Volunteer opportunities: HandsOn Suburban Chicago's brings people, organizations together to do good

In the 1960s, local activist Lois Moore began filling a recipe box with the names of friends who were interested in volunteering but unsure of where to go.

As that box began to overflow, Moore worked with the Arlington Heights Clergy Fellowship to found the Volunteer Service Bureau of Northwest Cook County - a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities.

The nonsectarian bureau opened its doors in 1969 in a cramped high school office in Arlington Heights, connecting more than 100 people with opportunities to make a difference in the first year.

From these humble beginnings, the Volunteer Service Bureau of Northwest Cook County partnered with Catholic Charities Northwest Senior Services, Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley and Sherwin Williams in 1987 to bolster the Community Paint-A-Thon - an annual, two-day event in September where volunteers paint house exteriors to help low-income seniors, veterans and individuals with disabilities remain in their homes.

Over the past 32 events, 17,410 volunteers have furbished 876 homes.

The bureau grew further in 1992 to sponsor the Corporation for National and Community Service's Senior Corps-RSVP - one of the largest networks of volunteers ages 55 and older. As its name suggests, Senior Corps-RSVP members respond to a call to serve those in need while improving their own well-being through civic engagement.

In 2019, they provided critical services that equipped nearly 400 underprivileged students to succeed in school, 250 adult learners to gain proficiency in English, more than 800 older adults to age in their homes, and 1,400-plus low-income individuals with free tax return preparation.

In 2011, the bureau changed its name to HandsOn Suburban Chicago after affiliating with the HandsOn Network, an international group of community service organizations under the auspices of Points of Light, the world's largest volunteer nonprofit.

With the backing of Points of Light, HOSC upgraded its website to enable its partners to amplify their listings' reach through the industry's most comprehensive database for volunteer recruitment.

The website annually refers 5,000-plus volunteers in 44 Northern suburban communities to more than 100 social service agencies and schools.

Helping schools

While continuing its tradition of referring people to organizations, HOSC began providing direct services in 2010 to benefit high-needs schools. The agency allied with Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 to establish CHiL, an evidence-based, after-school program designed to prevent at-risk students at Cooper Middle School in Buffalo Grove and London Middle School in Wheeling from joining gangs.

HOSC then partnered with the comprehensive youth development agency OMNI Youth Services to add Wheeling's Holmes Middle School to its roster in 2011, and continues to operate out of all three schools today.

Volunteer tutors provide homework assistance and facilitate social and emotional learning activities led by OMNI's social workers. In 2017, District 21 acknowledged its robust relationship with HOSC and the organization's impact on the district's students and their families by presenting HOSC with the Community Service Award.

Forty-two percent of the students enrolled in CHiL achieved satisfactory grades that year. That percentage, which has been steadily climbing over the years, reached 90% this past fall.

In 2015, HOSC launched math tutoring at both Holmes and Jane Addams Elementary School in Palatine. The organization initiated schoolwide service-learning projects at London the same year.

By mobilizing young tutors from Vanguard School, an alternative high school in Northwest Suburban High School District 214, Arlington Heights, HOSC launched a reading program called Lunch Buddies at Plainfield Elementary School in Des Plaines in 2016. The nonprofit scaled Lunch Buddies in 2019 to train and manage high-needs students from The Academy, another District 214 individualized learning facility, to lead as tutors at Rupley Elementary School in Elk Grove Village.

In 2017, Senior Corps-RSVP developed the Intergenerational Pen Pal Program, which offers members the opportunity to exchange handwritten letters with area elementary school students.

By 2018, seniors were exchanging letters with third-, fourth- and fifth-grade bilingual and English language learners at both Jane Addams Elementary School and Tarkington Elementary School in Wheeling.

When the program draws to a close each year, the students and their pen pals meet face to face to learn more about each other. They work together to make bags of kindness, a service-learning project that benefits local meal delivery programs and food pantries.

By harnessing the power of volunteers, HOSC's own school programs benefit 1,100-plus students annually. These programs support low-income, first-generation students of color - many of whom are limited English proficient and require special education services to bolster their emotional, social and academic development.

COVID-19 help

Today, HOSC serves as a hub for organizations that provide COVID-19 relief. The response to urgent calls for volunteers and resources through HOSC's website, e-newsletter and social media platforms has been inspiring.

Since March 20, the volunteer nonprofit connected more than 186 people with purpose by referring them to perform essential services at and/or to donate necessities to shelters, blood banks, food banks and other organizations.

Now linked to Serve Illinois' COVID-19 response, HOSC updates its emergency listings daily and promotes an ethos of empowerment through selflessness via its communication channels.

The volunteering infrastructure HOSC has built over the decades has fostered a widespread culture of civic engagement, wherein the residents of Northern Cook and DuPage counties get involved to help vulnerable community members easily access the social supports and opportunities they need to thrive.

As a result, HOSC uniquely has been able to adapt to rapidly changing community needs to organize emergency relief efforts effectively while addressing long-term inequities that manifest in myriad socioeconomic institutions, such as housing, eldercare and education.

Marking 50 years

In April 2019, HOSC celebrated its 50th anniversary by hosting a successful fundraiser at the Arlington Ale House in Arlington Heights. Sponsored by the First Bank of Highland Park, the event brought out a crowd of 100 supporters who raised more than $12,000 for the volunteer agency.

Guests enjoyed an evening that included bingo, trivia, a raffle and silent auction. The Kevin O'Connell Jazz Trio provided music for the evening.

Notable guests included Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes, Trustee Robin LaBedz and District 21 board member Arlen Gould.

HOSC's next fundraiser has been rescheduled to take place in the fall. Receive an update this summer, as well as biweekly roundups of meaningful volunteer opportunities, by signing up for the nonprofit's e-newsletter.

In February 2020, the village of Arlington Heights recognized two HOSC staff members at its 22nd Hearts of Gold Awards banquet. Executive Director Jordan Friedman received the Mentor Award for his leadership, and Community Paint-A-Thon Coordinator Danzella Graham received the Kenneth M. Bonder Beautification Award for recruiting more than 900 volunteers in the last three years to revamp the houses of those homeowners who are unable to do so.

HandsOn Suburban Chicago is at 2121 S. Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights.

HOSC relies on generous gifts to continue coordinating sustainable responses to escalating community needs. Please make a donation today.

For information, visit www.handsonsuburbanchicago.org or call (847) 228-1320.