Daily Service

AmeriCorps VISTA member Elliott Dionisio has served as our Days of Service Specialist for the better part of a year, shepherding groups and teams of volunteers through registration and preparing them for our annual events, Celebration of Service and Serve-a-thon. Elliott leaves us to begin law school later this week, but first we asked him to share his takeaways from a year of dedicated service with you.

For the last seven years, I’ve dedicated a part of my life to service (the first five casually along with school and work, and the last two full-time through AmeriCorps). I’ve always made a space for service in my life due in part to the oft-repeated axiom that there exist folks much less fortunate and much more in need than myself. Community service has been a way for me to pay forward the blessings I’ve received over my life. To me, these are truisms—whether I think of service on these terms is another story.

The results I gain from service are much different. After any given service project, I don’t walk away with an air of satisfaction or vindication. I don’t even walk away and reflect on the quantifiables (how many bowls of soup served, goods packaged, dogs walked, etc). Perhaps I once did, but I can’t remember the me then; maybe for me service has lost the luster of fulfillment from the earlier days. I walk away (and return soon after) knowing service to be a good way to spend my time. My motives are actually somewhat momentary—I’m not looking to shape a future legacy, I just like to be sure that I’m living my life to its fullest potential. And part of me understands that to be helping other human beings.

This last point is not one I tread over lightly; in fact, if service has had one enduring impact on me, it is that my worldview is much more empathetic to other human beings. Our upbringing and experiences do much to determine the cast of characters in our lives, and if Sociology is any guide we usually spend our lives with people ‘like’ ourselves. But service has helped me transcend those barriers. I have come to believe (as I have witnessed) that no matter where one falls on the socioeconomic scale, he has the same thoughts, feelings, concerns, and hopes as the next man. We all become hungry. We all want to feel valued. We all want to be loved. As the saying goes, we all ‘put our pants on one leg at a time.’ Service has helped me to be cognizant of this constantly.

This isn’t difficult to understand, but living the actual life is more astounding. I find myself paying respect to people with no preconditions. Respect shines through in the ways you speak and act towards others, but I take it one step forward in the ways I think about others. I subconsciously attempt to meet another person on his or her level when conversing with them. And when I hear off-color jokes directed at strangers, I know my judgment isn’t sufficient enough to react to them. Being around so many people of so many different strata—as I am through volunteering—has had the effect of neutralizing my preconceptions. 

Service has taught me that as different as we all are, we’re also very much the same. I say ‘taught’ in a reflexive sense, because this transformation crept upon me unnoticed. At a service project or outside a service project, people matter and people make the difference—all day, every day. Service has not only changed my life, but my lifestyle. And as much as your serve too, you may realize the same.

Effective July 7, 2010, Scott Lorenz resigned his position as Executive Director of Chicago Cares. Having served Chicago Cares for nearly 20 years as a volunteer, Board member and Executive Director, Scott supported Chicago Cares in our goal of doubling our impact in Chicago in only five years and expanding even in the face of an economic recession.

In the meantime, Chicago Cares will maintain its commitment to the Chicago community, fostering a strong ethic of volunteerism through its programs and projects, and will continue to expand its services to local partners and volunteers.  We’re happy to announce the promotion of two long-time, experienced Chicago Cares leaders – Kris Smart and Katie Stearns.  As Associate Executive Director of Programs and Shared Services, Kris will oversee our year-round, monthly projects, as well as Human Resources and Finance.  Katie will oversee fundraising and our new volunteer and leader services team in addition to her duties managing our annual service events and business shares projects as Associate Executive Director of External Affairs. Please join us in congratulating Kris and Katie!

Know a Coordinator

Kyle Mahoney recently joined our staff as our Human Service Program Coordinator for the North Region of Chicago, managing projects as varied as Drake Gardens, Lakeview Pantry West, Inspiration Cafe, and Library Maintenance.


Hello Chicago Cares volunteers! I’m honored to have recently joined the CCI staff as a member of the Human Service team. Me in a nutshell: 23-years-old, born and raised in Dallas, TX (yes, I have an accent, but I’ll only use it if you ask nicely). I moved to Grand Rapids, MI after graduating high school to attend Aquinas College. While there, I studied English, Philosophy, Sculpture, and Environmental Science.

I planned on applying to law school, but becoming a mentor through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program my junior year pretty much rocked my world, so I decided to serve for a year as an AmeriCorps member instead. I completed my term of service this June with City Year Chicago, where I planned large one-time service events for fellow AC members and Chicago residents alike. 

Working primarily on the North and Northwest sides of Chicago, I’m elated about the opportunity to benefit the neighborhoods in which I live and spend my leisure time. It’s a rare privilege to feel so intricately connected to a community (or multiple communities) on such a micro level – especially in Chicago, where there are serious needs everywhere one looks. Specifically, my goal is to form connections between our community partners – an organic garden and a food pantry, for instance – so they may become resources for each other.  

It’s Up to YOU

Welcome to the first Chicago Cares staff blog! Today's blog comes to us from Caroline, Senior Manager of Annual Events. Caroline recently attended the National Conference on Service and Volunteering and the American Express Nonprofit Leadership Academy in New York City. 

The 2010 National Conference on Service and Volunteering, co-convened by the Corporation for National & Community Service and the Points of Light Institute, took place in arguably one of the most exciting and culturally vibrant cities in America: New York City. A handful of my Chicago Cares colleagues and I were part of the 5,000 strong who showed up en masse to learn about current trends in volunteerism, gain best practices from professionals from across the country and the globe, and be inspired by the courage and will of our fellow friends in service.  “It’s Up to YOU” was the theme for this year’s convening and there is, perhaps, no more poignant message to address the current challenges we are facing in America. In light of these economic and social issues, this year’s conference empowered us to own a stake in the future of our communities rather than waiting on others to take action. 

Perhaps one of the most exciting announcements came during the opening plenary regarding the newly developed coalition: Cities of Service. What is the Cities of Service, you may ask? According to the website, “Cities of Service is a bi-partisan coalition of the mayors of large and small cities from across our country who will work together to engage citizens to address the great challenges of our time.” Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that due to the overwhelming response to the first round of Rockefeller Foundation leadership grants awarded to ten Cities of Service Leadership Grant awardees, the Rockefeller Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies have teamed up to provide additional grants to expand the program to include an additional ten cities. “The Cities of Service Leadership Grants provide recipient cities with $200,000 over a two-year period to hire a Chief Service Officer.” Chicago is among the cities chosen to receive a leadership grant. You can view the other participating cities here.

In addition to attending the full national conference, I was also one of 24 nonprofit leaders, recognized as high-potential emerging leaders, chosen to participate in the American Express Nonprofit Leadership Academy from June 26-27, 2010. This was amazing experience! Although it was certainly an abridged version to the much more in-depth weeklong academy, the facilitators at the Center for Creative Leadership expertly crafted and led our discussions so that the participants could gain a tremendous amount of applicable knowledge in a short timeframe. The feedback-intense sessions centered on a 360 degree evaluation which was filled out in advance by our peers, direct/indirect reports and supervisors, as well as ourselves. This assessment was an invaluable tool to gain unbiased insight into our strengths and areas of development as a leader. The highlight of the two day seminar was the opportunity to meet for one hour with an executive coach to discuss our assessment. The executive coach provided tangible steps to help us tackle our areas of improvement and any key leadership issues we are struggling with in our current position. Through this academy, it is clear that American Express recognizes the importance of investing in nonprofit leaders of tomorrow. By working to address our development areas now, we can better focus on how to inspire our organizations and communities today and into the future.

The entire experience at the national conference – from inspirational words from organizations like New York Says Thank You to a panel discussing the future of education in America, featuring the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan –truly motivated me to take action. I am invigorated with new ideas on how I can not only carry the service movement forward but also make a sustainable difference in my community. It is clear: It’s Up to YOU and ME.

Volunteers Help Schools Get in Shape for Fall

School may be out for the summer, but Chicago Cares staff and volunteers are hard at work making preparations for the new academic year.

We know a child’s learning environment affects their learning potential - that's why we offer schools multi-layered services by providing facility enhancement projects as well as academic enrichment programs.  Our Education and Development team is preparing new curriculum so we can launch even more academic, extra-curricular and health programs throughout the city.  Our Service Events team continues to partner with corporate sponsors to paint, build and beautify at Chicagoland schools. Whether you’re good with a hammer or a book, join us and use your leadership skills to make a difference for our kids.We have current leadership opportunities with our Business Shares projects and Education programs.  If you feel education is as important an issue area as we do, let’s do something about it together.

Leader Spotlight - Andrew Thorp

Andrew Thorp has been volunteering since high school, continued to volunteer throughout his college career and eventually made his way to Chicago Cares. “I saw an advertisement on a CTA bus [for Chicago Cares] and signed up that night,” Andrew reflected.

In just two years of volunteering with Chicago Cares, Andrew has clocked nearly forty hours of volunteer service through our ongoing programs. Andrew spends much of his time serving children’s education programs, but recently found a passion for the Ginko Garden project in Uptown. “I am looking forward to getting some much needed sun and learning a thing or two about gardening at Ginko Organic Gardens,” Andrew said when asked what he most was looking forward to this summer.

In addition to his role as a team coordinator at Ella Flagg Young School on the city’s North Side, Andrew has used his skills and knowledge to help the Education and Development team create curriculum for Young school.  His dedicated involvement with the school provided valuable insight to the planning process. It’s people like Andrew, who consistently go above and beyond, that allow Chicago Cares to have such a dynamic presence in the community.  

“Chicago Cares has given me the opportunity to work with some amazing people, volunteers and students alike. I am always surprised by the passion that leaders, students, and volunteers bring to each event.”

– Andrew Thorp

THANK YOU Andrew for all that you have done and continue to do for Chicago Cares. Your contributions and hard work make it possible for programs like Story Time and Sports League at Young School to be such a great success and a meaningful experience for all involved.

Nominate a Star By August 13th!

Do you have outstanding volunteers at your projects, know an incredible Team Coordinator or PSM, or participate in a high-functioning leader team at our Serve-a-thon, Celebration of Service, or at one of our calendar programs?  We’re honoring our Chicago Cares volunteer community and their distinguished accomplishments at the Star Awards this October. We need your nominations by August 1^st to make this a possibility.  Take a few minutes to nominate outstanding individuals or teams in our volunteer community today! Volunteer Star Award, Leader Star Award, Leader Team Star Award.