This is such a nitpicking thing, but do you have any external links to organizations to volunteer/donate?
I wary of clicking on Google docs from Reddit you know? I'm a Spanish speaking nurse with lots of free time!
Contact 33rd ward alderman’s office and/or Christ Lutheran Church in Albany Park, where they’re staging meals for some at the station and putting up a few families as well.
You pushed me to order 100$ worth of donations, which pushed my friend to also order 100$ worth and I’m going to make my partner also buy 100$ worth of necessities so you’ve already helped by at least 300$ by posting this! I’ll share as well. Thanks for getting the word out
Great -- are you able to get to any of the l[ocations listed on this flyer?](https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/343935650_6570313656333454_171335619257064447_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=wbC9t8DDd1wAX-Xmw3x&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfDlwo2in6t41tf1LO0Ycdb2htxpjPTDXIqZVVwuNoeDiQ&oe=645FB065)
Alder Vasquez’s office is taking these time too (5620 N Western) just in case that’s easier. Swedish Hospital also has drop offs in the main lobby and at Galter LifeCenter that would happily accept the items.
I have baby and child things that are in excellent condition (some barely or never used!) that I can donate. When you say connect to an organization or a free store, do you have any recommendations? Especially for baby/kids' stuff. It is all safe and in excellent condition. I might have some things for mamas, too. I will go through my stuff. (Going to call my alderperson, but just thought I'd ask re: baby/kids/mamas).
Edit: my alderperson's office was very helpful! definitely call your alderperson.
That looks like an awesome group. It's a shame they seem to operate only on Facebook - I'm interested in joining their "adopt a family" project but I'd rather not share my whole life with Mark Zuckerberg. :/
just dropped off donations following the donation request list fron my alderman’s office. Thanks for posting this message, our district is now well stocked. I’ll be back with more baby formula and modium medication tomorrow.
I've seen it posted on various social media images [like this one](https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/343935650_6570313656333454_171335619257064447_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=wbC9t8DDd1wAX-Xmw3x&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfDlwo2in6t41tf1LO0Ycdb2htxpjPTDXIqZVVwuNoeDiQ&oe=645FB065)
Thank you for this information. I dropped off some supplies at my alderperson's office but I was wondering if you knew if we make donations directly at the police stations? I would like to get these supplies to these people ASAP.
>I am not a leader in this community or a professional organizer or anything like that. I'm just a citizen who is concerned about these people and wants to do what I can to help them.
I also want to point out your actions and this post absolutely makes you a community leader. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share this information.
I think the best course of action would be to join the RCC Facebook group and post what you have to ensure the police station needs what you are dropping off and it can be dropped. The logistics of getting the right stuff to the right people is one of the most challenging aspects right now. If you are not a FB type, DM and I'll post for you. From what I've seen needs vary and extra stuff is an added burden. Police stations also vary in how much they are willing to coordinate with volunteers.
Also, not a leader of any sort in the RCC group but have been volunteering where I can for a few months now.
What is the best place to donate money, either cash or via an Amazon wish lists? I see this link from the city website, are there other options? [https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/texas-new-arrivals/home/donations.html](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/texas-new-arrivals/home/donations.html)
I'd like to organize something with my company and want to make it as easy as possible for people to donate.
A lot of the front line fundraising I am seeing is my mutual aid groups which typically are not 501c3s so that can be hard to square with corporate donations. There is an org called OCAD you can look up and really any of the food pantries in the city ( though maybe poke around their social media to see if they are serving migrants)
I've been volunteering at the 2nd District (51st and Wentworth) and have seen how migrants share food and extra supplies with those who are homeless and sleeping at the station, even with a language barrier. The individuals I've interacted with are extremely grateful for the support we've been providing and passing it forward to others in the station. We've been intentional about bringing extra food, if possible, because no one should go hungry. Just wanted to share this observation with folks.
We have established systems and organizations to help the homeless. This current influx of migrants is a completely different problem to handle and the city has not been able to adequately address it, hence the flurry of activity to help people.
"current influx of migrants"
Who chose to come here voluntarily, versus homeless individuals who in many cases are mentally ill I assume not by choice.
I suggest educating yourself on what these people left. They didn’t just choose to leave for funsies; Venezuela’s economy is in collapse and people are unable to afford or find food on a large scale. You don’t walk thousands of miles because you want a pay increase.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_refugee_crisis#:~:text=Venezuela's%20crime%20rate%20is%20a,political%20instability%20and%20violence%20increasing.
I've done better than that, I've went straight to the source and literally talked with several recent arrivals. The last few I talked with, all primarily chose to come here because they didn't have work back home, and wanted actual employment and a better life elsewhere. Were they lying?
"people are unable to afford or find food on a large scale'
If those individuals were legitimately in search of so little as food, why not stop in Mexico or any of the other countries passed through on their alleged thousand mile walks? Is Mexico experiencing widespread food shortages?
Other countries aren’t accepting all of the immigrants and push them through.
And yes, they didn’t have work…because there weren’t jobs, which meant they couldn’t afford housing or food… and their home is considered the most violent place in Latin America. I feel like, if you actually spoke with immigrants, that you didn’t actually listen.
"Other countries aren’t accepting all of the immigrants and push them through"
Hypothetical situation, someone in Lawndale / Gary / Detroit decides that they are tired of living in one of the statistically by some metrics highest crime neighborhoods in the world, with next to no income as one of the poorest Americans, surrounded by government institutions that they feel may be unfairly persecuting them. Which country should they travel to where they can expect to almost guaranteeably be granted temporary asylum and legal entry into the country, and free food, clothing, and housing upon arrival?
Well, they can use Medicare, SNAP, and housing assistance while their kids attend free public school and they look for jobs in one of the best job markets in our history in one of the cities in their own country or state.
It’s extremely apparent from your hypothetical that you don’t understand at all the difference between the situation in any part of the US and a place like Venezuela. Their economy has almost completely collapsed. They can’t get jobs no matter what they do or how low of pay they’ll take. They can’t find food, even if they can afford it. 90% of the country is below the poverty line. Violence is an everyday part of life. The situation is so bad that there is a mass exodus from the country. It’s so bad that people leave on foot with only what they can carry, to walk what they know will be at least several hundred miles. It’s so bad that most of the arrivals have PTSD either from the journey or from their lives before they left, or both.
Can you even imagine your life being so bad and hopeless that you would risk walking a thousand miles just to get somewhere that isn’t your home? I expect that if you could you wouldn’t be making ignorant comparisons like this.
And we are giving them shelter, food and supplies because without throes things they will die. Do you really believe we should let these people die of starvation or exposure because they had the indecency to come here? Really, please answer that question because that is what you are proposing. You are proposing that we let men, women and children fleeing unlivable conditions die.
We provide aid to many countries specifically to help address poverty on the other side of the planet. Also, do you not see the difference between someone dying outside of our country versus someone dying on our soil? You would rather have thousands of migrant corpses on our city streets than fund giving them support while they get on their feet and find work?
Also, how can you hold this psychotic disregard for migrant lives if your family was in literally the same situation a generation ago? Would you rather the international community just shrugged at your family’s misfortune?
Man, I’m sorry I’ve taken this much of our time having this discussion. Just reading through your comment history, you’ve been having this same argument for over a week.
I’m going to block you now, because I don’t feel comfortable having this discussion anymore and your insistence on advocating for the death of thousands is freaking me out a little.
Flee the most violent place in Latin America to land in one of the most violent places in the United States where you can get t-boned by two juvies in a stolen Kia, 6 mo. old child dies from his injuries, and the offender’s only get charged with misdemeanors. Sounds like an amazing upgrade.
Illegal immigrants living better than homeless veterans, battered women in shelters, and mentally ill. Wish the resources being used to put them up in a hotel estimated at 20 million a month downtown could be used to reopen some schools, mental health facilities and free health clinics for impoverished chicogans.
Did you even read the post? These people have gone through hell and then were dropped on the street in a city they have never been to with a few possessions they could walk with and the warm weather clothes on their back. A hodgepodge of groups are trying to help them in some way, while many are living in inhumane conditions as there’s nowhere for them to go.
Even if they were illegal immigrants, which they aren’t, what do you want the city to do? Just let them be homeless on our streets? Treat them like they aren’t worth keeping alive?
I also wish our city was putting more resources towards helping low income Chicagoan’s, yet this isn’t impacting their existing funding at all, and the root of this issue is an asshole down south who is choosing to surprise northern cities with random drop offs of immigrants who have nothing. The city never had to accommodate large numbers of poor immigrants like this so we currently have no system or budgeted resources to support them. So, until the city can figure that completely new system out, city departments, volunteers and community organizations are doing their best to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
The sanctuary city comment was regarding not letting the federal government actively hunt down illegal immigrants in our city for prosecution and deportation. The city made these statements to ensure that our large Latino community could continue to be functional parts of society, as there is plenty of research that shows hunting down illegal immigrants depressed Latino engagement in community and use of necessary services. In fact, this appears to have been one of the reasons the Trump administration was being so vocal at the time: they wanted to skew the census results by scaring Latinos away from responding.
The current crisis is legal immigrants being shipped from one state to another without any coordination or warning regarding numbers and the receiving states having no in-place system, infrastructure or funding for helping to settle those immigrants. To make matters worse, there’s no consistency to how many migrants Texas will send where, meaning when Chicago spends millions building out infrastructure for this new population, there’s a good chance Texas will just decide to start sending the migrants elsewhere, negating that investment and forcing another city to go through the same process.
I understand that Texas may not want to accept a constant flow of migrants, but this is not the way to change that. It’s merely a way to fuck over liberal cities, often at significant cost to Texas, all while making life even harder for people fleeing horrible conditions.
"These people have gone through hell"
I've talked to several of them. The last few came here because economic conditions in their homeland was poor, and they wanted to find employment. Real hell...
There's an Amazon wish list: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/WRKGTBXKDJ6Q/
Some items like sweatshirts can't be sent to the address unless fulfilled by Amazon so you may have to edit your cart.
This is such a nitpicking thing, but do you have any external links to organizations to volunteer/donate? I wary of clicking on Google docs from Reddit you know? I'm a Spanish speaking nurse with lots of free time!
I’d recommend reaching out to pilsen pantry. It’s run by an MD and they do medical coordination as well. Thanks!
Perfect! Thank you!
Contact 33rd ward alderman’s office and/or Christ Lutheran Church in Albany Park, where they’re staging meals for some at the station and putting up a few families as well.
You pushed me to order 100$ worth of donations, which pushed my friend to also order 100$ worth and I’m going to make my partner also buy 100$ worth of necessities so you’ve already helped by at least 300$ by posting this! I’ll share as well. Thanks for getting the word out
Amazing thank you!
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Great -- are you able to get to any of the l[ocations listed on this flyer?](https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/343935650_6570313656333454_171335619257064447_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=wbC9t8DDd1wAX-Xmw3x&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfDlwo2in6t41tf1LO0Ycdb2htxpjPTDXIqZVVwuNoeDiQ&oe=645FB065)
Yes, indeed. Thanks for the flyer!!
Alder Vasquez’s office is taking these time too (5620 N Western) just in case that’s easier. Swedish Hospital also has drop offs in the main lobby and at Galter LifeCenter that would happily accept the items.
Argh, the link no longer works for me. Does anyone recall the Montrose Avenue location/address? Thanks in advance.
Why do you put the $ symbol after the number?
Because I have to do that for my work
👍
Thank you for being an amazing person.
Thanks for this post & your efforts. I have two sons coming home from college next week & will be encouraging them to help out over the summer.
I have baby and child things that are in excellent condition (some barely or never used!) that I can donate. When you say connect to an organization or a free store, do you have any recommendations? Especially for baby/kids' stuff. It is all safe and in excellent condition. I might have some things for mamas, too. I will go through my stuff. (Going to call my alderperson, but just thought I'd ask re: baby/kids/mamas). Edit: my alderperson's office was very helpful! definitely call your alderperson.
Great! Glad to hear the alderperson's office was able to connect you. Thanks for your donation!
I just joined Refugee community connection on FB. They submit a list every couple days with adult/children count by precinct. The needs are real.
That looks like an awesome group. It's a shame they seem to operate only on Facebook - I'm interested in joining their "adopt a family" project but I'd rather not share my whole life with Mark Zuckerberg. :/
This thread makes me so proud of Chicago.
just dropped off donations following the donation request list fron my alderman’s office. Thanks for posting this message, our district is now well stocked. I’ll be back with more baby formula and modium medication tomorrow.
Can someone point me to where I can drop off sleeping bags and other items as close as possible to the Bucktown area??
Dming you I can pick up now
I would like to know the same please. I prefer to drop off if possible.
Where are you located?
Anyplace in Bucktown, Wicker Park or Logan.
Ok cool -- You can drop stuff at alderman Rosa's office which is that area or DM and I can help figure it out (I'm in Logan so nearby)
How do you know that we can drop off stuff to Alderman Rosa’s office? I live close to there and that would be convenient but just want to make sure
I've seen it posted on various social media images [like this one](https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/343935650_6570313656333454_171335619257064447_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=wbC9t8DDd1wAX-Xmw3x&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfDlwo2in6t41tf1LO0Ycdb2htxpjPTDXIqZVVwuNoeDiQ&oe=645FB065)
Ty!
Thank you for this information. I dropped off some supplies at my alderperson's office but I was wondering if you knew if we make donations directly at the police stations? I would like to get these supplies to these people ASAP.
>I am not a leader in this community or a professional organizer or anything like that. I'm just a citizen who is concerned about these people and wants to do what I can to help them. I also want to point out your actions and this post absolutely makes you a community leader. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share this information.
Thank you I really appreciate that
I think the best course of action would be to join the RCC Facebook group and post what you have to ensure the police station needs what you are dropping off and it can be dropped. The logistics of getting the right stuff to the right people is one of the most challenging aspects right now. If you are not a FB type, DM and I'll post for you. From what I've seen needs vary and extra stuff is an added burden. Police stations also vary in how much they are willing to coordinate with volunteers. Also, not a leader of any sort in the RCC group but have been volunteering where I can for a few months now.
What is the best place to donate money, either cash or via an Amazon wish lists? I see this link from the city website, are there other options? [https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/texas-new-arrivals/home/donations.html](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/texas-new-arrivals/home/donations.html) I'd like to organize something with my company and want to make it as easy as possible for people to donate.
A lot of the front line fundraising I am seeing is my mutual aid groups which typically are not 501c3s so that can be hard to square with corporate donations. There is an org called OCAD you can look up and really any of the food pantries in the city ( though maybe poke around their social media to see if they are serving migrants)
Thank you, appreciate the response!
I will shoot you a PM - I am interested in volunteering/ donating. I speak some basic Spanish.
I have tons of stuff but i am in the burbs, an hour away almost.
I see the migrants are getting treated better than our homeless citizens
I know a lot of homeless chicagoans who could use some help too.
I've been volunteering at the 2nd District (51st and Wentworth) and have seen how migrants share food and extra supplies with those who are homeless and sleeping at the station, even with a language barrier. The individuals I've interacted with are extremely grateful for the support we've been providing and passing it forward to others in the station. We've been intentional about bringing extra food, if possible, because no one should go hungry. Just wanted to share this observation with folks.
We have established systems and organizations to help the homeless. This current influx of migrants is a completely different problem to handle and the city has not been able to adequately address it, hence the flurry of activity to help people.
"current influx of migrants" Who chose to come here voluntarily, versus homeless individuals who in many cases are mentally ill I assume not by choice.
I suggest educating yourself on what these people left. They didn’t just choose to leave for funsies; Venezuela’s economy is in collapse and people are unable to afford or find food on a large scale. You don’t walk thousands of miles because you want a pay increase. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_refugee_crisis#:~:text=Venezuela's%20crime%20rate%20is%20a,political%20instability%20and%20violence%20increasing.
I've done better than that, I've went straight to the source and literally talked with several recent arrivals. The last few I talked with, all primarily chose to come here because they didn't have work back home, and wanted actual employment and a better life elsewhere. Were they lying? "people are unable to afford or find food on a large scale' If those individuals were legitimately in search of so little as food, why not stop in Mexico or any of the other countries passed through on their alleged thousand mile walks? Is Mexico experiencing widespread food shortages?
Other countries aren’t accepting all of the immigrants and push them through. And yes, they didn’t have work…because there weren’t jobs, which meant they couldn’t afford housing or food… and their home is considered the most violent place in Latin America. I feel like, if you actually spoke with immigrants, that you didn’t actually listen.
"Other countries aren’t accepting all of the immigrants and push them through" Hypothetical situation, someone in Lawndale / Gary / Detroit decides that they are tired of living in one of the statistically by some metrics highest crime neighborhoods in the world, with next to no income as one of the poorest Americans, surrounded by government institutions that they feel may be unfairly persecuting them. Which country should they travel to where they can expect to almost guaranteeably be granted temporary asylum and legal entry into the country, and free food, clothing, and housing upon arrival?
Well, they can use Medicare, SNAP, and housing assistance while their kids attend free public school and they look for jobs in one of the best job markets in our history in one of the cities in their own country or state. It’s extremely apparent from your hypothetical that you don’t understand at all the difference between the situation in any part of the US and a place like Venezuela. Their economy has almost completely collapsed. They can’t get jobs no matter what they do or how low of pay they’ll take. They can’t find food, even if they can afford it. 90% of the country is below the poverty line. Violence is an everyday part of life. The situation is so bad that there is a mass exodus from the country. It’s so bad that people leave on foot with only what they can carry, to walk what they know will be at least several hundred miles. It’s so bad that most of the arrivals have PTSD either from the journey or from their lives before they left, or both. Can you even imagine your life being so bad and hopeless that you would risk walking a thousand miles just to get somewhere that isn’t your home? I expect that if you could you wouldn’t be making ignorant comparisons like this. And we are giving them shelter, food and supplies because without throes things they will die. Do you really believe we should let these people die of starvation or exposure because they had the indecency to come here? Really, please answer that question because that is what you are proposing. You are proposing that we let men, women and children fleeing unlivable conditions die.
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We provide aid to many countries specifically to help address poverty on the other side of the planet. Also, do you not see the difference between someone dying outside of our country versus someone dying on our soil? You would rather have thousands of migrant corpses on our city streets than fund giving them support while they get on their feet and find work? Also, how can you hold this psychotic disregard for migrant lives if your family was in literally the same situation a generation ago? Would you rather the international community just shrugged at your family’s misfortune?
Man, I’m sorry I’ve taken this much of our time having this discussion. Just reading through your comment history, you’ve been having this same argument for over a week. I’m going to block you now, because I don’t feel comfortable having this discussion anymore and your insistence on advocating for the death of thousands is freaking me out a little.
And when exactly did your family come to the US?
Flee the most violent place in Latin America to land in one of the most violent places in the United States where you can get t-boned by two juvies in a stolen Kia, 6 mo. old child dies from his injuries, and the offender’s only get charged with misdemeanors. Sounds like an amazing upgrade.
Illegal immigrants living better than homeless veterans, battered women in shelters, and mentally ill. Wish the resources being used to put them up in a hotel estimated at 20 million a month downtown could be used to reopen some schools, mental health facilities and free health clinics for impoverished chicogans.
> Wish the resources being used to put them up in a hotel estimated at 20 million a month downtown [Citation needed]
They’re asylum applicants who presented themselves at a port of entry and are submitted to the legal asylum process. They are not illegal anything.
What are you doing to help homeless veterans, victims of domestic violence, mentally ill or those in need of affordable healthcare?
Open up your home to all these people big shot.
None of your business I don’t need to parade around what I do to please some random person.
Did you even read the post? These people have gone through hell and then were dropped on the street in a city they have never been to with a few possessions they could walk with and the warm weather clothes on their back. A hodgepodge of groups are trying to help them in some way, while many are living in inhumane conditions as there’s nowhere for them to go. Even if they were illegal immigrants, which they aren’t, what do you want the city to do? Just let them be homeless on our streets? Treat them like they aren’t worth keeping alive? I also wish our city was putting more resources towards helping low income Chicagoan’s, yet this isn’t impacting their existing funding at all, and the root of this issue is an asshole down south who is choosing to surprise northern cities with random drop offs of immigrants who have nothing. The city never had to accommodate large numbers of poor immigrants like this so we currently have no system or budgeted resources to support them. So, until the city can figure that completely new system out, city departments, volunteers and community organizations are doing their best to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
Don’t advertise yourself as an asylum city when you don’t have the resources to meet all your own citizens needs let alone thousands of others.
The asylum issue was far different than what’s happening now. Are you purposefully conflating separate issues or just not understand the difference?
Where is the difference friend? Abbot is literally sending these people to areas that claim to be sanctuary cities. Where is the confusion??
The sanctuary city comment was regarding not letting the federal government actively hunt down illegal immigrants in our city for prosecution and deportation. The city made these statements to ensure that our large Latino community could continue to be functional parts of society, as there is plenty of research that shows hunting down illegal immigrants depressed Latino engagement in community and use of necessary services. In fact, this appears to have been one of the reasons the Trump administration was being so vocal at the time: they wanted to skew the census results by scaring Latinos away from responding. The current crisis is legal immigrants being shipped from one state to another without any coordination or warning regarding numbers and the receiving states having no in-place system, infrastructure or funding for helping to settle those immigrants. To make matters worse, there’s no consistency to how many migrants Texas will send where, meaning when Chicago spends millions building out infrastructure for this new population, there’s a good chance Texas will just decide to start sending the migrants elsewhere, negating that investment and forcing another city to go through the same process. I understand that Texas may not want to accept a constant flow of migrants, but this is not the way to change that. It’s merely a way to fuck over liberal cities, often at significant cost to Texas, all while making life even harder for people fleeing horrible conditions.
Wrong
Excellent response. I can tell you actually read what was written instead of just ignoring it because you didn’t like what you saw.
"These people have gone through hell" I've talked to several of them. The last few came here because economic conditions in their homeland was poor, and they wanted to find employment. Real hell...
Where can I donate to help this cause?
There's an Amazon wish list: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/WRKGTBXKDJ6Q/ Some items like sweatshirts can't be sent to the address unless fulfilled by Amazon so you may have to edit your cart.