How we’re mobilizing to keep our communities safe — and you can too
November 3rd, 2025
In September the administration announced they would soon send federal agents and troops to our city. Their intention was clear; to terrorize, divide, and intimidate our communities while they destroy families and people’s lives.
ONE Northside made the choice to pivot a significant part of our time and resources from our existing work and priorities to address this crisis. We worked with community leaders, elected officials, local organizations, churches, and especially with our most-affected members to develop ideas for how best to respond.
Our North Side Rapid Response has been a challenge– but we’ve seen amazing love in our community too
At times this work has been challenging– exhausting, heartbreaking. But we have seen incredible things happen too, because the North Side loves our neighbors, and you all have stepped up in amazing ways to fight for and care for each other.
Over 200 people attended our Rapid Response launch meeting in September – representatives of schools, churches, mutual aid groups and more.
75 people came out for a Know Your Rights canvass of Uptown and Edgewater on a weekend in October, many of them brand-new canvassers!
More than 700 people have signed up to join our Neighbor-to-Neighbor (N2N) volunteer network since it launched on October 14, and more than 300 volunteers have been fully integrated into the network through our security intake process.
The N2N network got right to work: they’re fielding 20-30 requests for help from vulnerable community members each week, from picking up groceries to help with rent missed when a family couldn’t leave for work due to fear of being picked up by ICE. Collectively the group raised $15,000 in the first week to help families who were in danger of missing their rent payments! (They’re now at more than $30,000 – and counting.)
In October we hosted a Family Emergency Plan training for 25 people – translated simultaneously in Pashto, Hindi, Arabic and Spanish.
A two-day Know Your Rights canvass team of 20 volunteers in West Ridge handed out 300 whistles and over 500 KYR information packets in English, Spanish, Hindi, Urdu, Dari, and Gujarati– plus 300 cups of chai!
Get Involved in North Side Rapid Response work
Every week we’re getting hundreds of new volunteers, standing up and saying they’re ready to meet this moment. If you’re not sure how to get started, here’s a quick overview:
I want to protect my neighbors from ICE / join an ICE watch group
First things first: Anyone can send a sighting to the ICIRR/OCAD Family Support Network Hotline. Make sure it is saved in your phone: 855-435-7693. And get a whistle, and learn whistle protocols. Here is how to safely film ICE if you encounter them. Be safe, be brave, be ready.
Second – get trained. Weekly trainings are led by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), and Protect Rogers Park offers frequent trainings as well. Training is very important, do not skip this step! The Signal chats are not just for sharing sightings, they are for taking action — you have to know the actions to take and be ready to do the actions!
Then – sign up for the group in your neighborhood. Please note that all the groups have many folks signing up right now, so it may take a little while to hear back. Security is serious! Thanks for volunteering and thanks for your patience.
West Ridge – Community Defense training launch November 8, 11am-1pm, Rogers Elementary Sign up here
Edgewater/Uptown – Community Defense coverage extends to Lakeview, Lincoln Square, North Center/Ravenswood – Sign up here
If you do not want to wait to be added, your local school may have a group organized to watch at drop off/pick up times – you can always drop by and ask.
I want to support my neighbors who are being impacted by ICE
This is so important, thank you! So many people are so afraid right now, and need so much help!
Join or support an organization that is directly working with affected groups
These neighborhood groups are offering direct support to vulnerable neighbors — if you want to volunteer or donate to a group in your neighborhood, check them out:
United Church of Rogers Park
Liberate Ward 46
Jordan Elementary School
Northside Community Resources
Luther Memorial Church
Living Water Community Church
Northside Action for Justice
Care for Friends
Join ONE Northside’s Own Neighbor to Neighbor Network
ONE Northside has brought together trusted groups that represent vulnerable immigrants and hundreds of community members across the North Side who can respond to requests for mutual aid – anything from grocery requests, accompaniment to appointments, to financial assistance. JOIN HERE
I want my neighbors to know their rights and feel prepared
This is also really important! First and foremost, everyone in Chicago should know their rights, so make sure you attend a training yourself. Then here are some other ways to help:
ONE Northside has prepared double-sided flyers that can be printed out that help vulnerable immigrants prepare their own Family Emergency Plans, as well as Know Their Rights, and how to access additional resources. It includes links to the legal forms they need to prepare their Emergency Plans.
Print these and distribute them, or go the extra mile and print the legal documents for neighbors you know who might need them.
These are available in English, Spanish, Urdu, Hindi, simplified Mandarin, Viet and Dari
Join a Know Your Rights canvass – we’re getting out there in the neighborhoods and talking to neighbors in businesses, on the street, and door to door to make sure they have resources they need to protect themselves and their loved ones
Thanks for all you are doing to get involved to protect and support your neighbors. And thank you to our many community partners and elected officials who are working with us to make this work possible. We are building strong ties and infrastructure that we can rely on for years to come.
Join us to build a diverse, united North Side of Chicago acting powerfully for our shared values of racial, social, and economic justice in communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
