Logan Square Mutual Aid

​Employment & Public Benefits

• You can file for unemployment with the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) at their website here or by calling 312-338-4337.

• You can apply for and manage healthcare, food, and cash assistance benefits at the Illinois Application for Benefits Eligibility (ABE). For assistance in applying, you can call the Public Benefits Outreach Team at 773-843-5416.​

Food

​Northwest Side Food Distribution Hub of Chicagoland Food Sovereignty Coalition (CFSC)​

Free Grocery Store at 2311 N Keystone

Thursdays 5-7pm

Saturdays 10-12:30pm

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Chicago Public Schools

Find Grab & Go Meal locations here. Active locations may change, but nearby schools include Brentano, Avondale-Logandale, Darwin, Goethe, and Monroe.

Monday - Friday: 9:00am - 1:00pm

Pick up 3 days of meals for each person under 18 in the family. No ID necessary. 
Contact: If families have trouble getting to a site, they can call 1-773-553-KIDS (5437) or email familyservices@cps.edu to make a request for food delivery.

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Open Arms Ministry

2649 N Francisco Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
Food pantry (Weds 5-6pm) & drop-in (Tues/Weds 10-2pm)  

Contact: 773-252-3210   
 

Chicago Hope Food Pantry

2505 N Kedzie Blvd, Chicago, IL 60647

Monday: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm and Thursday: 10:00am - 12:00pm

Contact: 773-499-9763  

 

La Casa Norte

3533 W North Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
Food Pantry on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 11:00am - 3:00pm

Contact: 773-276-4900   

 

Housing

Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing

33 N. LaSalle St. Suite 900 Chicago IL 60602​​

They provide legal aid for eviction notices and any landlord issues.

Contact: Call 312-347-7600 and be sure to leave a message with the problem.
 

State Homeless Prevention Funds

The fund provides rental assistance, including up to 6 months of past due rent or 2 months in advance during COVID-19, as well as utility arrears. Applications must be done over the phone with documents faxed or emailed. Applicants must have a documentable crisis such as the loss of income due to COVID-19. Applicants must also prove that their income will be stable in future, but right now the assumption is that all people will be back to work eventually when the state reopens.

Contact: Call 311 or reach out to Logan Square Mutual Aid for help applying.
 

Emergency Funds

There are multiple emergency funds in the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. Applications must be done over the phone, and applicants must have a documentable crisis.

Contact: Call 311 or reach out to Logan Square Mutual Aid for help applying.
 

CEDA Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program

The CEDA LIHEAP and other programs help make direct payments to utility providers on your behalf. Go to their website here to find a CEDA partner that can help you fill out an application.

Contact: Call 312-782-CEDA (2332) or reach out to Logan Square Mutual Aid for help applying.

   

Homeless Shelter List Chicago

For a list of shelters, call 311 or go to the online shelter directory here.         
 

DFSS Rental Assistance Program

Trina Davila Community Service Center
4312 West North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60639

Rent and rent arrears payment is available for individuals and families that are in immediate risk of eviction and experienced an emergency including a temporary loss of income, fire or flood, or domestic violence.

Contact: Call 312-744-2014 for Trina Davila or call 311 for the Homelessness Prevention Call Center and ask for "short-term help."

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McCormick YMCA

1834 N. Lawndale Ave.

La Casa Norte is now running a 24/7 shelter/drop in for youth at McCormick YMCA in Humboldt Park with the capacity for 80 youth. 

Contact: 773-235-2525

https://howardbrown.org/youth-services-available-in-chicago-during-covid-19/

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Health

Physicians Immediate Care

1702 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Provides urgent care and Covid-19 testing.
Contact: 773-770-4056

https://physiciansimmediatecare.com/clinic/bucktown/
 

Community Health West Town

2611 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Primary Care that includes basic wellness checks, vaccinations, and health screenings    
Contact: 773-395-9900

https://www.freeclinics.com/det/il_60622_communityhelath-west-town
 

Division Health Center

4909 W. Division Street        

Family Medicine, behavioral health, Immunizations, vaccines, HIV testing, & more    

Contact: 773-364-4600        

https://www.freeclinics.com/det/il-division_health_center_
 

AMITA Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Chicago (Saint Mary Campus)

2233 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622

Covid-19 testing available.

Contact: 312-770-2000

https://www.amitahealth.org/covid-19/

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Find a community health center here.

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Immigration

National Immigrant Justice Center

224 S Michigan Ave Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60604

NIJC provides immigration assistance and has helpful legal FAQs for immigrant families around COVID-19 stimulus bills.

Contact: 312-660-1370

https://immigrantjustice.org/
 

Logan Square Neighborhood Association

2840 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 606182

 https://www.lsna.net/covid19
 

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

228 S. Wabash, Suite 800, Chicago, Illinois 60604
ICIRR published a great guide, "Resources for Immigrants During the COVID- 19 Crisis," with resources in Illinois, information on immigration, and other resources on emergency funds, health care access, food, housing, and more. You can access their guide here. 

Contact: 312-332-7360 

https://www.icirr.org/

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Immigrant Rising

Immigrant Rising also published a guide, "Tangible Support for Undocumented Communities During Covid-19," with resources on relief funds, legal rights, housing and education.

You can access it here.

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Childcare

Illinois Action for Children
4753 N Broadway Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60640
Illinois Action for Children is prepared to find child care for the children of essential workers in Illinois through the  Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).

You can access the application here.

Contact: You can text your CCAP questions to 312-736-7390, email essentialworkers@actforchildren.org for new applicants, or email referrals@actforchildren.org for existing applicants.

https://covid19.actforchildren.org/

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Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA)

Essential Workers in Illinois can also search for a list of emergency childcare providers here.

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Mental Health

Mental Health Hotlines

• Connect a NAMI Chicago Helpline mental health counselor by calling 311 or directly at 833-626-4244.

• Connect to Bright Star Community Outreach's trauma counseling helpline at 833-TURN-123.

• Connect to free tele-therapy services at Chicago Department of Public Health Mental Health Centers by calling 312-747-1020.

• For after hours support, contact Crisis Text Line which serves anyone, in any type of crisis, 24-hours a day. Instructions: Text HOME to 741741 to access a trained crisis counselor.

• For IDHS Call4Calm, text TALK to 5-5-2-0-2-0

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Education & Addional Resources

• Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19

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Domestic Violence

National Domestic Violence Hotline

For the National Domestic Violence Hotline, call 1−800−799−7233 or call TTY 1−800−787−3224 or chat online at https://www.thehotline.org/.

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Education & Additional Resources

• Recognizing emotional abuse in teenage relationships: article here.

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Legal Advice

Illinois Legal Aid

Illinois Legal Aid has online legal information, referrals to legal aid organizations, and volunteers who can chat with people who need help finding information. They do not provide legal advice or representation.

 

You can visit their website here, or call the CARPLS Legal Aid hotline at 312-738-9200.

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Education & Additional Resources

• Find other resources on the Chicago COVID Resource Finder with its  more than 1300 resources.

• Older adults in nursing homes can learn more about elder abuse & neglect here.

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Pets and Stray Animals

Chicago and other areas throughout the country are experiencing unprecedented challenges related to pet ownership and stray animals. Shelters are full all over the country, and the cost of caring for pets and animals has greatly increased. LSMA Network as well as other organizations in the Chicagoland area would love to keep your pets with you! There are also an abundance of resources for individuals helping stray animals find their way to safety.

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Resources for your pet

• Pet food pantries (Spanish)

• Low cost veterinary support (Spanish)

• Low cost spay and neuter resources (Spanish) - spaying and neutering your pets is an important way to prevent unwanted baby animals and lower costs long-term

• Submit up to $75/month of essential goods (including essential pet supplies) for reimbursement from Logan Square Mutual Aid. You pay for the items up front and submit a receipt, we reimburse you typically within a week of you submitting the expense to us.​​​​

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Resources for stray animals/pets you find
Did you find a dog?

• If possible, while keeping yourself and the dog safe, try to catch the dog to keep it from getting injured. 

• If you are able to catch the dog, keep it in a secure location until you are able to take pictures and take the dog to get scanned for a microchip

• Take pictures of the dog. Check with neighbors around where you found the dog to see if they have seen the dog, know its owner. Post the dog and any information you have on Facebook lost pet/community groups, Pawboost, Pet FBI.

• Take the dog to get scanned for a microchip as soon as possible. Most police stations and vet offices will scan for a microchip for free.

• If you cannot locate the owner, reach out to rescues about intaking the dog. The best way to get pets out of Animal Control after their stray hold is to have a rescue committed to bringing the dog into their rescue. Many rescues ask that a foster has been identified before intaking the dog, given the large number of intake requests at this time.

• If you can no longer safely or securely hold the dog, you can take it to Animal Control as a stray

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Did you find a cat?

1. Look the cat over. Does it seem clean? Does it seem injured? Does it have an ear tip (top part of left ear missing)? Does the cat have a collar?

   1. If the cat seems clean and has a collar, it is likely an indoor/outdoor cat. It’s recommended to leave the cat outside so it can find its way home.

   2. If the cat has an ear tip, it is likely a community cat. Community cats are cats that have been spayed/neutered and are taken care of by a community care taker. They are typically not friendly enough to be re-homed indoors, so they will live their lives outside while being checked on by their caretaker. Leave community cats where they are so they can make their way back to their caretaker.

   3. If the cat does not have an ear tip and also doesn’t have a collar, consider working with an organization to try to trap-neuter-release the cat. Trap-neuter-release is a best practice in animal welfare where stray cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered so they can’t have babies outside, and released back to their outdoor “home”. TNR saves lives by preventing the overbreading of outdoor cats. You can find TNR resources here (Spanish).

   4. If the cat is injured, please post in the Chicago Community Cats Facebook group to get support from folks who have experience working with stray cats. If you can safely capture the cat with a towel and bring it to the vet, that is helpful. 

2. Generally, the best thing you can do for a cat you find outside is leave it where you found it. Lost cats typically don’t travel far from their homes, and the best chance of a cat making it home is to leave it where it is. Community cats have a home base they will return to as well. 

3. Consider posting pictures of the cat and where you found it on Facebook lost pet/community groups, Pawboost, Pet FBI. Many people in these groups are familiar with community cats and can let you know quickly if the cat is someone’s indoor/outdoor cat, a community cat, or a cat that really needs rescue.

 

Did you find another animal like a bird, rabbit, or squirrel?

• Pet birds and rabbits cannot survive outside in the wild. If you find what you believe to be a pet bird or rabbit, please contact any of the organizations below to get support

• Red Door Shelter (Rabbits)

• Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (Wild and pet birds, squirrels)