Community-led Coronavirus Response - Metropolitan Planning Council

Skip to main content

Community-led Coronavirus Response

Groups across our city and state have mobilized in offering assistance

Tweet this

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicagoans and Illinoisans have built grassroots community solidarity networks to protect and provide for the vulnerable, including the elderly, incarcerated, undocumented and unhoused. Numerous mutual aid groups are forming across our region to provide essential resources for food, childcare, housing, and other types of support.

Who else is offering support right now? Please help us grow and share this list

We want to give a shout out to these incredible and admirable community-led efforts and encourage you to support. And please, help us grow this list!

  • Logan Square Mutual Aid
    • Every day, LSMA will check the donations received in the PayPal account and distribute them to people in Logan Square who have requested assistance.
  • Chicago Community Trust's COVID-19 Response Fund
    • In partnership with the City of Chicago and United Way of Metro Chicago we have launched the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund to unite the funds raised by Chicago’s philanthropies, corporations and individuals to be disbursed to nonprofit organizations across the region.
  • Gage Park Latinx Council
    • In an effort to support our community members, the Gage Park Latinx Council , along with organizers from Pilsen and Archer Heights, have organized this mutual aid fund to help alleviate some of the financial stress on undocumented community members living in Chicago’s southwest side.
  • Chicago COVID-19 Hardship and Help
    • The Chicago COVID-19 Hardship and Help page was created by Chicago organizers Kelly Hayes and Delia Galindo to offer a simple way for people in the Chicago area to ask others for assistance during this crisis.
  • My Block, My Hood, My City: SENIOR VIRAL RESPONSE
    • My Block My Hood My City will be ensuring seniors have access to hand sanitizer, health supplements, toiletries, and food. Seniors and those living with disability are most at risk in the event of the continued spread of the virus. You can support our Senior Viral Response with a donation, and seniors can request their Viral Response Package below.
  • Brave Space Alliance Crisis Pantry Program
    • Trans Liberation Collective, in partnership with Brave Space Alliance, is launching a COVID-19 Relief Fund for trans, non-binary, and intersex individuals. Payments of up to $200 per individual will be distributed to help combat the economic strain that has left our most vulnerable community members without resources.
  • Chicago Artists Relief Fund
    • This fund was created by Chicago-area artists in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to support our colleagues in the greater Chicago arts community who are experiencing financial repercussions due to pandemic-related cancellations.
  • Pilsen Vencera COVID-19
    • In Pilsen a network of neighbors has formed a Mutual Aid collective comprised of different movement organizers and autonomous people who are willing and able to lend a hand. We are immediately providing grocery and supply deliveries, and we are preparing to expand this to include other much needed support such as care-giving, mental health support, running errands and pharmacy pickups.
  • Garfield Park Community Council
    • This form is for neighbors of the Garfield Park community to offer skills, resources, supplies, space, and time to community members who are affected by COVID-19 and our most vulnerable residents.
  • COVID-19 Mutual Aid Volunteers Rockford
    • This for members of the Rockford community to offer skills, resources, supplies, space and time to community members who are affected by COVID - 19 and those most vulnerable among us. The group offers a form you can complete to join its network of volunteer supporters to do mutual aid work.
  • DuPage County COVID-19 Response Fund
    • The DuPage Foundation has created the COVID-19 Response Fund to receive contributions from those looking to support our community in this time of crisis and help fuel our local not-for-profits who will be impacted by and charged with responding to the repercussions of this emergency.

Our colleagues at Forefront have compiled a list of emergency funds and other collective actions formed across the state in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. And Block Club Chicago has been running an extensive list of Coronavirus resources

If we missed a mutual aid fund, link them in the comments.

More posts by Carolina

MPC on Twitter

Follow us on Twitter »


Stay in the loop!

MPC's Regionalist newsletter keeps you up to date with our work and our upcoming events.?

Subscribe to Regionalist


Most popular news

Browse by date »

This page can be found online at http://archive.metroplanning.org/news/8839

Metropolitan Planning Council 140 S. Dearborn St.
Suite 1400
Chicago, Ill. 60603
312 922 5616 info@metroplanning.org

Sign up for newsletter and alerts »

Shaping a better, bolder, more equitable future for everyone

For more than 85 years, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) has partnered with communities, businesses, and governments to unleash the greatness of the Chicago region. We believe that every neighborhood has promise, every community should be heard, and every person can thrive. To tackle the toughest urban planning and development challenges, we create collaborations that change perceptions, conversations—and the status quo. Read more about our work »

Donate »