Community Partners
The Civic Engagement Center (CEC) and THRIVE Center are grateful to have partners within our campus community as well as community organizations outside of NLU.
Upcoming Partnership Opportunities:
- Eagle Days of Service - opportunities throughout the year for NLU students and employees to take part in on or off-campus service-learning opportunities.
- Voter Engagement - voter registration, voter and ballot education opportunities throughout the year.
- NLU Food Pantry - opportunities throughout the year to volunteer in the NLU Food Pantry.
Please reach out to the THRIVE Center at thrivecenter@nl.edu if you would like to volunteer in the NLU Food Pantry or find out other ways to partner with the THRIVE Center (NLU’s basic needs hub and Wellness Center.)
Please reach out to Lauren Schmidt, Director of Veteran Student Services and Civic Engagement to share any upcoming one-time or ongoing opportunities at: lschmidt17@nl.edu.
Advisory Committee:
The CEC has an official advisory committee of on-campus partners composed of staff and faculty who are dedicated to achieving the center’s mission and goals as well as inventing new and innovative approaches to meeting our student’s ever-changing needs. Together, we meet regularly to discuss ways in which we can increase engagement, incorporate service learning into the curriculum and plan events and activities surrounding topics of civic engagement. To get a comprehensive list of the CEC Committee, please email Lauren Schmidt at lschmidt17@nl.edu.
THRIVE Partner Organizations:
All Chicago’s mission is to unite our community and resources to provide solutions that ensure and sustain the stability of home. The Student Emergency Fund assists Chicago college students experiencing a crisis or transition by distributing critical and timely financial assistance via a network of partner organizations and schools.
Read our report on the Student Emergency Fund here.
Mrelief is a nonprofit startup working to help people gain access to social services and eat with dignity. Their mission is to provide a simplistic way for people to gain snap benefits, rather than be bogged down with confusing paperwork. For more information, go to www.nl.edu/mrelief.
The Chicago Period Project empowers those to experience their periods with dignity. The feminist, grassroots organization distributes pads, tampons, underwear, and other critical menstruation supplies to local shelters, schools, and crisis support networks.
All menstruating people should have reliable access to period supplies. The Chicago Period Project’s goal is for the 29 percent of Chicago residents living below the poverty line to have healthy periods, and for us to raise awareness about this issue.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago (“CCAC”) was founded more than a century ago to meet human need through the Mission of Charity. A trusted partner and steward, CCAC has grown to be one of the largest human service providers in the Chicago metropolitan region.
Top Box Foods is a community-driven nonprofit that creates access to healthy and affordable food for all. They offer fresh produce and other healthy groceries to support community partners in nutrition and hunger initiatives, encourage individuals to take charge of their health, and promote the development of a more sustainable food system.
Support + Feed is an intersectional nonprofit organization dedicated to creating an equitable, plant-based food system and combating food insecurity and the climate crisis.
Chicago Lights – Social Services and Urban Farm
Chicago Lights builds brighter futures for Chicago’s youth and adults through supportive relationships and life-changing programs.
National Louis University Food Pantry
National Louis University has expanded its food pantry and launched a THRIVE resource page to connect students to community resources. The NLU food and hygiene pantry is a part of the university’s Student Affairs division, designed to support student success and serve as a single point of contact by sponsoring programs and services.
Chicago Votes is a non-partisan, non-profit organization building a more inclusive democracy by putting power in the hands of young Chicagoans. We’re engaging and developing a new generation of leaders by opening the doors of government and politics to young people from all corners of the city. We’re changing laws to make Chicago and Illinois a better place to be young, and in the process, we’re making democracy FUN.
BallotReady is on a mission to make democracy work the way it should by helping constituents across the U.S. vote and vote informed on every race and measure on their ballot. BallotReady provides personalized, nonpartisan information to voters in all 50 states. In addition, BallotReady helps voters register, make a plan to vote, and look up their elected representatives.
Jumpstart is a national early education organization working toward the day every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. We provide language, literacy, and social-emotional programming for preschool children from under-resourced communities and promote quality early learning for all children. Since 1993, we’ve trained more than 58,000 college students and community volunteers to transform the lives of over 133,000 preschool children nationwide.
Faculty and Staff Resource:
National Louis University is one of the newest institutional members of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU). CUMU is the longest-running and largest organization committed to serving and connecting the nation’s urban and metropolitan universities and their partners. You can view the current membership list here.
To take advantage of our membership, it is important that you subscribe to receive communications from CUMU. Please subscribe here.
Here are a few ways that NLU administrators, faculty, and staff can start benefitting from our membership:
Journal—Best Practices
Metropolitan Universities is CUMU's peer-reviewed, quarterly online journal for scholarship on cutting-edge topics impacting urban and metropolitan colleges and universities. Most issues are organized thematically and are edited by a guest editor(s), typically selected from CUMU member institutions. View submission guidelines and past and upcoming issues online.
Virtual Programming—Presentation and Learning Opportunities
CUMU’s virtual offerings have been enhanced during the pandemic, and given their success, CUMU envisions continuing them as a way to supplement their in-person annual conference.
The Learning & Sharing Series is a free members-only program that brings together faculty, staff, students and community partners to learn from each other and share challenges and successes on a set of discrete issue areas. The spring series will begin March 23 – view sessions and register here.
Stay Updated—Communications
Connect with CUMU and stay informed about news, publications, and upcoming events by subscribing to emails. Also engage with CUMU on Twitter and LinkedIn. CUMU's newsroom features member news, event updates, and editorials from CUMU leadership and member institutions.
