Photo Tom Vlodek

Volunteer to help the Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative

The Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative is an Illinois-registered 501(c)3 organization run by volunteers. We could use your help in our mission to preserve Chicago's workers cottages! Specifically, if you able to lend a hand, we are in need of volunteers with the following skills:

Outreach: Table at local events to talk to visitors about what makes workers cottages worth preserving

Social Media: Create posts of cottage exterior/interior photos or other content for social media

Video Editing: Edit documentary footage for short Youtube videos

Architecture: Draw floor plans to document historic cottages and/or renderings of cottage construction details

Photography: Photograph events and tours, and/or house exteriors and interiors

Event Coordination: Locate and coordinate community events where CWCI can set up a table

Writing: Create cottage-related articles for CWCI newsletter and website

Translation: Translate printed and web materials to Spanish/Polish/Mandarin

Field Surveys: Participate in semi-annual walking survey collecting data on houses in a specific area

Housing Needs Survey: Outreach to survey needs of cottage owners

Historic Research: Archival research to collect history of specific homes for website, newsletter, and tour content

Tour Leader: Lead neighborhood tours showcasing worker's cottages

Urban Planning: Research strategies for leveraging zoning to preserve historic houses

Historic Preservation: Build community consensus for landmarking cottage districts

Construction: Compile database of home-improvement resources for cottage owners and/or success stories of cottage rehabilitation/preservation

UX Design: Streamline and reorganize content on CWCI website

GIS Design: Create Storymap graphics from CWCI survey data

Fundraising: Create ways to engage donors through outreach, events, and gifts

Business Assistant: Help with email management, website management, product creation, research apps & tools for donation management & events, etc.

If you are able to help with any of these areas, or if you have other ideas of how you might be able to assist the Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative, please contact us.