Serve Our World

We at Holy Comforter believe that good news means food to the hungry, clothing to the needy, care for the weary, healing for the sick, and liberation to the oppressed. Our offerings of time, money, and talent honor our Lord and further God’s Kingdom. They are one of the best ways we can live out our mission to transform the world through love. 

If you are interested in supporting one of our mission partner organizations, contact a member of the clergy or vestry. If you are an organization thinking of applying for one of our grants, see the link at the bottom of this page. 

We have outreach mission events every year with various mission organizations. However, we have a few key partners who we consistently support in particular ways. 

Volunteer Opportunities: 

  • A Just Harvest Community Kitchen (third Saturday of the month) 

  • CUMALI (every Monday night) 

  • Mission Trips (1-2 each year in the summer) 

Collection Drives: 

  • Thanksgiving Food Baskets with the Primo Center 

  • Christmas Jesse Tree with Holy Family School and Connections for the Homeless 

  • Easter Baskets with the ReVive Center for Housing and Healing

Grants: 

Every year, we allocate $50,000 in grants to local organizations. Most grants are between $1,000 and $5,000. The organizations are selected by the Outreach Resource Committee. A majority of the funds allocated are allotted to organizations that are women- and/or minority-led.  

Because we see these grants as one part of the relationships we build with our mission partner organizations, we give extra consideration to those organizations where Holy Comforter parishioners are actively involved in leadership or volunteering. 

If you are thinking about applying for our 2024 grant, see below. 

Our 2023 Outreach Partners

  • Bishop Anderson House 

  • Breakthrough Ministries 

  • Brent House 

  • By the Hand Club 

  • C24/7 

  • Care for Friends 

  • The Chiapas Project Food Pantry 

  • Chicago Sunday Evening Club 

  • Connections for the Homeless 

  • CUMALI 

  • Family Service Center 

  • Family Matters Chicago 

  • Favor International 

  • Holy Family Ministries 

  • Inspire Through Flowers 

  • Josselyn Center 

  • Just Harvest 

  • Lawrence Hall 

  • Revive 

  • SamaraCare 

  • St. Leonard’s Ministries 

Resource Grants

We are honored that you are considering applying for a 2024 Holy Comforter Outreach Resource grant. Applications will be accepted starting April 12.

To apply, please submit a document to jyrekis@holycomforter.org that includes responses to the following questions: 

  • What is the vision of the organization? What is its purpose, and what does it offer and/or what issue is it trying to address? What does success look like? Please provide certification of your 501C-3 or equivalent. 

  • Describe the relevant project itself, and please provide a concise view of what funding it will be able to accomplish. Successful candidates will later be asked to provide a three-minute video (nothing fancy; it can be done on a tablet or smart phone) that we can provide to the Holy Comforter congregation, describing the grant’s impact. 

  • Is there a connection to Church of the Holy Comforter or our community? Some examples might be whether it’s faith-based or perhaps, more specifically, Episcopal, if it serves the North Shore or Chicago Rogers Park neighborhood, or whether parishioners from Holy Comforter are active in the organization’s work. 

Awards are typically between $1,000-5,000. It is our hope that the application will take you no longer than 30 minutes to fill out. We want to be good stewards of your time. 
 
Deadline: Wednesday, May 29th 
Decisions will be made by mid-June. 

Questions? Email Jyrekis Collins at jyrekis@holycomforter.org

Thank you for your consideration!