Guide Category: Community Organizations
The Guide to Jewish Living offers a comprehensive, up-to-date directory of Chicago-area Jewish organizations, resources, products, and services. The guide acts as a community driven lexicon sponsored by Jewish Chicago: The JUF’s Magazine to foster connection and support. Email [email protected] with questions or for information on advertising opportunities.
* Listings with an asterisk are part of the JUF/JF partnership of agencies serving the Chicago and worldwide Jewish community.
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Regional office of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum located in Washington D.C. Organizes trips to the Museum in Washington, D.C. Sponsors speaker events and special programs to educate and involve the Chicagoland community in Holocaust remembrance and education. Raises funds throughout the Midwest to support the Museum's national and international work to educate and foster new scholarship about the Holocaust, rescue the evidence of the Holocaust, and inspire people to confront hatred and anti-Semitism and prevent future atrocities.
-
USC Shoah Foundation: The Institute for Visual History and Education
Steven Spielberg's digital archive project, which has preserved tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors' testimonies. Currently producing Holocaust education materials based on the testimonies.
-
Avenue of the Righteous
Chicago-area counterpart to Israel's Avenue of the Righteous Gentiles, with its own Avenue at the Evanston Civic Center. Emphasis on education and public awareness.
-
Holocaust Educational Foundation of Northwestern University
Establishes Holocaust courses in colleges and universities. Holds biennial Lessons and Legacies Holocaust International Conference for professors. Established annual Summer Institute for Holocaust and Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University. Videotaped Holocaust survivors for inclusion in the Yale Archives for Holocaust Testimony.
-
Association of Descendants of the Shoah-Illinois (ADSI)
Programs and events for descendants of Holocaust survivors.
-
JUF TOV Volunteer Network
Engages members of our community in the mitzvah of tikkun olam, repairing our world. TOV connects individuals of all ages to one-time and ongoing volunteer opportunities throughout the Jewish and greater Chicago community. Join TOV in repairing the world, one good deed at a time.
-
Maxwell Street Foundation
The mission of the Maxwell Street Foundation is to preserve and interpret the history of Chicago's Maxwell Street neighborhood for future generations. The Foundation presents slide programs at outside venues about historic Maxwell Street; walking tours of the redeveloped Maxwell Street, upon request; and participates with the New Maxwell Street Market on select Sundays of the year operated by the City of Chicago on Desplaines Avenue north of Roosevelt Rd. The Foundation sells Maxwell Street-themed items on its website, and accepts donations of Maxwell Street artifacts and memorabilia for its archive and collection. The Foundation provides research in its archive upon request, for a donation. The Foundation assists new research on historic or contemporary aspects of Maxwell Street and the Market. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and contributions are tax deductible.
-
SHALVA
Supports Jewish women experiencing and healing from domestic abuse, through counseling, supportive services and education. Free, confidential services include: 24-hour help/crisis line, individual and group counseling, legal support, financial assistance, case management and referrals.
-
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA)
Works to combat poverty, racism, and anti-Semitism working in partnership with diverse communities in Chicago. JCUA mobilizes the Jewish community to act on social justice issues that address the root causes of disparity and inequality in the city and region. Jewish community members can get involved through membership, regular meetings, events, and leadership development opportunities. Or Tzedek is JCUA's Teen Institute for Social Justice. Offering both year-round programs and immersive summer sessions, Or Tzedek reaches hundreds of teens every year. Teens build advocacy and community organizing skills, take action on meaningful social justice campaigns, and of course, have fun!
-
Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois
A non-profit organization dedicated to helping members collect, preserve, and perpetuate the records and history of their ancestors. JGSI is a resource for the worldwide Jewish community to research their Chicago-area roots. Monthly meetings feature informative speakers as well as access to an 800-volume genealogy research library and volunteer genealogy help desk. Members also have access to useful and informative online family history research resources, including a members forum, video recordings of past speakers' presentations, the JGSI Jewish Chicago Database, monthly JGSI E-News, quarterly Morasha JGSI newsletter, and much more.