Connections for the Homeless

10/14/2026

J.Crew is teaming up with One Warm Coat and Connections for the Homeless to . Now through Dec. 31, J.Crew will be collecting coats for the individuals we serve! Stop by J. Crew's Old Orchard location to donate your gently worn coats and receive a coupon.

Since 2016, J.Crew has invited customers to participate in coat drives in their stores across the country. To date, this collaboration has provided warmth to more than 826,000 people.

This year, J.Crew’s coat drive runs from Oct. 14 through Dec. 31 at all stores nationwide. Customers are encouraged to bring in gently worn coats to donate, and will receive $25 off a purchase of $125+.

10/14/2026

Get ready with volunteers Hina, Cary, and Ava for a shift at Hilda’s Place! 🌅

Want to work a volunteer shift during our drop-in hours? Sign up for a volunteer orientation first through the link in our bio, and find all volunteer opportunities on our website.

10/02/2026

Here's what it's looking like down in Hilda's Place right now... 🤯😮🚧

10/01/2026

⛪️ What if land already owned by religious institutions could help create more affordable homes?

Join us Thursday, October 29 for a discussion about Yes, in God’s Back yard (YIGBY). This is the first webinar in Connections’ Keys to Home learning series.

Explore the policies, real-word examples, and possibilities behind YIGBY. ✨

🔗 Register: https://linktr.ee/connections4homeless

Keys to Home is a series of four educational webinars, leading up to a one-day conference in October 2027. Learn more by visiting: connect2home.org/keys-to-home

09/29/2026

Check out our new Drop-In on the first floor of Lake Street Church! This beautiful, brightly lit space is home to our daily drop-in services while Hilda's Place is under construction. Most services are still available on the first floor during construction, with the exception of laundry and showers.

If you want to help us keep our new space just as neat and clean as it is now, volunteer for drop-in refresh: https://connect2home.volunteerhub.com/vv2/?eventGroupId=413fcc8107074ec89bd140fae681a605&daysOfWeek=1

Find more information about the new space and renovation updates here: https://www.connect2home.org/renovation

09/21/2026

The service club will be serving lasagna, salad, rolls, fruit salad, lemonade and cookies tonight at Connections for the Homeless Margarita Inn. Would your family, frinds, or community group like to prepare and serve a meal? We can help you!

09/18/2026

Thank you for joining us for our annual Memorial Services this past Wednesday. The wonderful performances and memories shared by staff and loved ones followed by a community dinner was the perfect way to celebrate and honor the lives of those who we've lost this past year.

If you missed it, you can view the livestream here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CBsCBwzqt/

09/17/2026

🎉 A significant victory for Arlington heights—years in the making!

Since 2021, Shelter Youth & Family Services and community advocates have worked to build support for expanding Arlington Heights’ ONLY youth transitional living program—and that work is paying off.

The program provides young men, ages 17–21, with a safe place to live while building the skills and stability they need to transition into independent adulthood.

*According to the National Foster Youth Institute, 1 in 4 youth in foster care will experience homelessness within four years of aging out of the system.

Congratulations to Shelter Youth & Family Services, our Associate Director of Advocacy Shereemer Chevannes, and the Northwest Alliance for Housing Affordability (powered by our advocacy program, Joining Forces for Affordable Housing). Thank you for your incredible dedication to creating affordable housing! 🏡 💙

09/16/2026

Connections’ 2026 Annual Memorial Service 🕊️

09/15/2026

Illinois is short nearly 260k affordable rental homes for those with low incomes, including a missing 11k units of Permanent Supportive Housing for neighbors in need of wrap-around services.

To increase affordable housing production, Illinois must create a robust housing ecosystem—where a web of interconnected and mutually reinforcing housing and land use legislation is diligently administered by well-resourced state agencies.

Connections’ Director of Public Policy Chris Martin was an editor for Building a Strong Housing Ecosystem: Lessons for Illinois from California. Read the full report to see what Illinois can learn from California's effort to address its own housing crisis:

Illinois is short nearly 260,000 affordable rental homes for those with low or extremely low incomes, including nearly 11,000 units of Permanent Supportive Housing for neighbors in need of wrap-around services. Despite the magnitude of the deficit, many communities across the state lack affordable h...