Chicago Cares is nonprofit organization that focuses on connecting neighborhoods and taking on community challenges.

Chicago Cares is run by volunteers who become "active participants in Chicago's civic fabric, advocating for a more vibrant and equitable city for all," according to its website.

Rosie Drumgoole, the chief program officer, explained its purpose, its past projects and how volunteers can help in a phone interview with Southland Marquee.

"Our mission is to mobilize volunteers to build a stronger, more unified Chicago," Drumgoole said. "We're about building connections, helping folks deepen their relationships and their knowledge about a certain cause or a neighborhood." 

She added that the organization's research, "shows once people get into connection, they start building relationships, they start wanting to learn more, that they want to figure out a way to to act civically...they'll want to become a fabric of the community. 

"They'll want to support their neighbors, and they'll want to figure out what's their best way that they can civically engaged, and that that work is ultimately going to lead to a more equitable and more unified Chicago," she added.

Chicago Cares advances "community-driven goals, works on bridge-building between communities, help with providing proper infrastructure, work to dismantle racism and promote equity, and work to make "civic engagement -- service, democracy, philanthropy, advocacy and organizing accessible," according to: https://www.chicagocares.org/s/our-approach.

Drumgoole has a decade-long experience in volunteer engagement. She helps find volunteers and promotes diverse civic engagement. 

She and her team aid local communities, nonprofits, and corporations in the Chicagoland area. She was a key leader who helped Chicago Cares move through the COVID-19 pandemic. Drumgoole is an alumnus of the Allstate Foundation’s Executive Leadership Program’s class of 2021, and the American Express Leadership Academy class of 2016. She is also a proxy board member for the Serve Illinois Commission.

Drumgoole said Chicago Cares uses a "community-driven approach" to help Chicago become "more unified and to have a more equitable city."

"We work specifically in certain communities that have done the work to coalesce neighbors and community-based organizations and local businesses together around a plan to move their neighborhood forward," she said. 

Drumgoole said her group currently works with approximately six different communities, currently, but is looking to grow. 

The goals of Chicago Cares is to "get folks to think about service differently and to really think about how they can serve and what's the best way that they can serve that best needs, and it's like their strength and skill sets and goals," Drumgoole said. "We really want to think about transforming service and thinking about service differently."  

She said the organization wants people to think of service as "transformational" as opposed to a "transactional," in addition to serving "collectively versus individually." She added that Chicago Cares is moving away from "traditional notions of charity" from charitable frameworks to "equitable" frameworks.

"Really that's the goal of our work is to think about how do we how are we transforming service, how are we influencing the way that folks think about service and how are we moving forward together, and so that's really the hope of our work," Drumgoole said. 

Volunteering at Chicago Cares is as easy as going to its website and clicking the volunteer button. Chicago Cares has a portfolio of programs all over the South Side and West Side. 

The organization also works with corporate donors, and Drumgoole said it designs a volunteer service experience for them.

"We look at our portfolio of community partners and try to match based on what we know our community partners are trying to move forward," she said. We'll have parties come together and design an experience that those corporate volunteers can engage them."  

In addition, the organization offers opportunities for those who have specific skills, and also offer workshops on leadership development, civic engagement and volunteer management.

"So we're pretty agnostic about the volunteers who come to us," she explained and "pride ourselves on being accessible. We certainly want to move people along their civic journey, but we also acknowledge that everybody's in a different spot."

"We pride ourselves on welcoming people no matter what stage you're in," she said. Some people who are new to the city want to get involved and learn more about the community, and others are more seasoned, she explained.

"If we're going to get people to make relationships across lines of difference, that means we have to really engage with a lot of different kinds of people. So we're really open to that. As far as community organizations go, again, we will, you know, we really follow community lead. And so if the organization is aligned with sort of our core communities...we'll work with them," she said. 

One successful project Chicago Cares and its partnership with Urban Growers Collective completed last year was an anaerobic digester in Auburn Gresham, the first such project in the Midwest. The food waste is sent to the facility and the digester turns it into compost or natural gas, she explained. 

"So it's, you know, this really beautiful, sustainable facility in Auburn Gresham that's really unique. And so we were able to build a beautiful public art mosaic in partnership with Green Era, Urban Growers Collective and in partnership with Green Star. We sort of provided the technical assistance. We're able to build this beautiful mosaic that's right on the metro line, right in front of the digester, and really marks, you know, this really cool thing that's on the south side that I don't know that a lot of people know about or that's getting a lot of attention," Drumgoole said. 

The motto of Chicago Cares is contact, empathy, action and equity, and Drumgoole explained that contact is the beginning, and it's essentially about exposure.

"So how are we exposing people, getting them in contact with a new neighborhood, new causes, new organizations? Right. So that's that's what that contact means. Like, how are we getting people exposed? How are we getting people in contact with things that they might not normally get an opportunity to be in contact with? And then the thought is that once you get in contact, like there is the opportunity to develop empathy. So once you sort of, you know, get involved, you have the opportunity to build relationships, you have the opportunity to deepen your knowledge," she said. 

Referring to the digester, she said her organization and Green Era were able to change an old tire graveyard that was causing children to experience illnesses such as asthma and allergies into a sustainable project. So the volunteers, who took part in that project, were able to develop empathy for those who lived in that neighborhood. Once empathy is developed, that leads to action. And the ultimate end goal is equity.

"Once you get in contact, once you develop relationships and learn more, if you want to act civically, you want to act differently, you want to get involved and continue to build that community. And you know, the ultimate end goal is equity once you have skin in the game, Drumgoole said. "You're going to want to make sure that everyone is unified and everyone feels like they're heard and everyone has a spot. So that will again, lead to a more equitable Chicago."

As for the community, dealing with high prices now and post-pandemic, Drumgoole described it as "communal whiplash." She said she has seen organizations go out of business, others downsize, and community members pass away. Everyone has been impacted, and most want to get back to pre-pandemic life.

As for residents and their attitude toward the city, Drumgoole said, "I think people are really excited. You know, the volunteers we work with in community organizations, they work with, everyone is really excited about the future. Everyone feels like there's a lot of opportunity and feel like Phoenix is coming from the fire. I think folks are excited for the future of Chicago. I think folks, you know, see a future. And I don't think I've encountered anyone in the last couple of months who's been melancholy or downtrodden, like everyone is very excited for the future and very excited for the opportunity to build post-pandemic." 

Chicago Cares has an upcoming volunteer recruitment event called Find Your Cause, and Drumgoole said it’s a great opportunity for people to experience connection, empathy, and civic action in-person!

"Find Your Cause is a unique in-person opportunity that connects local organizations with passionate volunteers who are looking for hands-on, skills-based, and board service opportunities," she said. "Find Your Cause will occur in a regional model, taking place throughout the month of April in Chicago’s South, Northwest, and West sides, where local organizations will highlight the incredible work they do in their community and connect participants to catalytic opportunities to serve in their community. Participants will also engage in workshops to learn more about our partners and leadership development within Chicago Cares."