Chicago HOPESChicago HOPES provides after-school tutoring and enrichment programs to students living in 23 homeless shelters across Chicago. An initiative of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Students in Temporary Living Situations Program (STLS), Chicago HOPES empowers homeless students to succeed academically.
Supported by committed volunteer tutors, we collaborate with shelters and community organizations to offer one-on-one tutoring sessions and cultural enrichment activities for school-aged homeless children. In addition to academic empowerment, Chicago HOPES strives to be a consistent, positive presence in these children’s chaotic lives.
Since its inception in 2006, Chicago HOPES has expanded from its original 2 shelters to 23 current sites, serving around 350 students last semester. Ultimately, the goal of Chicago HOPES is to continue expanding until it has established a program at every Chicago homeless shelter for families, women and children, and unaccompanied youth. Our work is funded primarily through grants, fundraising events, and individual contributions, as well as in-kind donations.
Open BooksOpen Books is a nonprofit social venture that operates an extraordinary bookstore, provides community programs, and mobilizes passionate volunteers to promote literacy in Chicago and beyond. We enrich lives through reading, writing, and the TRANSFORMATIVE power of used books.
Founded in 2006, Open Books was established to create a treasure trove of 50,000+ used books whose sale would support a spectrum of unique literacy programs. In the time since, we have successfully launched a diverse group of four signature reading and writing programs designed to build the literacy skills and unlock the voices of thousands of low-income students and adult learners. During the 2009-10 school year, Open Books plans to serve over 2,500 students representing 50+ schools and agencies with a variety of reading, writing and “virtual” mentoring programs. In our short history, we have successfully partnered with dozens of local literacy organizations and engaged the support of a dedicated corps of 2,300 volunteers. With a book collection that now exceeds 225,000, we are preparing for the fall 2009 grand opening of our retail used bookstore, which will include classrooms, mobile computer carts and a literacy community center.
School-in-a-BoxThe School-in-a-Box has become part of the UNICEF standard response in emergencies, used in many back-to-school operations around the world. The kit contains supplies and materials for a teacher and up to 40 students. The purpose of the kit is to ensure the continuation of children's education by the first 72 hours of an emergency.
In addition to the basic school supplies, such as exercise books, pencils, erasers and scissors, the kit also includes a wooden teaching clock, wooden cubes for counting, a wind-op/solar radio and a set of three laminated posters (alphabet, multiplication and number tables). The kit is supplied in a locked aluminium box, the lid of which can double as a blackboard when coated with the special paint included in the kit. Using a locally developed teaching guide and curriculum, teachers can establish makeshift classrooms almost anywhere.
The contents of the kit are culturally neutral, can be used anywhere in the world, and are often supplemented by locally purchased products, such as books in local languages, toys, games and musical instruments. Exercise books are printed without margins, so that children who write from left to right or from right to left can use them. Another version of the kit, without the lockable metal box, the School-in-a-Carton, is also available, as is a replenishment kit.
TeachUNICEFTeachUNICEF helps teachers engage students as active global citizens in learning about UNICEF—the United Nations Children's Fund—and its efforts on behalf of children worldwide.
TeachUNICEF is a resource for U.S. educators. TeachUNICEF education materials have been designed to help educators bring a global understanding of the needs of children and families around the world into the classroom.
Based on UNICEF's annual flagship publication, The State of the World's Children report (SOWC), the U.S. Fund for UNICEF has developed and released these free resources for educators to use with students in grades 3-12. The lesson plans and resources in these units are designed to be used sequentially or separately. Topics include addressing global affairs issues such as the Millennium Development Goals, real life stories from youth, the causes of childhood exclusion, and water and sanitation.