University Church will make every attempt to regularly update our church community on resources and re-openings during this time.
Watch our Facebook Live service at 10:30 AM each Sunday morning.
WORSHIP SERVICES & SOCIAL HOUR: Our 10:30 AM worship services are held on Facebook Live. If you cannot watch live, you may go to this link to view services from March 15 until the present. You do not need a Facebook account of your own to watch. If a screen pops up asking that you open an account, scroll until you see the words “Not Now” and click on that. If you log in through your own Facebook account, you can type in comments and prayer requests during the service. (The most recent service is also visible on the Facebook feed on the home page of this website.)
After each worship service, we have a Zoom social hour, where you can see and talk to whoever is participating at the time. A meeting code and password is posted at the end of each worship service, and the Zoom link is on the website calendar.
VOICE UPDATES: To learn of weekly schedule updates, call the church’s main phone number, 773-363-8142 then press 4. You will hear a recording for the current week.
Get support from UChurch
If you need anything during this time (a ride to a vaccine site or a doctor’s appointment or grocery store), chances are someone at University Church is willing to help! Contact the office so we can connect you with a volunteer or other resources.
Give support to UChurch
If you are able and willing to help a member by picking up groceries or medications, getting someone to doctor’s appointments, cleaning their homes, etc., please contact the office (or 773-363-8142). Staff will match volunteers with those who need help. Special donations to the Benevolence Fund will also assist in these efforts.
Community Resources
The University of Chicago, in partnership with Greater Chicago Food Depository, is distributing at least 3,000 meals per day to various locations within its nine-community region. The University is also providing support to small businesses and nonprofits on the South Side. Get more information here.
Illinois Government Support
If you are quarantined or have your hours cut back because of COVID-19, you can apply for food stamps online by clicking on the BLUE Apply button at ABE.illinois.gov. Complete the on-line application and you will quickly receive a telephone interview. The interview is a mandate, so keep your phone handy. Your Link card will come in the mail in about a week and it will be ready to use as soon as you activate it. When you go back to work, report it by accessing your case online through the GREEN Manage My Case button at ABE.illinois.gov. Reporting back to work keeps you from getting overpaid.
You could qualify (generally speaking) if you are single and your monthly income is less than $1,718, two people =1718 X 2, three people =1718 X 3, etc.. You still have your rent and utilities, too. Students have to work 20 hours a week unless you’re age 50+.
Public Aid offices will likely be closed, so you will have to go to ABE.Illinois.gov. Apply the day after your hours are cut or you are laid off. There is no required waiting period.
Resources from the City of Chicago
The City of Chicago has resources on its website; if you scroll to the end of the page, you will find mental health resources. If you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety through this time of confinement, the Chicago Department of Public Health has put together a one-page guide, COVID-19: Fast Tips on Managing Anxiety.
How Can You Help?
If you have extra time and would like to volunteer, here are some options that have been brought to our attention (check back for updates):
- Donate blood. COVID-19 has significantly decreased the nation’s blood supply, but patients, including those who come to the trauma center, continue to need transfusions. Call 773-702-6247 to schedule a blood donation appointment (whole blood donation or platelets) at the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine (DCAM) at UC Medicine. All donors must have an appointment to enter DCAM and the Blood Donation Center.
- Donate supplies. Local hospitals need personal protection equipment (masks, cotton swabs, sanitizer). Get more information about donating supplies to UC Medicine.
- Donate food supplies or volunteer to deliver food through Brave Space Alliance, a nonprofit organization in Hyde Park/Kenwood that provides services to black and brown queer and trans people across the city. They have set up a COVID-19 Crisis Pantry and are collecting donations that can be delivered to them at 1515 E. 52nd Place. They especially need donations of canned soups and vegetables, rice, dried beans, diapers, baby food, cereal, pasta noodles, crackers and granola bars.
