Church of Our Saviour has a long history of community service and outreach programs. If you are interested in volunteering for any of our outreach programs, please complete the Volunteer Form or contact the office with any questions. If you are interested in volunteering with any Care For Friends programs, please click here to be taken to their page for more information.
Care For Friends and COS
In the Summer of 1968, Church of Our Saviour opened its doors to shelter young people from the violence surrounding the Democratic National Convention riots in Lincoln Park. In the ensuing decades, this support from a single organization blossomed into a wide-ranging network of strong community partnerships that came together to support Chicago's most vulnerable, which we have come to identify as our friends.
Together, this diverse network of strong connections provides a wide range of services which were organized and formalized under the umbrella of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2012. Initially known as the 530 Fullerton Foundation, the organization rebranded in 2016 as Care for Friends (CFF) to better describe the scope of services offered.
Care For Friends works towards a future where access to food, housing, and healthcare is the reality for all and remains a strong community partner of Church of Our Saviour.
As a community hub, CFF tackles Chicago’s food, housing and healthcare crises through an all-inclusive, no questions asked approach to providing easy access to critical resources. They aim to earn the trust of our guests and break down the barriers preventing them from connecting to the services they need.
Another result of the ongoing partnership between Church of Our Saviour and Care For Friends was able to replace the church's old parish hall with the new Parish Commons building. With the completion of this project, Care for Friends now has a new Community Hub on the lower level which houses their programming at COS.
ReVive Center for Housing & Healing
ReVive Center for Housing and Healing, located in Chicago's Near West Side, was established in 1915 by Rev. Gibson whose calling was to social services work with immigrants and the poor on the West Side of Chicago. Rev. Higgins joined ReVive in 1929, the year the Great Depression began, and the work of providing shelter, clothing, food, and other services expanded. Rev. Higgins founded ReVive's addictions program in 1958 and soon thereafter ReVive’s Higgins House became the first halfway house in the State of Illinois for people who struggled with alcohol use. ReVive acquired the property now known as Cressey House in 1970 to provide additional housing and in 1998 Cressey House became one of the first permanent supportive housing programs in the State of Illinois. Throughout its history, ReVive has listened to and responded to the needs of the individuals and the community it serves.
Church of Our Saviour has partnered with ReVive for many years, supporting their annual Christmas Basket program.
Each summer, ReVive volunteers record the wish-lists of families and senior citizens in need. COS sponsoring households provide at least one gift per person and a grocery gift card to provide Christmas Dinner for the family. These gifts are gathered, wrapped, and offered to households in need during the Christmas season.