to a year of service. These Members serve 50 counties in over 300 host sites.
For a full listing of all host sites, please view our 2011 - 2012 Program Directory [PDF, 1.38MB]
AmeriCorps*State Programs
Chicago, IL 60634
Phone: (773) 534-0142
The Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) is a not-for-profit organization partnering with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to transform chronically underperforming schools, typically in high-poverty areas. AUSL accomplishes this through a two-pronged approach: special training for teachers using an innovative urban teacher residency program and transforming schools top to bottom through a school turnaround model.
Alternatives, Inc. AmeriCorps Program
Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: (773) 506-7474, Ext. 213
Alternatives, Inc., a comprehensive youth and family agency, hosts eight AmeriCorps Members who build our capacity to fulfill our mission: to facilitate personal development, strengthen family relationships, and enhance the community’s well-being. Through their direct service work implementing technology classes, leadership groups for girls and young women, restorative justice strategies in classrooms and after-school programs, art and literary projects with pregnant and parenting teens, life skills workshops, and hip hop arts activities, Members support young people’s growth and development. Members also lead service projects in the community, extending their impact beyond the walls of classrooms and our Youth Center.
Safe Families AmeriCorps Program
Chicago, IL
Phone: (312) 729-6123
The American Red Cross will assist in helping communities prevent, prepare for and respond effectively to emergencies. AmeriCorps members will provide American Red Cross health and safety classes including First Aid, CPR, Babysitters Training, Community Disaster Education, Family Caregiving, and Kid Safety Classes. Kid Safety classes include Water Safety, Fire Safety, Home Alone Safety, First Aid for Little People, Scrubby Bear and Till Help Arrives. These health and safety classes will be provided to underserved populations throughout the state of Illinois.
Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: (773) 564-4946
Asian Human Services exists to provide quality, compassionate, and culturally competent services to low-income and immigrant and refugee communities in metropolitan Chicago. AmeriCorps members at AHS fill supportive roles in our Adult Education and Family Literacy Program (LEAF), Passages Charter School, Family Health Center, Community Health Program, and Employment Program. Members engage in a variety of activities to to improve the clients’ education level, health, and employment situation, including teaching ESL and Basic Computer classes to adults, tutoring in After School programs, assisting in elementary school classrooms, presenting health education workshops, and assisting individuals create resumes and research job opportunities.
BBBSQC Expansion and Focus Program
Davenport, IA 52801
Phone: (563) 323-8006
Big Brothers Big Sisters provides one-to-one mentoring for at-risk children from ages 6 through high school graduation. AmeriCorps members serve in the areas of enrollment, match support, customer relations and recruiting to bring mentoring services to populations previously not served. The program is delivered through one-to-one matches in the community-based, school-based and site (college)-based programs. The yearly goal is to match 250 children with volunteers throughout our service territory of 13 counties.
Fostering Transitions AmeriCorps
Peoria, IL 61603
Phone: (309) 687-7440
Fostering Transitions AmeriCorps encourages the successful transition into adulthood for disadvantaged individuals and social service consumers (i.e. foster youth, individuals with mental illness, youth involved in the justice system). Members provide one-on-one and small group skill building sessions to help transitioning clients make gains in basic skills critical to independence. Members also work to engage disadvantaged individuals in service to help them apply the skills they are learning. All members of our Corps are current/former recipients of social services, thus while they are serving, they are also being served – gaining career and educational opportunities through their service experience.
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312) 423-7163
City Year unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the world. As tutors, mentors and role models, these diverse young leaders make a difference in the lives of children, and transform schools and neighborhoods in 19 U.S. locations and one in Johannesburg, South Africa. Just as important, during their year of service corps members develop civic leadership skills they can use throughout a lifetime of community service. By giving corps members the skills and opportunities to serve in schools and neighborhoods across the country, City Year seeks to help students and schools succeed. City Year leverages the talent, energy and idealism of corps members who serve as tutors, mentors and role models to help students stay on track.
U.R.B.A.N. Effort (Utilizing Resources to Build America's Neighborhood)
Chicago, IL 60619
Phone: (773) 994-9200
To bridge the gap between citizenship education and overall community improvement. Members engage in education, training and service that directly affects local communities. Members deliver training, engage in direct outreach with youth and their families, and promote participation in community garden projects intended to not only beautify vacant city lots, but also enable the community to literally begin “feeding itself”.
Unmet Need Volunteer Capacity Building
Chicago, IL 60632
Phone: (773) 843-6705
The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago’s food bank, is a nonprofit food distribution and training center providing food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our community. The Food Depository distributes donated and purchased food through a network of 600 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters to over 678,000 adults and children in Cook County every year.
Neighbor to Neighbor Program
Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: (312) 344-2244
The NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR PROGRAM (N2N) works in partnership with ethnic community based organizations to bridge immigrants with native born Illinoisans through volunteerism. Through AmeriCorps service learning, particularly in the areas of English, Civics, After School Tutoring and GED studies, Illinoisans benefit individually through education, dually through relationships and community-wide through integration. Each AmeriCorps member is placed at ICIRR partner “host” organizations throughout the state of Illinois to build relationships and strengthen communities.
IPHA AmeriCorps Program
Springfield, IL 62701
Phone: (217) 522-5687
The mission of the Illinois Public Health Association AmeriCorps Program is to strengthen the field of public health through the development of skilled and committed leaders. It accomplishes this mission by having its members help meet locally identified needs at health departments across the state through community service in the following focus areas: health promotion and outreach for programs serving youth, women, children and families; volunteer coordination; and assistance with community emergency preparedness.
Chicago Healthy Futures Project
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: (312) 499-4778
JFY Healthy Futures Project provides job readiness/life skills training, leadership and service opportunities for youth to engage in volunteerism to increase awareness of health related choices impacting the quality of life.
AmeriCorps/East St. Louis
East St. Louis, IL 62204
Phone: (618) 271-2522
The misssion of AmeriCorps/East St. Louis is to provide services to address the educational, social and nutritional needs of the children and families of the East St. Louis region. Eighteen full time members tutor and mentor elementary age children while 123 full and part time members serve in after school programs throughout the area. An AmeriCorps operated pantry serves an average of 4,300 persons each month through the Bunkum Road Food Pantry. The Southwestern Illinois Volunteer Center has been established by the program to serve volunteer utilizing agencies and volunteers throughout the region.
VOCAL AmeriCorps (Volunteer Outreach for Community Action in Literacy)
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312) 857-1582
LVI is a statewide organization that is committed to developing and supporting volunteer literacy programs that help families, adults and out-of-school teens increase their literacy skills. Programs sponsored include VOCAL AmeriCorps, of which all of the agencies described herewith are apart, as well as the Jump Start program, described below. LVI also offers training to staff, tutors, and adult learners through our annual conference and conducts special events and advocacy efforts to raise awareness about the problems of and solutions to low literacy in adults.
AmeriCorps Parent Tutor Corps
Chicago, IL 60618
Phone: (773) 384-4370
LSNA/AmeriCorps Parent Tutor provide Supplemental tutoring in reading and math to students in primary grades who are falling behind. A Parent tutor is a parent who is a graduate of the parent mentor program or a parent with 200hrs of experience in a class room. A tutor is someone who has received 20hrs of initial training and is still receiving 2 additional hours per week of continued training in tutoring techniques, child development, and educational related issues. Most importantly a LSNA/Americorps Parent Tutor is someone whose primary goal is to increase academic achievement in reading and math by providing tutoring to students and workshops for parents in the community.
AmeriCorps Prisoner and Family Ministries – LSSI
Marion, IL 62959
Phone: (618) 997-9196, Ext. 821
Prisoner and Family Ministry program provides direct service to those incarcerated, their families and those returning home from prison in five locations: Chicago, Marion, Rockford, Springfield and Metro East St. Louis area. AmeriCorps members are creating and giving presentation on reentry at all sites, encouraging partnerships and recruiting volunteers.
AmeriCorps for McHenry County
McHenry, IL 60050
Phone: (815) 455-2828
The overall goal of AmeriCorps of McHenry County is designed to build academic and social supports for identified youth with risk factors such as diagnosed mental illness, gang involvement, Latino youth, and those eligible for free and reduced lunch. AmeriCorps members provide tutoring, and mentoring activities in after school programs throughout the County, as well as promote interaction with the community through service projects. Members benefit by developing marketable job skills in the social service/education field, and develop leadership and teambuilding skills overall.
Chicago, IL 60607
Phone: (312) 355-4227
Project MORE provides critically needed support for early childhood and family literacy programs throughout the Chicagoland area. Through a research-based family literacy curriculum and adult education services, MORE is committed to developing lifelong learning and economic self-sufficiency for Head Start and child care families. MORE provides: tutoring for parents in GED, English as a Second Language classes, computer instruction, models parent-child literacy activities and facilitates financial literacy and other parent training workshops. The MORE program helps AmeriCorps members gain the knowledge and skills to successfully work with families, increase access to early childhood resources for families and professionals, recruit volunteers and community members to sustain MORE for families accomplishments.
Northwestern University Settlement Association
Project YES! (Youth, Education, Service)
Chicago, IL 60642
Phone: (773) 278-7471, Ext. 178
Project YES! connects caring adults with youth in and around the West Town community. Members serve the community through mentorship, educational, service, artistic, and recreational activities. The opportunities are offered through in/out classroom programming and our community service projects. The goal of the program is to support the student’s academic achievements, provide them with positive alternatives to destructive behaviors, and foster an ethic of service in the entire community.
PCC AmeriCorps
Oak Park, IL 60302
Phone: (708) 524-7685
PCC Community Wellness is a network of nine community health centers located on the west side of Chicago and the nearby suburbs. Our mission is to improve health outcomes for the medically underserved community through the provision of high quality, affordable, and accessible primary health care and support services. AmeriCorps members are assigned to a PCC community health centers where they work closely with a team of healthcare professionals. Members serve by promoting healthy lifestyle choices to patients and the community throughout the life cycle. They provide individual patient education in the health center and in homes, and conduct community education through collaborating schools and churches. PCC AmeriCorps is active in city and regional coalitions such as the Chicago Breastfeeding Task Force, Building a Healthier Chicago, and the Coalition to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children. PCC offers a mentoring program, pairing each AmeriCorps member with an appropriate professional based on their career path interests. AmeriCorps members hold biweekly team meetings and schedule team bonding activities and outings.
Macomb, IL 61455
Phone: (309) 298-2706
The Peace Corps Fellows Program recruits returned Peace Corps Volunteers to lead community development projects in rural communities across the state, as part of their graduate studies as Western Illinois University. While serving their internships, PCFs are enrolled as AmeriCorps members and recruit, coordinate, and manage local volunteers on local projects, such as city and regional planning, downtown revitalization, park and recreational development, and business retention and expansion.
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: (312) 422-7777
Public Allies' mission is to advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation. Public Allies is changing the face and practice of leadership in communities across the country by demonstrating our conviction that everyone can lead, and that lasting social change results when citizens of all backgrounds step up, take responsibility, and work together.
Land of Lincoln AmeriCorps
Ina, IL 62846
Phone: (618) 437-5321, Ext. 1345
Lincoln AmeriCorps is primarily part-time tutors and mentors serving in the grade schools helping with literacy reading skills in the lower grades K-2 and homework completion, attitudes toward school, disciplinary referrals with the upper grades 3-8. The hope is for the member to give that little extra help to at least 8-10 teacher-referred students who are needing help to get up to grade level in subjects they are struggling with. The Southern 7 AmeriCorps portion of the grant is primarily full-time members serving with not-profit agencies who are needing extra help in providing face-to-face services to children and families in a wide variety of disciplines including a battered women’s center, homeless housing, a child advocacy center, a lunch buddies program, computer lab, food pantry, mental health counseling, environmental education and interpretive services for visitors centers, and environmental recycling. These activities are concentrated in the Southern approximately 18 counties of Illinois.
AmeriCorps Benefits the Community (ABC)
Dixon, IL
Phone: (815) 288-5511
The AmeriCorps Benefits the Community Program, better known as ABC AmeriCorps, is a national service program sponsored by Sauk Valley Community College, two hours west of Chicago, and serving Lee. Whiteside, Carroll, Ogle, Bureau, LaSalle, Livingston, Henry and Rock Island counties in central and northwest Illinois. The area is predominantly rural. The mission of ABC AmeriCorps is to work with children, youth and families in education programs and community-based agencies to increase academic and life skills.
Schuler Scholar Program
Lake Forest, IL 60045
Phone: (773) 320-0302
Schuler Scholar Program, through enrichment and academic programs, guidance, and scholarships, prepares high potential students to succeed at selective colleges. We believe that if high potential but vulnerable students have access to academic and enrichment programs while in high school, are well informed of college options, receive support from family, friends, teachers and mentors, are motivated, and secure financial assistance, they will be successful in obtaining a college degree.
Belleville AmeriCorps
Belleville, IL
Phone: (618) 641-5709
Belleville AmeriCorps program, established in 1995, is a partnership between Southwestern Illinois College, Belleville School District #118, the city of Belleville, Franklin Neighborhood Association, 17th Street Neighborhood Association, and Lebanon Kids. The program supports neighborhood and school initiatives that strengthen the community through community service. AmeriCorps members serve as tutors, computer coaches, volunteer coordinators and summer camp counselors. Through service, AmeriCorps members: increase youth academic success through tutoring; provide positive recreational and enrichment activities for youth after school and during the summer; recruit, support and train volunteers to serve local organizations; and develop leadership skills by participating in team-building and service learning activities.
AmeriCorps/ Youth Corps
Springfield, IL 62704
Phone: (217) 789-0830 Ext. 203
The Springfield Urban League’s AmeriCorps Program is community based strategically throughout the city. Our members serve as tutors and mentors for the 21st Century After-school program as well as other afterschool entities. We also serve minimum time with the Headstart Sites as program assistants. We have summer slots that we will fill with members during the summer months.
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 344-8820
The AmeriCorps members at the IMC seek to help alleviate poverty in Champaign County by connecting community members with resources available at the IMC and our partner organizations. The IMC fosters the creation and distribution of media, art, and narratives emphasizing underrepresented voices and perspectives, and promotes empowerment and expression through media and arts education. To this end, the IMC owns and operates a 30,000 square foot Community Media and Arts Center, in Urbana, Illinois. We offer community access to a free monthly newspaper, a community radio station, computer labs, a production studio, performance space, art studios, a bike repair shop, meeting spaces, and a variety of workshops, classes, and volunteer projects, including the Books to Prisoners Project.
Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: (312) 564-2332
Volunteers of America of Illinois provides housing and employment services to homeless veterans through its True North Project (TNP). The TNP program utilizes a community and strength-based approach to serving homeless veterans. Such an approach requires a strong commitment to partnerships which are actively pursued to ensure that participants have access to all the resources they need to achieve stability and self-sufficiency. Veterans have access to job-readiness training that includes resume writing, mock interviews and job referrals, as well as peer support. VOA of IL has found that veterans are more apt to take part in a program that they learn about through other veterans - in essence, their experience validates a program. The addition of 16 part-time AmeriCorps members, recruited from graduates of our TNP program, will allow VOA of IL to assist even more homeless veterans on their path to self-sufficiency with resources and tools to regain independence.
Career Passport & Housing Program
Oak Park, IL 60303
Phone: (708) 338-1724
The Career Passport, Rapid Re-Housing and Support Center programs provide individuals and families who become homeless in suburban Cook County with a comprehensive approach to achieving and sustaining self-sufficiency through employment and stable housing. The Support Center offers year round basic services (i.e. laundry, showers, computer lab, phones) and case management services to assist clients in addressing their health, income and housing needs. Career Passport is a therapeutic workforce development program that offers employment readiness, job placement and job retention services. Rapid Re-housing is designed to quickly move individuals and families coming from an emergency shelter into stable housing with wrap around supports.
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