It’s been an exciting and challenging program year! Every year, COFI works with parent teams across Chicago neighborhoods and Illinois communities to organize and take action within their own local schools and communities.

Parents make it look easy, but the truth is, it hasn’t been a year without challenges and threats to Black and Brown communities. The new presidential administration has brought forward racist rhetoric by attacking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives and our immigrant communities. They’ve rolled back programs and investments that have been stepping stones for families and communities that COFI and POWER-PAC IL leaders have been building since 1995. (POWER-PAC IL is COFI’s parent-led membership organization, which you can read more about here!)

Nevertheless, parents have persisted! It’s a reminder that parent-led change is the key to El modelo de COFI of making changes happen. We’re proud to share just a few of our parents’ local accomplishments and highlights from the last year.

Aurora

Aurora worked with 14 new parents, who completed Phase 1: Self, Family, and Team of COFI’s family-focused organizing and leadership training! As part of their training, the parents set a team goal to host a community conversation about mental health. The panelists spoke about the importance of mental health and how racism and the immigrant experience impact an individual’s and family’s mental health and well-being. Over 65 people attended the even (pictured above)! 

Outside of training, Aurora and Elgin co-hosted a “Shining a Light” forum to share findings and recommendations from COFI and POWER-PAC IL’s parent-led report around mental health policies and supports.

Chicago – Northwest, Westside, Southside, and Southwest Sides

The Southside branch with Phase 2 graduates at the community forum, where parents talked to administrators about implementing the Whole School Safety policy.

A big focus of the Chicago local branches and teams has been on advancing the Seguridad en toda la escuela policy at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), as well as neighborhood safety and mental health.

Phase 1 graduates from the Southside and Southwest Branches moved on to Phase 2: Community Outreach and Action of COFI’s family-focused organizing and leadership training! They knocked on doors in their neighborhoods and held community forums to share their findings and discuss next steps. The Southside focused on student safety and talking to administrators about implementing the Whole School Safety policy that parents won with partners last year. The Southwest side focused on neighborhood safety and building community support for increasing art and sports programming for teenagers.

The Westside, Northwest, and Southwest Sides are also training new groups of parents in Phase 1: Self, Family, and Team.

Parent leaders throughout the Westside came together to push mental health advocacy and create spaces for holistic recharger, from Hay parent leaders normalizing the conversation about mental illness and the stigma surrounding it, to Herzl Parent leaders holding mental health healing circles, to an end-of-the-year Women’s Mental Health event and resource fair.

The Southwest team at Juarez High School set a team goal of improving safety in the hallways and created a parent patrol to help students feel safe. And parents at Clemente focused on Whole School Safety and met with new CPS School Board member Michilla Blaise.

Outside of training, the Chicago branches came together to host a candidates’ Meet and Greet for Chicago’s first-ever Elected Representative School Board election. They invited candidates from POWER-PAC IL districts (Districts 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10) and asked them about their views on Whole School Safety, mental health, and early learning.

East St. Louis/Metro-East Area

Two parent action groups are on the move in the Metro-East area! One group is in East St. Louis, and the other is in Brooklyn, which was recently spotlighted by the Chicago Tribune as the oldest Black town in America. The two groups came together and are hosting a Family Literacy Night in early July, as part of their Phase 1: Self, Family, and Team training.

Throughout the year, Parents United for Change (PUFC) branch leaders have focused on addressing transportation issues and improving school lunches for their children. In February, they officially joined School District 189’s transportation committee to discuss solutions to busing. Parents have also conducted lunch surveys and partnered with the district’s Food Manager and Wellness committee to offer healthier lunch options.

Finally, branch members co-hosted an event with local organizations on June 7, called Power Exchange: Transforming the Future of the East St. Louis Area. It was an opportunity to bring residents together, educate the community about local issues and ongoing change efforts, and build a collective vision for the community. PUFC parents led workshops on food insecurity and mental health for participants!

East St. Louis Parent Monique facilitates a discussion at the Power Exchange event.

Elgin

Fourteen new Elgin parents completed Phase 1: Self, Family, and Team this year. Many of them shared individual financial goals and then set a collective team goal of hosting a financial education series with three workshops: “Your Money, Your Family,” “Financial Peace,” and “Your Story and Your Finances.” (A group picture is featured above at the very top of this page)

Outside of training, parents also hosted a dual language event, where community members heard from students, parents, and school administrators about the benefits and challenges of students enrolled in dual-language classes.

evanston

Ten new graduates completed Phase 1: Self, Family, and Team (pictured above)! Their team-building goal is focused on healthy lifestyles and well-being, which includes hosting a nutritional cooking class for the Evanston branch at the start of the new school year in Fall 2025!

Outside of training, the branch also held two big events! School board and city council elections took place this year, and parents hosted a bilingual breakfast with the candidates. Additionally, they held a “Shining a Light” forum to build support for POWER-PAC IL’s parent-led recommendations around mental health services.

Nuevas comunidades

Rockford

Parents from Lewis Lemon in Rockford completed Phase 1: Self, Family, and Team (pictured above)! This summer, they will plan to attend some of the Saturday summer street market events together with their families to continue building relationships as a team. Also, Aurora Parent Leader Liliana Olayo co-led training with COFI Organizer Talibah Moore! Way to go, Lili and Talibah!

Waukegan

COFI co-trained, with staff from HACES (Hispanic American Community Education and Services), 35 Parent Mentors from 6 schools in Self, Family, and Team this year. The group had several team goals, one of which was to implement a Little Library outside of a school that was built by parents who secured the book donations.

Plano

COFI Parent Leaders from Aurora – Liliana Olayo, Marisol Luna, and Zor Zapata – peer trained 17 parents in Plano (Kendall County) in Phase 1: Self, Family, and Team. The training was hosted by PAASSS (Plano Area Alliance Supporting Student Success) and sponsored by Acción de Illinois para los Niños’s CS3 initiative. The parents were part of a community event where they publicly launched their parent team, Plano Families with Vision, and shared information about art workshops they are hosting this summer. Great job, Plano!