Local Resources
Contact City Officials
Contacting our city officials keeps local government accountable and can create change in our neighborhoods. Learn more >
Mutual Aid
Mutual aid networks are grassroots initiatives to raise funds and address urgent issues in your neighborhood. Learn more >
- The Love Fridge Chicago — volunteer mutual aid network running 17 free community fridges across the city, and follow @thelovefridgechicago on Instagram
- GoodKids MadCity — youth-led Black and Brown organization on Chicago’s South and West Sides working to end gun violence through peacekeeping, mutual aid and the Peacebook Ordinance; follow @gkmc18 on Instagram
- United Way 211 — dial 2-1-1 for free, confidential help finding food, housing, utility and other assistance
Independent News
Local news plays an important role in keeping our communities informed, and telling stories that affect global culture. Read and donate if you can! Learn more >
- Block Club Chicago — Nonprofit neighborhood newsroom covering all of Chicago
- South Side Weekly — Nonprofit newspaper by and for the South Side
- The TRiiBE — Black-owned digital media outlet reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago
- Borderless Magazine — Nonprofit newsroom covering immigration in Chicago; keeps an updated mutual aid guide
- City Bureau — Nonprofit civic journalism lab on the South Side; home of Documenters; follow @city_bureau on Instagram
Guides to Community Engagement
- Know your right to protest. Use this guide from the ACLU to prepare before you join a local protest.
- Use the national bail fund network. A directory of local bail funds for anyone who gets arrested, provided by Community Justice Exchange.
Protect your community from ICE raids.
- This Solidarity Guide for Defending Immigrant Communities is designed to help you protect you and your community.
- Download ILRC's wallet-sized Know Your Rights Red Cards and post in local businesses
- Call United We Dream’s MigraWatch free hotline to report ICE activity (1-844-363-1423)
- Know how to film law enforcement. WITNESS has an in-depth guide to filming ICE and police safely and in a way that holds up as evidence.
- Start pod mapping. Use this framework to organize with your neighbors and plan ahead for an emergency or moment to mobilize.
- Know your rights as a renter. Legal Aid Chicago offers free legal help for tenants facing eviction, unsafe housing or lost deposits.
- Make sure you’re registered to vote. Check your registration and find your polling place on the Illinois State Board of Elections’ voter portal.
- Learn to safely intervene. Right To Be offers free bystander intervention trainings so you can step in safely when you see someone being harassed.
Tools to Save
- 5 Calls. Scripts and phone numbers for calling your representatives in about five minutes.
- Resistbot. Text "resist" to 50409, and it turns your message into a letter or fax to your officials.
- Mobilize. Create change in your community. Find events, petitions, volunteer opportunities, and fundraisers in your local area.
- VOTE411. Enter your address to see what’s on your ballot, compare candidates and find your polling place.
- Signal. Free, encrypted messaging app for organizing group chats with your neighbors privately.
- Indivisible. Find a local group near you organizing to hold your members of Congress accountable.
ps – this is a community-created guide that is updated often. Want to make changes/corrections? Complete this form.
