Programs

Vaccine Squad

Joanna Chambers is smiling and wearing a black hoodie under a jean jacket. A text box reads "Helping hospitality workers get vaccinated was a great idea. It encouraged many people get back to work and created a healthy workplace. Joanna Chambers, Vaccine Squad Program Organizer"

Through a grant from the Michael Reese Health Trust and working with Partners in Health, we worked to help the city reopen and keep hospitality workers and their families safe by increasing vaccination against COVID-19. As hospitality workers, we knew that many of our friends and family were hesitant to receive the vaccine or did not have access to it.

Two women wearing face masks stand by a bulletin board, they are holding flyers about the vaccine program.

Our team worked one on one with hospitality workers and their families to connect them to the vaccine – whether that meant logistically connecting them or helping them overcome their hesitancy. Our team visited over 100 worksites across Chicago and spoke to thousands of hospitality workers ultimately connecting over 1,000 of hospitality workers and their families to the vaccine. We additionally worked with Chicago Public School lunch ladies to proudly advertise that they had been vaccinated to help encourage trust of the vaccine in the school communities.

Hotel Worker Right to Work Ordinance – Chicago’s “Comeback Law”

During the pandemic, many hotel workers lost their jobs through no fault of their own. We advocated for a policy that required all Chicago hotels to bring back workers as business returned.

A woman on the picket line holding a sign that reads "fired hotel worker? text 'comeback' to 877-877"

Three women on the picket line holding signs that read "Respect Our Work", "Support Workers", and "When the guests come back, we should come back. Don't throw us out like garbage"

New Arrival Legal Support

Christian Rivas, wearing a green polo with glasses, is outside in a park. A text box reads "Volunteering at the new arrival's legal support made a different in their lives. It felt wholesome helping people start a better life in Chicago. Christian Rivas, HMS Host, Lead Barista Trainer, Volunteer"

EQUITY For All of Us partnered with UNITEHERE Local 1, Working Families United, Chicago Federation of Labor, IUOE Local 399, the AFL-CIO, SEIU Local 1, and the Labor Council for Latin America Advancement to hold a series of free legal clinics to help new arrivals apply for Temporary Protective Status, work authorization and fee waivers.

The demand for this help is overwhelming, as this application process is complicated and not one that can be done without legal help, which is often insurmountably expensive for new arrivals. Following the legal clinics, we are working to connect newly arrived immigrants with family-sustaining jobs in the hospitality industry. During the three clinics we helped over 200 people, including many families, submit these applications.

Hospitality Worker Assistance

A person in a colorful face mask hands a paper to a woman and man standing on the front steps of a brick building.

During the pandemic we helped hospitality workers with finding resources during periods of lay-off. We delivered over 5,500 grocery gift cards to more than 800 hospitality workers and their families – totaling $157,000 in direct food assistance. We connected more than 70 hospitality workers with over $230,000 in rent and utility assistance.

Accessible Healthcare for Women in Hospitality

We teamed with the Chicago Foundation for Women to help women in the hospitality industry find primary care providers who they trust: someone who speaks their language, looks like them, understands their life, neighborhood and experiences. Regular preventative care is an enormous factor in preventing major lifelong health problems, but not having a pcp one trusts is a major obstacle to receiving preventative health care. For several reasons, women in hospitality are often unlikely to have a pcp they trust. Our team worked with hundreds of women to help them connect to and find a primary care provider they could trust and set them on track for a lifetime of preventative care.

Three women are standing in a medical office and each holding up one finger as if to say "number one".

A woman is sitting on an exam table wearing a dress and heels while another woman in scrubs takes her blood pressure.