Community Cares’ mission is to: provide relief (meeting the immediate needs of our community), develop people through nurturing relationships, and work towards holistic transformation in the areas of education, race, poverty, and incarceration.

Education

Capitalizing on this season, we’re working to expand our Kids Hope programs as virtual mentoring opportunities. This will open doors for mentors who were previously unable to participate because of schedule constraints. Building for the future, we’re partnering with the Alive Center to open a location in Aurora focused on empowering the youth of today to become the impassioned, resilient leaders of tomorrow.

Race

Our focus is to equip individuals, staff, and entrepreneurs to be agents of change in their communities. We’re offering a year-long cohort on racial reconciliation which includes a small group curriculum, book chats, and Justice Series panel events. We’re enrolling our staff in a one-year journey pursuing racial justice with other pastors around the country. Our dream project is to develop a small business incubator that launches minority-owned businesses in under-resourced communities.

Poverty

We’ll continue to prioritize dignity as we work to meet the immediate needs of our community as they arise. Our Community Cares teams will continue collecting donations for our local food pantries, sewing masks for protection during the pandemic, supporting homeless shelters by providing needed meals, and caring for those who are vulnerable in our community.

Incarceration

We’ll launch our newest Community Freedom location at the DuPage County Correctional Facility. This new facility along with existing locations at the Joliet Treatment Facility and Fox Valley Adult Transition facility will provide small group opportunities and weekly services for individuals while they are incarcerated as well as re-entry support and mentoring for families and returning citizens as they transition back home.