In this section, you can find resources specific to Champaign County, as well as some larger organizations.
To find government benefits related to disaster relief, healthcare and medical assistance, financial assistance, or loans, click here.
To find government benefits related to disaster relief, healthcare and medical assistance, financial assistance, or loans, click here.
Food Pantries
Uniting Pride’s free food pantry, Eat UP, is located in our office at the University YMCA and open on weekdays from 11am-3pm or by appointment. If you experience food insecurity, we would love to serve you. To learn more about the program, click here.
Champaign County also has a number of other free food services to choose from. Please look through each pantry’s website carefully before you visit, as many have specific requirements.
Many of the food pantries above are run by local churches. Although several of these churches are actively LGBTQ-affirming, please let us know at [email protected] if you ever have a negative experience at one of these locations.
Champaign County also has a number of other free food services to choose from. Please look through each pantry’s website carefully before you visit, as many have specific requirements.
- Community Service Center Emergency Food Pantry located at 520 E Wabash Ave, Ste 1, Rantoul, IL 61866
- Cultivadores Food Pantry located at 555 S. Maplewood Dr, Rantoul, IL 61866
- Daily Bread Soup Kitchen located at 116 N 1st St, Champaign, IL 61820
- Faith’s Food Pantry located at 1719 S Prospect Ave, Champaign, IL 61820 (scroll down for food pantry info)
- Jubilee Cafe located at 805 S 6th St, Champaign, IL 61820
- McKinley Pantry at Garden Hills located at 2001 Garden Hills Dr, Champaign, IL 61821
- Mom’s Pantry located at 302 W State St, Mahomet, IL 61853 (in the Alternative Education Building at Mahomet-Seymour High School)
- Restoration Urban Ministries located at 1213 Parkland Ct, Champaign, IL 61821 (scroll down for food pantry info)
- Hope Center Food Pantry located at 1802 Lincoln Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
- UniPlace Christian Pantry located at 403 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820 (Open Tuesdays from 9am-12pm)
- Wesley Food Pantry at two locations in Champaign and Urbana
- Broadlands United Community Church Pantry located at 300 S Lincoln St, Broadlands, IL (Open 2nd Saturday 9am-10am)
- Champaign Church of the Brethren Pantry located at 1210 N Neil St, Champaign, IL 61820 (Open Tuesdays and Fridays from 1-3pm, call 217-356-3852 for an appointment)
- FUMC of Rantoul Food Pantry located at 200 S Century Blvd, Rantoul, IL (Open 2nd Tuesday of the month from 4-6pm and 4th Saturday of the month from 9-11am)
- Feed the Need located at 205 N Third Street, St. Joseph, IL 61873
- Friends of Champaign County Food Pantry located at 201 West Kenyon Road Champaign, IL 61820 inside Champaign-Urbana Public Health District
- Grace Lutheran Church Food Pantry located at 313 S Prospect Ave, Champaign, IL 61820
- Mahomet Helping Hands located at 203 E Adams Street #2, Mahomet, IL 61853
- St. Patrick's Food Pantry located at 212 E Washington Street, Tolono, IL 61880
- Stone Creek Food Pantry located at 2502 S Race St, Urbana, IL 61801
- Vineyard Food Pantry Ministry CU located at 1802 N Lincoln, Urbana, IL 61801
- Windsor Road Christian Church Food Pantry located at 2501 Windsor Road, Champaign, IL 61822
Many of the food pantries above are run by local churches. Although several of these churches are actively LGBTQ-affirming, please let us know at [email protected] if you ever have a negative experience at one of these locations.
Financial Assistance
- City of Champaign Township Assistance
- Champaign-Urbana Help
- Cunningham Township General Assistance
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Kids’ Foundation of Rantoul for low-income youth interested in participating in Rantoul Recreation Department and Rantoul Park District youth programs
- Financial Education courses from Salt & Light
Shelter & Utilities Assistance
If you are in need of emergency shelter, please contact 211 to be directed to emergency shelter options.
Utilities & Rent Assistance
- Austin's Place (shelter for women)
- C-U Men’s Shelter (shelter for men)
- Emergency Family Shelter (shelter for families with dependent children)
- Phoenix Daytime Drop-In Center (day shelter with amenities)
- Project Oz (youth shelter for McLean and Livingston Counties)
- Chicago House (housing services for people affected by HIV/AIDS)
- RPC Homeless Services
- City of Champaign Emergency Shelters
- City of Urbana Winter Emergency Services Guide
Utilities & Rent Assistance
- RPC Weatherization Program (provides energy-efficient homes to low-income community members)
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (helps low-income families pay their energy costs)
- City of Champaign Assistance with Rent, Mortgage, and Utilities
- City of Urbana Utilities Help
- City of Urbana Emergency Rent Assistance
- Cunningham Township (rent, utilities, food, transportation, and advocacy assistance)
Wellbeing
General Medical Resources
Mental Health, Caretaking, and Community-Building Resources
- Promise Healthcare (clinic in Champaign)
- Champaign County Health Care Consumers (organizes for health care access and justice in Champaign County)
- Carle Financial Assistance
- Carle Transgender Care Directory
- Planned Parenthood Locations in Illinois (besides other services, PP is considered an affordable and convenient option for HRT in the Champaign-Urbana area)
- Greater Community AIDS Project (GCAP) of Central Illinois (Facebook link here)
- Chicago House (medical services for people affected by HIV/AIDS)
- Illinois HIV/AIDS Information Hotline
- Howard Brown Health (Chicago-based clinics that offer, among other services, HRT)
- Rosecrance (substance abuse services)
- Champaign-Urbana Public Health District
Mental Health, Caretaking, and Community-Building Resources
- UIUC Gender & Sexuality Resource Center
- UIUC Women’s Resources Center
- The Pavillion
- Family Service
- Crisis Nursery
- Courage Connection (supporting those who face domestic violence)
- Rape Advocacy, Counseling, and Education Services (RACES)
- Women in Need (WIN) Recovery
- DREAAM (support for boys and men ages 5-24)
- Cognition Works, Inc (counseling services)
- Rattle the Stars (suicide prevention)
Employment
- RPC Job Seeker Services
- Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES)
- Chicago House (employment services for people affected by HIV/AIDS)
- Illinois Migrant Council (promotes employment, education, health, housing and other opportunities for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families)
- Job Accommodation Network (JAN)
Disability Resources
- Community Choices (Champaign County organization that fosters connection and opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities)
- Discover Self Community (organization that provides services and supports to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Champaign and Ford Counties)
- Champaign-Urbana Special Recreation (provides recreation programs and leisure services for residents in the Champaign and Urbana Park Districts with disabilities)
- Child and Family Connections of Central Illinois (regional intake agency for children birth to three and their families to enter the Illinois Early Intervention System, which supports families with disabled or developmentally delayed children)
- Family Matters (Illinois organization that assists families with disabled children)
- PACE, Inc Center for Independent Living (disability service organization covering five counties in East-Central Illinois: Champaign, Douglas, Edgar, Piatt, and Vermillion)
Clothing
- Campus Union for Trans Equality and Support (CUTES) (student-run group that holds regular clothing swaps open to the Champaign-Urbana community)
- CSC Clothing Center
- Restoration Urban Ministries
- Salt & Light
Immigration Services
Adult Education
- Urbana Adult Education
- Education Justice Project
- Parkland College Adult Education
- Parkland College Project Read: Free Tutoring for Adults
- UIUC Odyssey Project (free humanities courses for low-income adults)
This resource collection is a living document. If you find that any of these resources are outdated, or if you know of an additional resource that may benefit this collection, please reach out to [email protected].