Community Partners Foster Student Success

Northeastern Illinois University has many community partners who assist undocumented immigrants through resources and advocacy. Our relationship with these community groups is invaluable as we strive not only to improve services for undocumented students, but also to increase our advocacy for the retention of these students.

THE ANHELO PROJECT

P.O. Box 08290
Chicago, IL 60608
(773) 609-4252

The Anhelo Project is a group of student leaders, alumni and staff from various campus-based organizations at high schools, colleges and universities in Chicago. Their goal is to support undocumented students, who despite growing up in the United States and earning their high school diplomas, continuously face challenging roadblocks when pursuing a post-secondary education.

AFIRE Chicago

4300 N. Hermitage Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 580-1025

Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE) supports comprehensive immigration reform and more just treatment of undocumented immigrants. AFIRE has been using conversation about readings by Pablo Neruda, Franz Kafka, Toni Cade Bambara and others to develop its organizational structure and mission.

​Cambodian Association of Illinois

2831 W. Lawrence Ave.
Chicago, lL 60625
(773) 878-7090

The Cambodian Association of Illinois (CAI) is comprehensive social service organization founded in 1976 by a group of Cambodian refugee volunteers who responded to the needs of Cambodians who were resettling in Chicago after fleeing the tyranny, brutality and torture of the Khmer Rouge genocide in which two million Cambodians perished. CAI services some 5,000 Cambodians in Illinoisover 3,000 in Chicagoall of whom are Cambodian refugees or the children of refugees who escaped the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Killing Fields. The Cambodian Association of Illinois is the only non-profit organization in the Chicago metropolitan area that provides bilingual programming to address the interrelated social and economic needs of the local Cambodian American population.

COMMUNITIES UNITED

4749 N. Kedzie Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 583-1387

Communities United (CU) is an intergenerational, grassroots, community-based organization that serves the neighborhoods of Albany Park, Austin, Belmont Cragin, Roseland, and West Ridge, on the northwest, west, and south sides of Chicago. Through a transformational approach to youth and intergenerational leadership development and community-driven systems change, CU focuses on advancing health equity, affordable housing, education justice, youth investment, immigrant rights, police accountability, and shifting resources from the criminal justice and juvenile justice systems into restorative justice alternatives.

Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago

231 S. State St. Suite #300
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 506-0077  

The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (the Council) is the unifying force that brings together a wonderfully diverse American Muslim community in the greater Chicago region, Northern Illinois, and now increasingly, all of Illinois!

The American Muslim community in Illinois is diverse. Within the Council one can find a wide array of ethnicities, races and cultures including African Americans, Nigerians, South Asians, Arabs, Bosnians, Albanians, Turks, Latinos, Caucasians and many more. The Council brings these extraordinary communities together in cooperation and collaboration with one another and with the interfaith community and with community organizations, the academy and the public sector in general.

DEPAUL COLLEGE OF LAW LEGAL CLINICS

25 E. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 362-8701
lawinfo@depaul.edu

Community-based service learning has a long tradition at DePaul University, and the College of Law exemplifies this practice through its clinical programs. Under faculty supervision and guidance, students sharpen their skills and knowledge while engaging in legal practice outside the formal classroom setting.

DePaul's legal clinics allow students to contribute to the community beyond the University by fulfilling fundamental societal needs. Such experiences help students to better understand the type of legal work they want to pursue after graduation and provide them with a strong sense of professional accomplishment.

ENLACE Chicago 

2756 S. Harding Ave.
Chicago, IL 60623
(773) 542-9233  

Enlace Chicago is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of the residents of the Little Village community by fostering a physically safe and healthy environment in which to live and by championing opportunities for educational advancement and economic development.

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

55 E. Jackson Blvd. Suite #2075
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 332-7360  

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) is dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social, and political life of our diverse society.

In partnership with member organizations, the Coalition educates and organizes immigrant and refugee communities to assert their rights; promotes citizenship and civic participation; monitors, analyzes, and advocates on immigrant-related issues; and informs the general public about the contributions of immigrants and refugees. ICIRR, under the direction of its member organizations, works on various programs and campaigns that empower the immigrant community in Illinois.

Illinois Latino Council on Higher Education

P.O. Box 60742
Chicago, IL 60660
ilache.chicago1@gmail.com 

The mission of the Illinois Latino Council on Higher Education (ILACHE) is to create an awareness of issues impacting Latinos in higher education and to provide a statewide forum for Latino educators, community representatives, and other supporters for the social and professional advancements of Latinos. ILACHE is a statewide organization dedicated to the advancement of the status of Latinos through educational policy reform, advocacy, identification of best practices, and the dissemination of research and information.

HANA Center

4300 N. California Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 583-5501

The HANA Center seeks to empower Korean American and multiethnic immigrant communities through social services, education, culture, and community organizing to advance human rights.

Latinos Progresando

3047 W. Cermak Rd.
Chicago, IL 60623
(773) 542-7077  

The mission of Latinos Progresando is to deliver high quality information and resources for people to build secure, healthy and productive lives. The organization was built from the ground up, and even after 20 years, the vision continues to be shaped and led by people in the community.

Legal aid chicago

Get help: (312) 341-1070

Legal Aid is free representation in civil legal matters for clients who lack the resources to hire an attorney on their own. The American legal system promises equal justice to all citizens, but it’s also enormously complex, and hiring a lawyer to navigate through it can be prohibitively expensive. Too often, the high costs of representation block people living in poverty from participating in the legal system that is meant to protect them.

Logan Square Neighborhood Association

2840 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618 
(773) 384-4370  

The mission of Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) is to convene networks of neighbors, schools, businesses, social service agencies, faith communities, and other organizations to collaborate for thriving communities in Logan Square, Avondale, and Lathrop Homes. LSNA is committed to empowering and maintaining these communities as diverse, safe, and affordable neighborhoods in which to live and work, learn and grow.

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

11 E. Adams Suite #700
Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 427-0701

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the “law firm of the Latino community,” MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights and political access.

National Immigrant Justice Center

208 S. La Salle Suite #1818
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 660-1370  

Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) is dedicated to ensuring human rights protections and access to justice for all immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

NIJC provides direct legal services to and advocates for these populations through policy reform, impact litigation, and public education. Since its founding three decades ago, NIJC has been unique in blending individual client advocacy with broad-based systemic change.

PILSEN NEIGHBORS COMMUNITY COUNCIL 

2026 S. Blue Island Ave. 
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 666-2663

By focusing on the development of community leaders, the Pilsen Neighbors Community Council (PNCC) has worked in alliance with churches, other community-based organizations and schools to make people's voice heard on a path to citizenship, education funding reform, economic development, and health care.

United African Organization

3424 S. State St.
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 949-9980

United African Organization (UAO) is a dynamic coalition of African community-based organizations that promote social and economic justice, civic participation, and empowerment of African immigrants and refugees in Illinois. UAO advocates on behalf of the African community through democratic and inclusive organizational structures, as well as partnership with other immigrant rights organizations. 

World Relief

3507 W. Lawrence Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 583-9191  

The mission of World Relief is empowering the local church to serve the most vulnerable.