WIND Volunteer Opportunities: Many ways to make a difference

WIND is a nonprofit organization working with women who have been impacted by the criminal legal system.  Our goal is to help women heal and design a thriving life journey using personalized tools and strategies for success. We facilitate year-round programs in the community, at the Cook County Jail and at a transitional home for women in reentry in Chicago.

Volunteer opportunities

There are many opportunities for volunteering with WIND, and we collaborate directly with you to determine a good fit for your areas of interest, expertise and passions.

1. Support WIND Women

• Become a feedback coach in our correspondence workshops for currently incarcerated women: WIND volunteers are paired with 1-2 women in jail to provide short, individual written feedback on their weekly assignments in WIND courses. These courses run for 4-6 weeks and require 1-2 hours per week of a volunteer’s time. Volunteers are trained and supported through the courses. Women at the jail greatly appreciate the individual attention they receive from WIND coaches.
• Facilitation: Volunteers can help to lead workshops using our curriculum modules (in-person or virtually). This provides an opportunity for direct interaction and engagement with the women we serve. You can volunteer for one, two weeks or more and will be trained.
  • Current Programming Areas
    • Designing Your Future:  Focuses on planning skills to work towards new life goals. This workshop uses design-thinking tools to help our participants think differently, develop more confident mindsets, and envision multiple paths for their futures.
    • Writing for Empowerment: Guided free-writing for self-discovery, greater confidence and employment preparation. Participants reflect on their uniqueness, experiment with new writing techniques, and look at their personal journeys.
    • Essential Skills: Learning to communicate positively about who you are now, not who you were when you were incarcerated; how to identify the strengths and values that guide your decisions; develop an elevator speech for interviews.
    • Money Matters: Learning to set financial goals, develop a budget, and understand how their ‘money story’ from their childhoods impacts their saving/spending habits. Banking do’s and don’ts.

In-person and virtual workshops usually run for 4-6 weeks.  We can work with you to identify which workshops most interests you and your availability.

There are also opportunities for special sessions or one-time workshops, so if you would like to present a special topic, we welcome your suggestions. Special sessions in the past have included journaling to find the love you deserve, drawing your strengths, healing through humor, and women’s health. Guest facilitators have been doctors, teachers, art therapists, and others.

2. Support the Organization

• • • Community outreach and marketing: This includes offering advice and guidance on improving marketing efforts, helping to design and orchestrate outreach and events or helping with social media and spreading awareness about WIND and our mission. Write blog posts on our participants and volunteers. Help us arrange speaking engagements for WIND board members, volunteers and our Lived Experience Leaders.

• • • Operational expertise: Whether you are a wizard at using CRM databases or identifying opportunities to streamline and improve critical operations, we welcome your expertise. We are a small organization without a lot of infrastructure in place, and are always looking for new and improved ways to run our organization.

• • • Development: Act as a communications liaison or development support. There are a range of fundraising activities for you to get involved with, including identifying and writing grants, organizing fundraising events, writing acknowledgement letters to donors, spreading the word to potential donors and any other ideas you may bring to the table!

Contact us to learn more!

These are just some of the ways in which you can get involved with WIND. If you don’t see an exact fit, let’s talk! We are always looking for new ideas and opportunities to collaborate with others.