Our Mission

VOA Illinois support individuals, families, and communities who need it most, when they need it most.

Volunteers of America is a national nonprofit organization providing local human service programs and the opportunity for individual and community involvement. The words “there are no limits to caring” represent an enduring philosophy of service that spans three centuries. The founders’ pledge “to go wherever we are needed and do whatever comes to hand” still guides the organization’s growth and development efforts today, more than 125 years since the organization’s birth.

We are a mission-driven AND value-centered organization dedicated to living the following values in all we do:

INTEGRITY

We are committed to operating with uncompromising integrity and within the highest ethical standards and to be responsible stewards of all the resources entrusted to us with the utmost regard for efficiency and effectiveness.

DISCIPLINE

We are committed to fulfilling our promises and doing what we say we will do when it needs to be done. We will focus on the things that matter most and on those efforts that make the biggest difference in the lives of the people we serve.

FAITH

We operate from a profound belief in the power of God’s grace to transform even the most difficult situations and we believe in the potential for “greatness” in those we serve, those we serve with and in the world around us. We believe in the fundamental goodness of people and in their unlimited capacity to transform their lives.

INNOVATION

We approach the responsibility to serve others with the same fervor and passion that inspired the organization’s founders more than a century ago … a passion that inspired them to do more than simply improve the world around them but to actually strive to transform it.

SHARED DESTINY

We understand that we achieve our mission through teamwork and a commitment to common goals and objectives. We encourage the development of supportive and collaborative efforts within and across departments that create unit and strengthen results. We seek and celebrate a diverse staff that bring complementary skills and perspectives to the organization. As a ministry of service, we promote a professional, courteous, cooperative and diverse work environment that fosters mutual respect and consideration of co-workers, colleagues, volunteers and clients.

TRAUMA INFORMED CARE

We approach our work with a commitment to being truly client-centered in our approach, philosophy, interactions, transactions, processes and interventions. We are committed to providing the highest level of care to the people we serve and to utilizing a trauma-informed approach in the way we approach every interaction and intervention with the people we serve. We make this commitment not because we assume that trauma is necessarily central to everyone’s day to day experience but rather, because the principles of trauma-informed care ensure a culture of client care that is built on characteristics that are consistent with our organizational values and facilitate an environment for clients that is most conducive to positive change. 

Brand Manifesto

We are Volunteers of America. And we are the first to step forward, taking on the most crushing problems. The dire. The hopeless. The untouchable. And we make a difference. Because we not only perceive the burdens of others, We know firsthand what it means to make them lighter. This is why we do what we do.

Our story is long and rich. And widely unknown. But we’re not chasing fame. Or glory. Our lives are meant for service. For lifting up the broken-hearted. For finding the lost. For reaching out with mercy and compassion to those who thought they were beyond reach. For uplifting all our lives. This is why we do what we do.

We are Volunteers of America

Every day, we see our brothers and sisters lying beaten and bruised on their own roads to Jericho. We act because we’re trained. We’re impassioned. We’re honored. This is why we do what we do.

Like our Great Exemplar, we go among the unclean, the broken, the forgotten and the outcast and we use our lives to make theirs better. This is why we do what we do.

Skip to content