Mission Statement
Common Place encourages a life style of love and concern for others that recognizes the dignity and self-worth inherent in each person while striving to eliminate the causes of poverty and other social injustices.
Common Place is a social service agency on Peoria's South Side that helps people overcome poverty and injustice through education. At Common Place, educational programs start with our Youth Programs, grades K-12. Our Youth Programs offer academic assistance, life skills, and cultural enrichment to build self esteem and success in school. Common Place literacy programs help adults learn reading, writing, and math skills and acquire self-esteem and self-confidence needed to obtain employment.

Vision Statement
Working primarily on the South Side of Peoria

• encourages individuals and families to value education and offers educational opportunities;
• promotes training and the development of job skills needed for employment that enables individuals and families to be financially self-sufficient;
• promotes neighborhood leadership and redevelopment, including a safe environment and in- creased home ownership;
• provides awareness of the needs of others and opportunities for churches, individuals, organizations, and corporations to channel their love and concern through sharing of resources;
• encourages human understanding and inclusiveness of race, culture, age, gender, and economic situations;
• recognizes the needs of others and advocates for those in need.

Since 1967, Common Place Family Learning Center has worked on the center south side of Peoria, Illinois, to eliminate the root causes of poverty, racism, and injustice through education.

Adult Programs

• Began in 1979. First adult literacy program in Peoria.
• The average adult learner who enters Common Place's literacy program has completed 8th grade but has a 4th grade reading level.
• Over 4,000 adults have received help through one-on-one tutoring and small group classes for reading, writing, math and life skills.

Youth Programs

• Over 1,800 children have received after school homework help and en- richment programs for grades K - 12.
• Each year our Summer Work Study Programs serve 95 area low- income and educationally at-risk children ages 8 - 15 years. Summer Tutoring is provided for grades K - 12.
• Community Programs
• Emergency Food Pantry - nearly 1,000 individuals served yearly.

Founded by the family and friends of Whitney Grotts, following her death by suicide in 2004, Whitney's Walk For Life was created to increase the awareness about the tragedy of teen suicide. Working with local survivors, schools and mental health advocates, Whitney's Walk For Life takes proactive steps for increasing depression awareness and suicide prevention programs in the Central Illinois area.

Our community has come together in order to better understand the most effective way to reduce the incidence of suicide. Since Whitney's Walk For Life began in 2004, over $917,000 has been raised for depression awareness and suicide prevention efforts. Numerous community organizations, local school districts, as well as thousands of individuals have walked, donated or sponsored these efforts.

Money from Whitney’s Walk for Life is donated to the Hult Center for Healthy Living which is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit. Hult combats suicide through community based education, awareness and advocacy programs. These include:

Signs of Suicide (S.O.S.) - Suicide Prevention Skills Training for Youth Hope Project– The project uses  local theater talent in one person/one act monologues which tell real life stories relating to mental illness. Mental Health Screening– Hult Center for Healthy Living offers an online mental health screening program.

In the month of June we will be supporting Peoria Rescue Ministries. In the past fifty years, this local ministry has grown from giving out donuts and coffee on the street to serving men, women, and children in our community at five different facilities.

These facilities include: Peoria Rescue Mission, a residential program ministering to the physical, spiritual, & emotional needs of hurting men. Victory Acres, a farm in rural Peoria County, to help men find a productive Christian lifestyle as they deal with alcohol & substance abuse.

The Women’s Pregnancy Center was opened to minister to the needs of women who experience an unplanned pregnancies or post-abortion trauma. The center provides caring, compassionate assistance to mothers and babies.
At Barnabas Center caring, trained counselors offer free Biblical counseling to scores of clients of all ages.

The need for an in-house, long-term facility for women and women with chil- dren was met when Esther House was opened. Esther House provides a safe, in- viting environment where ladies can come to know Jesus Christ and grow in their daily walk with Him. PMR also has sister ministries in the former Soviet Union that include the REALIS CENTER (research Education and Light Center) in Kiev, and Riga Bible institute in Riga, Latvia.

The objectives of the corporation of Peoria Rescue Ministries shall be:

• To conduct a nondenominational mission to aid, assist and care for destitute men
  
• To offer life-affirming alternatives to abortion
  
• To address the needs of pregnant women
  
• To offer training in parenting skills
  
• To furnish a temporary home and job placement
  
• To contribute to the uplifting of such persons
  
• To provide all services to individuals without charge
  

On Sunday, May 24 – Pentecost – we will be receiving the Strengthen the Church special mission offering of the United Church of Christ. This offering builds the UCC’s future. It funds new congregations and renews existing ones. It supports programs for youth and young adults and nurtures current and future leaders. And it aids the God is Still Speaking Ministry to spread our message of inclusivity. Directed to local Conferences, Local Church Ministries and the Still-speaking Ministry, Strengthen the Church gifts help to create vibrant church communities of extravagant welcome.

A little love can go a long way. When our lives become unpredictable or chaotic, when we’re facing into a storm, when we’re weary and discouraged, fearful or confused… a little love can give the boost we need. Many of us find that love in our church. But there are many people still seeking and yearning for a little love, a little hope, and a reassuring word. They have not found a church that’s reaching out with an extravagant welcome, where they can hear the message of the unconditional love of our still speaking God. That’s where the Strengthen the Church special mission offering steps in. Each year, we receive a special offering that helps the church’s love to grow and thrive. Called Strengthen the Church, this offering funds new congregations and renews existing ones. It supports programs for youth and young adults and nurtures current and future leaders. And it sends the God is Still Speaking Ministry’s message of extravagant welcome and inclusivity into our world.

We will receive this offering on May 24 – the birthday of the church – Pentecost Sunday. I invite you to celebrate by giving to Strengthen the Church. Your generous gift today ensures a vibrant church tomorrow.

Spread the Love. Strengthen the Church. God is still speaking. Still-speaking: It's the shorter form of "God is still speaking," a campaign by the United Church of Christ to simply remind us that God still has a lot more to say. Since 2004, Still-speaking has worked with thousands of UCC churches and individuals across the country to make religion relevant again and to extend an extravagant welcome to all—because no matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here. Here at the United Church of Christ.

Your gift to Strengthen the Church builds the UCC’s future now by fund- ing The Still-speaking Ministry, new and renewing churches, youth and young adult ministries, and lay and pastoral leadership formation— especially among women and people of color.

Your offerings are directed to your church’s Conference, Local Church Ministries, and The Still-speaking Ministry for these church development, leader development and Still-speaking purposes.

Peoria Friendship House has a mission to do the work of Jesus Christ, providing relief, respect, and renewal to Peoria's most vulnerable individuals and families. Through the simple gesture of a free meal, a clean shirt, or a safe place to learn, Friendship House offers the hope of a new start to the least, the last and the lost.

Our Purpose: Friendship House is a faith-based organization reaching out to all those in need, regardless of faith. We strive to embody God’s love and to treat everyone who comes through our doors with caring, respect and dignity. 

Our Mission: Our mission is to do the work of Jesus Christ, providing relief, respect and renewal to Peoria’s most vulnerable individuals and families. Through the simple gesture of a free meal, a clean shirt, a safe place to learn, Friendship House offers the hope of a new start to the least, the last, and the lost. 

Our Funding: The Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service is funded by the Heart of Illinois United Way, churches, individuals, grants/foundations, community support, and fundraisers. 

Mission Statement

Common Place encourages a life style of love and concern for others that recognizes the dignity and self-worth inherent in each person while striving to eliminate the causes of poverty and other social injustices.  Common Place is a social service agency on Peoria's South Side that helps people overcome poverty and injustice through education. At Common Place, educational programs start with our Youth Programs, grades K-12. Our Youth Programs offer academic assistance, life skills, and cultural enrichment to build self esteem and success in school. Common Place literacy programs help adults learn reading, writing, and math skills and acquire self-esteem and self-confidence needed to obtain employment. 

Vision Statement

Working primarily on the South Side of Peoria, COMMON PLACE

• encourages individuals and families to value education and offers educational opportunities; 
  
• promotes training and the development of job skills needed for employment that enables individuals and families to be financially self-sufficient; 
  
• promotes neighborhood leadership and redevelopment, including a safe environment and increased home ownership; 
  
• provides awareness of the needs of others and opportunities for churches, individuals, organizations, and corporations to channel their love and concern through sharing of resources; 
• encourages human understanding and inclusiveness of race, culture, age, gender, and economic situations;  recognizes the needs of others and advocates for those in need. 

Since 1967, Common Place Family Learning Center has worked on the center south side of Peoria, Illi- nois, to eliminate the root causes of poverty, racism, and injustice through education.

Adult Programs 

• Began in 1979. First adult literacy program in Peoria. 
  
• The average adult learner who enters Common Place's literacy program has completed 8th grade but has a 4th grade reading level. 
  
• Over 4,000 adults have received help through one-on-one tutoring and small group classes for reading, writing, math and life skills.
  

Companions Journeying Together, Inc., provides a forum to personally impact the emotional, spiritual, and social lives of the incarcerated and their families. Our vision is for a society that lives by the principles of restorative justice.

For over 20 years Companions Journeying Together Inc. has lived out the mission of Jesus by valuing all people as members of the kingdom of God.

The Women’s Pregnancy Center was opened to minister to the needs of women
who experience an unplanned pregnancy or post-abortion trauma. The center provides
caring, compassionate assistance to mothers and babies.

We seek out opportunities to reach incarcerated women and men through a variety of programs designed to build healthy relationships and foster positive communication. Those programs include Aunt Mary’s Storybook Project, Fathers Read, Family Stories, and Mother Love Parenting classes. Additional services we organize and either provide or facilitate include special holiday communication projects, provision of re-entry materials and referrals, community education/ training, and advocacy. Our goal is to be a link between resources and needs. We have a history of working successfully with officials from the Department of Corrections, as well as with individuals, churches and community organizations committed to serving the imprisoned and their families.

Companions Journeying Together works with the following correctional institutions:

• Dwight Correctional Center
  
• Sheridan Correctional Center
  
• Stateville Correctional Center (Joliet)
  
• DuPage County Jail
  
• Kane County Jail