The Darst Center works with many local agencies who operate as educational partners for our immersion retreats. We continue to build deep relationships with these organizations as we co-educate retreat participants in how we can all take action to address injustice immediately and for the long haul.
Arise Chicago
Arise Chicago was founded by a diverse group of religious leaders in 1991 looking to address systemic poverty in the Chicagoland area. Arise Chicago partners with workers and faith communities to fight workplace injustice through education and organizing and advocating for public policy changes.
The Boulevard
The Boulevard of Chicago provides high quality, cost-effective medical respite care, holistic support and housing services to help ill and injured homeless adults break the cycle of homelessness, restore their health and rebuild their lives.
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless:
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless organizes and advocates for the prevention and abolition of homelessness based on their belief that housing is a human right in a just society.
Cornerstone Community Outreach
Cornerstone Community Outreach has a long standing commitment to providing shelter and finding homes for families and individuals who are at the greatest risk of being excluded from necessary services.
Greater Chicago Food Depository
The Greater Chicago Food Depository serves over 8oo agencies in the Chicagoland area and offers a variety of ways for volunteers to get involved - donating, serving, cleaning, administrative work, loading trucks, and more.
Growing Home
Growing Home provides farm-based training for people with employment barriers to ensure economic progress and environmental sustainability for the Englewood community.
Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants
ICDI is a faith-based organization of staff and volunteers called to respond actively and publicly to the suffering of all individuals and communities affected by immigration detention, deportation, and post-detention through pastoral care, advocacy, public witness and other activities.
Just Roots
Just Roots is a non-profit creating pathways that empower people in food insecure communities to access local, sustainably grown food that's good for families and the environment.
La Casa Norte
La Casa Norte's mission is to serve youth and families confronting homelessness. We provide access to stable housing and deliver comprehensive services that act as a catalyst to transform lives and communities.
Latino Union
Latino Union collaborates with low-income immigrant and U.S.-born workers to develop the tools necessary to collectively improve social and economic conditions.
Misericordia Home
Misericordia offers a community of care that maximizes potential for persons with mild to profound developmental disabilities, many of whom are also physically challenged. .
The Night Ministry
The Night Ministry is a non-denominational organization that strives to help those in need on the streets of Chicago. Ministry areas include an open door youth shelter, outreach and health ministries, and community and congregational relations.
Nourishing Hope
Nourishing Hope works to eliminate hunger and poverty in our communities by providing food to fill the basic need of hungry people, empowering our clients to achieve independence through social service programming, and raising awareness of hunger and poverty.
Plant Chicago
Plant Chicago equips people and businesses with the tools to live more sustainably through community-driven, hands-on programs. They aim to develop circular economies of food production, energy conservation and material reuse, while empowering people of all backgrounds to make their cities healthier and more efficient.
The Port Ministries
The Port Ministries is a Catholic organization that provides a variety of services that aim to meet the basic needs of its clients, including an after school services, day care, ESL classes, a free health clinic, and a local Bread Truck that delivers meals to local residents.
Precious Blood Ministries of Reconciliation
PBMR restores human dignity through hospitality, hope and healing. We work as agents of reconciliation to build relationships among youth and families impacted by violence and/or conflict; create safe spaces, and promote a restorative justice approach to conflict and build a sense of community
Pui Tak Christian School
"Pui Tak" literally means "to build character or to cultivate virtue." Pui Tak's mission is to create an educational environment that encourages students to develop exceptional character traits and admirable social skills. Their curriculum is designed to provide quality academics and promote creativity to prepare students as life-long learners.
San Miguel Chicago
San Miguel, a Catholic and Lasallian school, envisions an educational community that provides each student with emotional support, a sense of belonging, instills Gospel values, and is animated by and fosters a spirit of Faith and Zeal.
Sarah's Circle
Sarah's Circle offers Daytime Support Center open to any woman in need, an interim housing (shelter) program for women who are currently homeless, and permanent supportive housing for women who have a disabling condition and have been chronically homeless.
St. James Food Pantry
St. James food pantry, a part of St. James Catholic Church, serves five different neighborhoods in Chicago, and offers on-site food distribution and off-site food deliveries to its home bound clients.
St. Leonard's Ministries
St. Leonard's Ministries provides a setting in which men and women recently released from prison can achieve productive, whole lives. Residents can access an array of program services designed to assist them as they make the transition to successful, independent living.
St. Malachy + Precious Blood Church
We, the people of St. Malachy + Precious Blood are a united Catholic faith community, serving as a beacon of hope and understanding on the West side of Chicago. We operate a food pantry the third Saturday of the month in partnership with the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Southside Center of Hope
Southside Center of Hope is a safe, healing community. It provides women in recovery and their children a structured, safe environment, which motivates them to achieve sobriety, become gainfully employed and live independently.
Su Casa Catholic Worker
Su Casa provides hospitality and a healing environment for displaced women and children, partners with neighbors to make their community a better place to live, and engages in educational and social action activities concerning social justice issues related to their ministry.
Taller de Jose
Taller De Jose is an agency that offers companionship and personal attention to people who have difficulty finding their way in a complex social system. Rather than duplicate existing services, they seek to collaborate with other agencies to make social services more accessible to a population in need.
Working Family Solidarity
Working Family Solidarity’s mission is to attain economic security for workers of all backgrounds by educating workers on employee rights, decreasing racial tension, and building racial alliances.