Sarah's Inn relies on the generous support of individual donors and the business community to help continue our services for victims of domestic violence. There are many ways you can contribute, including those described below. To find out more about these and other giving options, contact our Development Department at 708.386.3305 or click on the network for good icon to make an online donation. You will then be directed to a secure site where you can donate to Sarah’s Inn. You can also download a contribution form here and then mail your donation to our administrative office at Sarah's Inn, PO Box 1159, Oak Park, Illinois 60304.

Annual Fund:

Through our Annual Appeal, friends and community members are asked to make yearly gifts. Many employers have programs to match annual appeal gifts. Contact your employer for any questions about matching gift opportunities.

Outright Gift:

Outright gifts are a beneficial form of giving for Sarah’s Inn, allowing us to use the gift immediately in the area of greatest need. You can also restrict the gift, designating a specific project, program or endowment fund for which the gift is to be used. Outright gifts include:

• Cash, check, credit card or money orders
• Charitable lead trusts
• Pledge gifts
• Tributes which honor or memorialize a loved one
• Non-monetary gifts such as:
  • Bonds, annuities and securities
  • Stocks and Mutual Funds
  • Real estate
  • Tangible personal property, which includes royalties, copyrights and trademark rights

Planned Gifts or Bequests:

Designate Sarah’s Inn as a recipient of a cash gift or a percentage of your estate in your will.

Other Planned Gifts Include:

• Living trusts
• Retirement plans, including 401(k), 403(b) or an IRA
• Insurance policies naming Sarah’s Inn as a beneficiary
  in whole or in part
• Charitable remainder trusts

Endowment:

Any form of gift can be placed in the endowment, including property. These gifts are not spent; instead they are carefully invested to yield a reliable source of income, which provides financial stability and allows Sarah's Inn to implement long-range plans. Recently, Sarah's Inn was selected to be a part of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation's "Making a Good Gift Better" endowment building program, which provides Sarah's Inn with a match of up to $25,000 for all gifts given to the endowment by December 31, 2007. Help us match this tremendous gift from the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation by designating your donation to the Endowment.

John F. Ludolph Memorial Fund:

This fund is an endowment established in the memory of Dr. John Ludolph, former Board President of Sarah’s Inn, to provide educational scholarships to domestic violence survivors, assisting in their preparation for and advancement of their chosen career.

As a Sarah's Inn volunteer, you can make a big difference in the lives of women and children seeking freedom from domestic violence. Sarah's Inn offers a variety of volunteer opportunities to match your schedule and your interests. Below you will find an example of some areas in which we utilize volunteers:

• Answering the 24-Hour Crisis Line from your home or our office
• Co-Facilitating Children’s or Women’s Support and Education Groups
• Providing child care while women are in Support and Education Groups
• Assisting staff with Abuser Intervention Services Groups
• Providing support at outreach and education events such as community resource fairs
• Becoming a member of the Board of Directors
• Becoming a member of our youth development committee called Project DATE. (dating abuse teen education)
• Serving on our faith-based task force
• Serving on one of our three advisory committees
• Helping with administrative tasks such as answering our office telephone line or assembling bulk mailings
• Volunteering your time in a professional capacity such as providing marketing, public relations or graphic design services.

How to Get Started on Your Volunteer Experience

Sarah’s Inn requires all volunteers to complete our screening, orientation and training process prior to volunteering with the agency. Once we receive both your application and two reference forms (download these materials here), our Community Relations staff will call you to set up an interview. This interview is an opportunity for us to discuss your talents and skills in relation to any volunteer work you might do at Sarah’s Inn and to decide if volunteering at Sarah’s Inn is a good match for you and the agency. If we determine it is a good match, you are then required to complete an orientation session before beginning any volunteer work with us. This two-hour session is designed to give you a brief overview of programs at Sarah’s Inn as well as our volunteer policies and expectations.

Volunteer Training

Both Sarah’s Inn and Illinois statute require all volunteers
interested in direct service and community education to complete
the 40-Hour Domestic Violence Training, as required by the
Illinois Domestic Violence Act. The training is provided free of
charge to those individuals who commit to volunteering at
Sarah’s Inn for a minimum of one year. Sarah’s Inn offers two
40-Hour Training series each year – download the schedule
and registration packet for our next training series here.

Questions about Volunteering at Sarah’s Inn

For further questions about how you can donate your time as
a Sarah’s Inn volunteer, contact our Community Relations
Department at 708.386.3305 or e-mail
volunteers@sarahsinn.org.

The 40-Hour Domestic Violence Training, which is a state-mandated training under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act (IDVA), is offered twice per year to new volunteers and professionals interested in learning more about domestic violence. Under the IDVA, staff and volunteers within domestic violence programs are required to complete the 40-Hour Training to maintain confidentiality when working directly with domestic violence victims.

The training is designed to give an overview of the basic concepts of domestic violence and covers topics such as crisis counseling, anti-racism, cultural awareness, the effects of domestic violence on children, mandated reporting, teen dating violence, legal issues and domestic violence, elder abuse, sexual assault, and a variety of other topics related to domestic violence. Participants who complete the training are certified as domestic violence advocates in Illinois and often volunteer on the Sarah’s Inn crisis line, for our children’s program or abuser services groups, and for outreach events. Sarah’s Inn is an approved training site by the Illinois Certified Domestic Violence Professionals.

For more information on how you can sign up to complete our next 40-Hour Training series, e-mail volunteers@sarahsinn.org or download our upcoming training schedule and registration packet here.

Sarah's Inn relies on the donations of the items listed below to support the administration of our programs and our clients in their pursuit of self-sufficiency. Call our office at 708.386.3305 if you are willing to donate any of these items. Please note that we are only able to accept new donations and cannot accept hotel-sized toiletries.

Non-Perishable Healthy Snacks:

• Microwave popcorn
• Pretzels
• Wheat thins
• Fruit roll-ups
• Cheese crackers
• Fruit cups
• Cookies
• Juice boxes
• Powdered juice
• Fruit snacks
• Animal crackers

Non-Perishable Food Items:

• Canned goods such as soup and vegetables
• Pasta
• Peanut Butter
• Baby formula
• Rice

Art/School Supplies:

• Crayons
• Thin markers
• Thick markers
• Color pencils
• Pencils
• Erasers
• Electrical pencil sharpeners
• Glue
• Notebooks
• Play Dough
• Scissors
• Book bags

Personal Care Items (Regular Size):*

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Deodorant
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrushes
• Lotion
• Hand Soap
• Body Wash

*We are unable to accept hotel-sized personal care items as
 our clients are in need of regular-sized personal care items.

New Clothing for Winter Months:

• Mittens
• Gloves
• Scarves
• Hats
• Coats
• Jackets

Office Supplies:

• Post-Its
• Legal pads
• Paperclips (large)
• Staples
• Binder clips (all sizes)
• Glue sticks
• Scotch tape
• Pens
• Pencils
• 9 x 12 manila-colored mailing envelopes
• White copy paper
• Color copy paper (goldenrod, blue, green, canary, buff, pink)
• Hanging file folders (purple, maroon, yellow)
• Interior file folders (purple, maroon, yellow)
• File folder labels (white Avery size 5366)

General Supplies:

• Dishwasher detergent
• Dish soap
• Hand soap
• Tissue
• Paper towels
• Toilet paper
• Disinfectant wipes
• Paper plates
• Paper cups
• Plastic silverware
• Trash bags

November & December – Annual Holiday Gift Project:

For several years, Sarah's Inn has provided the women we serve with gifts for their children through donations of new toys the agency receives from generous community members and organizations. These donations are arranged in a "holiday toy shop" where clients can shop for gifts free of charge. In the past, our annual holiday project has provided toys and books to over 100 children and teens.

Please contact 708.386.3305 for more information about how you can get involved in our holiday gift project.

• Let the people around you know that domestic violence is a serious issue and a crime.
• Refer people to Sarah’s Inn if they need help or information.
• Wear a purple ribbon to honor the millions of survivors of domestic violence and raise awareness about the issue.
• Write letters to the editor when the media doesn’t cover domestic violence responsibly.
• Ask the pastor, rabbi, priest or leader at your house of worship to address domestic violence and join the Sarah’s Inn Faith-Based Task Force.
• Ask your health-care practitioner if she/he screens for domestic violence; if they don’t, ask them to contact Sarah’s Inn.
• Remind children that hands are not for hitting.
• Role model non-violent relationships and healthy conflict resolution.
• Question gender roles that perpetuate myths, stereotypes and cultural sanctioning of violence.