Prince of pride
Frank Walker, founder and director, Youth Pride Center

How did you get started? Walker’s family was killed in a car accident when he was seven years old, and a trust fund was established for him. At the age of 24, he tapped into that money to start Chicago Gay Youth (the group’s original name). “I used to volunteer with the Night Ministry and Horizons Community Services, so I was already involved with the homeless and LGBT [communities],” he says. “I got the idea from volunteering that this was what I wanted to do.”

What does your org do? Youth Pride Center serves gays and lesbians ages 13 to 23, as well as those who are transgendered, questioning or on the down-low. It covers the fun stuff (social nights, free meals and game playing) and the heavier stuff (safe-sex discussion groups, coming-out advice and housing assistance for members who are homeless). “We truly have a direct service because we’re not publicly funded,” Walker says, explaining that as a result, funds aren’t earmarked to address specific issues exclusively. “If you live on the street and need a coat and shoes, you can walk in the door and leave with a coat and shoes,” Walker says.

Biggest accomplishment YPC started with Wednesday movie nights and only two volunteers. “Today, we serve 200 youths a month and have 40 volunteers,” he says. Much of its growth is due to word of mouth: The group’s last-Friday-of-the-month party, Curiosity Youth Jam, draws young adults from as far as downstate Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin who are looking for a gay-friendly party setting for the under-21 crowd.

What do you hope to accomplish this year? “The kids always hear that they’re ‘at-risk’ and it makes them feel like another number,” Walker says. “Our theme for this year is ‘Youth at Hope.’?” He wants his members to realize that YPC is committed to helping them solve problems that seem too large to deal with, such as family issues, failing grades or facing homelessness.

What kinds of volunteering opportunities are available? YPC seeks adults 24 and older to serve as one-on-one mentors for youths and be accessible by phone 24 hours a day. The volunteer mentor corps is mixed straight/gay; mentors are designed to be “go-to” people to help their assigned youths with specific issues (like how to find a job) or just to lend an ear if they need to talk. The average commitment is about seven hours per week.

Are there any perks? The group offers after-hours events for the volunteers, like bowling and improv-comedy outings.—Erin Ensign

For more information, call 773-729-0127, or visit www.youthpridecenter.org; they’re located at 637 South Dearborn Street.

Rock & roll model
Emily Easton, cofounder, Girls Rock! Chicago

How did you get started? “There are just not enough girls starting bands in Chicago,” says Easton, and Girls Rock! Chicago was created to fix just that. In January 2006, Easton and some friends teamed up with local all-girl band Gamine Thief, who had the same idea of creating a rock & roll day camp for girls. “We just made a list of everything we would need to get this to go,” Easton says, which included mass mailings to Chicago Public Schools and networking with local parents who are former or current rock & rollers.

What does your org do? Its weeklong summer camp teaches girls ages 9 to 16 the ins and outs of being in a band. Campers get a schooling on being a part of the rock scene, including lessons on the guitar, bass or drums; composing and songwriting workshops; and band practice. They also tackle the less glamorous (but often fun) side: making buttons and T-shirts, and tour management 101.Biggest accomplishment “The end-of-camp show,” Easton says. “We sold out Schubas and got all of the girls up onstage playing an original song that they had each written.”

What do you hope to accomplish this year? Easton says they hope to draw 40 campers this summer (they had 17 last year) and build their own instrument bank through donations (last year, most of the gear was on loan from volunteers). “We really would like a permanent collection of guitars, amps, drum kits, turntables and mixers,” she says.

What kinds of volunteering opportunities are available? For camp week each year (ladies only), GR!C seeks counselors, band coaches and workshop teachers, and the commitment can range from the entire week to just a few hours. Musical ability and knowledge of rock & roll are helpful but not required. Year-round, volunteers (guys welcome) are needed for fund-raising and publicity, and you can set your own schedule.

Are there any perks? You can score free tickets to shows like Pitchfork Music Festival and Intonation Music Fest by working the GR!C information table.—Erin Ensign

For more information, visit www.girlsrockchicago.org or e-mail info@girlsrockchicago.org.

Meet-up maven
Amy Sheren, director, One Brick Chicago

How did you get started? One Brick has a local staff of volunteers, but no office. “We’re a virtual organization,” Sheren says, “so everything is online. The only thing we paid for was Web hosting, insurance and name tags.” The goal of the organization is twofold: to provide an easy way to volunteer and to bring kind-hearted folks together socially. One Brick was founded in San Francisco in 2001 and has since spread to Chicago (established in December 2004), New York and Washington, D.C.

What does your org do? If you’re feeling guilty because you’re pushing 30 and still haven’t done any volunteer work (and, oh yeah, it sure would be swell if you could meet someone nice to settle down with), One Brick is your hookup. Its website has a monthly calendar of one-time volunteer events, like serving food at a soup kitchen, packing hygiene kits for the Night Ministry or sprucing up a local YMCA. Every event is followed by cocktails somewhere nearby so volunteers can, uh, check out the talent (’cause we all know you’d feel an even greater sense of accomplishment if you went home with somebody’s digits).

Biggest accomplishment Sheren says they have attracted more than 3,000 volunteers, delivering 12,639 hours of work to almost 100 organizations. What do you hope to accomplish this year? “Locally, we want to recruit our 5,000th volunteer, partner with our 125th organization, and increase our base of volunteer event-managers to 55,” Sheren says. “This will help us get to our goal of 10,000 volunteer hours in 2007.”

What kinds of volunteer opportunities are available? Pretty much everything. “The categories we serve are education, environment, poverty, health, youth, community, animals and the arts,” Sheren says. Each project is treated as a stand-alone event, so there are no long-term commitments and no orientations. Projects are usually three hours long, followed by a social outing.

Are there any perks? You’ve had blind dates that are way more painful (and you might have some fun). “It’s a great way to meet people while giving back to the community,” according to Sheren, who adds that the gender split among volunteers is about 50-50. We like those odds.—Erin Ensign

For more information, visit www.onebrick.org.

Green goddess
Kirsten Akre, floriculturist and volunteer-program developer, Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse

How did you get started? Kilbourn Park has been around since the late 1920s, but its greenhouse had fallen into a sad state of disrepair. “Neighborhood residents, Friends of the Parks and people in the greening world said, ‘We want to have this space available to the community,’?” Akre says. Friends of the Parks and the Chicago Park District started restoring the abandoned space in 1995, and in 2006 Akre developed the volunteer program.

What does your org do? If you want to trump your next-door neighbor’s flower garden this spring or learn how to grow vegetables you’ll actually want to eat, you might want to pay a visit to Kilbourn Park. It’s got the Chicago Park District’s only organic-teaching greenhouse, which means it’s full of classes and workshops that can turn any thumb green. Adults come for tips on growing organic produce; preschoolers come for field trips to learn about gardens, manhandle worms and find out why they shouldn’t step on bugs.

Biggest accomplishment “The reestablishment of programming, and getting people to the greenhouse,” Akre says. Their efforts include the September Harvest Festival, where guests can taste fried green tomatoes and herbal tea from the park’s garden; and Garden Buddies, which features toddler-friendly art projects, nature walks and gardening.

What do you hope to accomplish this year? “To expand our family programming,” says Akre, explaining that children usually end up at the greenhouse through a summer camp or after-school program. She hopes to build up the recently reinvigorated volunteer program and encourage families to enjoy the greenhouse together.

What kinds of volunteering opportunities are available? Help is needed getting ready for the greenhouse’s spring plant sale, which runs May 11 and 12. Volunteers will start as early as March on seeding, transplanting and labeling the vegetable, herb and flower seedlings that will be up for sale. Support is also needed for its summer garden and other special events. The average commitment is a three-hour shift once or twice a month.

Are there any perks? Akre says it’s great for people who don’t have their own garden space, and those who want to learn how to garden will definitely get their hands dirty. There’s also a lot to be said for working inside a lush, green space when everything is gray outside.—Erin Ensign

For more information, call 773-685-3359 or e-mail kirsten.akre@chicagoparkdistrict.com.

Not just clowning around
Paul Miller, founder and chief goof-officer, CircEsteem

How did you get started? After touring with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in ’96–’97, Miller traveled solo in the U.S. and Japan, performing and teaching as a clown. He worked at a Kentucky-based circus-arts program designed to reform juvenile delinquents, which inspired him to start his own organization. In 2001, he relocated to Chicago and began teaching circus workshops and also developed programs with Alternatives, Inc., a youth and family service agency in Uptown. In 2003, CircEsteem gained nonprofit status.

What does your org do? How do you put a smile on a kid’s face? Slap on a red rubber nose and teach her stilt walking, unicycling, acrobatics and other circus skills. CircEsteem grew from a one-clown workshop to a full-blown program that offers kids and teens homework tutoring, job training and the chance to perform in youth circuses nationwide. Most of its kids are from low-income families, but CircEsteem strives for diversity and counts private-school kids and African refugees among its students. The goal isn’t to stick them in big floppy shoes for life; Miller sees the program as a path to developing skills that really matter: tolerance, building self-esteem through hard work and earning good enough grades to get into college.

Biggest accomplishment Securing Whole Foods as his first sponsor, Miller says. “Saturday mornings, kids were coming to practice but they were really grumpy.” He realized these kids, mostly from low-income families, were either skipping breakfast or eating junk food, so he approached Whole Foods about donating healthy food to serve at practice. “They’ve donated food three times a week for five years now,” he says.

What do you hope to accomplish this year? “It’s time to get to work on our next group of kids,” Miller says, “because our founding kids will be off to college.” Fund-raising will also be a top priority, so CircEsteem can continue programs like after-school tutoring and job-training for teens.

What kinds of volunteer opportunities are available? CircEsteem needs tutors for the Homework and Circuswork program, Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 5:30pm. If that’s a little too hands-on, can you bag popcorn or direct traffic? Sure you can. The group also needs support staff for the upcoming Spring Circus, which will be happening two nights only. So step right up and pitch in.

Are there any perks? “Seeing the impact you’re having in these kids’ lives and watching them recognize it, too,” Miller says. “You get to know this kid and when it comes to showtime, and they’re under the lights in their costume…they’re out of this world.”—Erin Ensign

For more information, visit www.circesteem.com.