September: Shorefront Legacy Center
October: Crossroads Fund/Black Lives Matter Chicago
November: The Brennan Center
December: Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
January: Community Renewal Society
February: Interfaith Action of Evanston
March: Poor People’s Campaign
April: Restore Justice
May: UU Prison Ministry of Illinois
June: Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
July: Assata’s Daughters
August: Black Lives of UU
Fifth Sundays: Deborah’s Place

Shorefront Legacy Center

Shorefront Legacy Center is an archive of the history of Black people in Evanston, compiled and interpreted through the eyes of the Black community. It serves as a valuable resource to those who need documentation of the real story of Black Evanston and the harms that have been caused by institutional racism in Evanston. They are providing a report to support the work of the Reparations Subcommittee of the Evanston City Council, and important piece of anti-racism work. Learn more here.

Crossroads Fund/Black Lives Matter Chicago

Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social and economic justice in the Chicago area. Although it is a non-profit, 501(c)3 public foundation, it pools together resources of individuals, foundations, businesses and other entities to provide grants to numerous grassroots organizations for social change that do not themselves have tax-deductible status (as well as some that do).  Their Executive Director told me that they will direct the funds we provide them to an organization we identify, such as Black Lives Matter Chicago, without charging their usual adminstrative fee for that service.  Thus I am providing info both about Crossroads and BLMChicago, which otherwise meets the criteria for a Shared Fund recipient. Learn more about Crossroads Fund. Learn more about Black Lives Matter Chicago. 

Brennan Center

The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to defend democracy, reform justice, and protect the US Constitution. The Brennan Center is dedicated to protecting the rule of law and the values of Constitutional democracy, with many of its initiatives focused on racial justice. The Brennan Center is at the center of the fight to preserve and expand the right to vote for every eligible US citizen. Through practical policy proposals, litigation, advocacy, and communications, it drives for equal justice, campaign finance reform, ending mass incarceration, and preserving civil liberties. 

Some of the Brennan Center’s key initiatives include:

  • working with volunteer lawyers across the country to fight for justice for all, with a focus on reducing mass incarceration and promoting racial justice. 
  • restoring voting rights to people with past convictions.
  • supporting fair and impartial courts and the rule of law, including by promoting a diverse bench and guarding against special interest influence.
  • seeking effective national security policies that respect constitutional values and protect civil liberties, without religious or ethnic profiling.
  • leading the fight against an unfair system of money in politics, by seeking campaign finance solutions and driving to overturn the Citizens United decision and related cases.
  • pushing for an end to gerrymandering, and for transformation of the redistricting process to ensure fair representation for all voters.

For more information on the Brennan Center for Justice, visit brennancenter.org.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

UUSC focuses on Central American Migrant Justice, Climate-Forced Displacement, and Human Rights for Royhingya suffering from ethnic cleansing in Burma.  Whenever possible, it partners with groups led by Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, and collaborates in as horizontal a way as possible, using an anti-racist framework.

With COVID-19’s, UUSC works to provide basic survival necessities, like food and cleaning supplies for tragically underserved migrants stuck in temporary shelters at the U.S-Mexico border and in Bangladesh, virtually all of whom are people of color.  

It also lobbies Congress, works on releasing of migrants from detention centers, and has launched a new campaign focused on protecting the Right to Resist in response to the criminalization of protest, which disproportionately impacts BIPOC activists. Learn more here.

Community Renewal Society

Members of CRS churches and CRS staff meet with and lobby state and local officials to persuade them to develop, push for and then implement government policies that move to eliminate race and class barriers, and provide for minorities and the poor more equal access to education, jobs and good housing. CRS also fights to end racial oppression and other abuses by police against minorities.  CRS sponsors, attends and leads social justice activities, working with local communities and other social justice organizations. Learn more here.

Interfaith Action of Evanston

IAE brings people together to serve hungry and homeless people, pursue Interfaith dialogue, and engage in advocacy that promotes social justice for those we serve. Learn more here. 

Poor People’s Campaign

The Poor People’s Campaign – A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up the unfinished work of Martin Luther King’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. From Alaska to Arkansas, the Bronx to the border, people are coming together to confront the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. We understand that as a nation we are at a critical juncture — that we need a movement that will shift the moral narrative, impact policies and elections at every level of government, and build lasting power for poor and impacted people. Learn more here.

Restore Justice

Restore Justice advocates for fairness, humanity, and compassion throughout the Illinois criminal legal system, with a primary focus on those affected by extreme sentences imposed on our youth.  We create and support policies that allow those who are rehabilitated to go home, and that ensure those incarcerated, their families, and victim families have opportunities for healing and justice. We engage currently and formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, victims and their families, communities, and concerned Illinoisans in advocacy and service within the criminal justice system.

COVID-19 fundamentally changed the nature of our work in early March, 2020. Our work to advocate for a fair criminal sentencing policy transformed into a life-or-death mission to move the state mitigate the impact of COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons and to adhere to public health guidance rather than base instincts. Learn more here.

UU Prison Ministry of Illinois

UUPMI “Equips UU’s in Illinois to transform institutions and support people harmed by the prison industrial complex.”  Its work includes systems change advocacy, education, congregational outreach, and ministries to people inside and upon release.  

Illinois prisoners are 55% Black, compared with 15% of Illinois’ population. The Department of Corrections has not released enough people to reduce the spread of Covid-19, and people released were disproportionately white. UUPMI advocates for release and provides direct support to people inside when  commissaries close, cutting off cleaning supplies and safe food. UUPMI is a lifeline for LGBTQ people inside. Learn more here.

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

ICIRR, created in 1986, is a state-wide coalition of more than 100 organizations dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social and political life of a diverse society.  ICIRR is an inclusive entity that organizes, educates and demonstrates in matters concerning healthcare access, public benefits access, civic engagement, and citizenship.  Their work is designed to promote the welfare and rights of all immigrants and refugees regardless of ethnic origin. Learn more here.

Assata’s Daughters

Assata’s Daughters (AD) is a Black woman-led, young person-focused collective, organizing young Black people primarily on Chicago’s south side.  AD uses a popular education model designed to escalate, deepen and sustain the movement for Black liberation. They help young people and their families to meet survival needs through mutual aid, and have greatly increased those efforts to address the economic impact of Covid-19. They provide political education, leadership development, and teach sustainable forward-looking skills, such as curriculum writing, conflict resolution and self-protection. Learn more about Assata’s Daughters.

Black Lives of UU

Formed in the wake of several conversations among Black UUs at the July 2015 Movement for Black Lives Convening in Cleveland, OH – the BLUU Organizing Collective is committed to to:

  • Expanding the power & capacity of Black UUs within our faith
  • Providing support, information & resources for Black Unitarian Universalists.
  • Justice-making and liberation through our faith

We share the newly created Vision for Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism with you proudly. Developed at the Organizing Collective Board Meeting in December 2018, this vision is centered in our love for Black people and our belief in our UU faith:

BLUU harnesses love’s power to combat oppression and foster healing as a spiritual and political imperative. We know the power of love to be life changing, inclusive, relational, uncomfortable, unconditional and without end. Learn more here. Visit the Black Lives UU Facebook page.

Deborah’s Place

Deborah’s Place opens doors of opportunity for women who are homeless in Chicago. Founded in 1985 to help single women who are homeless, we have helped more than 4,000 women heal and move on from the traumatic experience of homelessness. With housing options and supportive services tailored to individual needs, every women we serve is offered opportunities to meet their goals.

Deborah’s Place was born out of the passion and commitment of a small group of volunteers who felt a responsibility to do something for women living rough on the streets of downtown Chicago. Our programs have grown from an emergency overnight shelter in 1985 to 144 units of permanent supportive housing, 115 units of scattered site community-based housing and a 10-bed interim housing program today. We serve more than 400 women per year.

Our work is meeting each woman as she begins her journey out of the chaos of homelessness. We work together with women to help them develop their own goal plans. We connect them to services that help them achieve their goals, including crisis and case management, healthcare coordination, securing income and access to education. Through this, women move on from the experience of homelessness to a stable future and better quality of life.

We could not continue this important work without the support of generous donors like you. We are proud to say that 83 center of every dollar goes directly to our programs. Learn more here.