Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO)

The Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) works in partnership with people living in risk of violence to promote safer streets and homes. This mission is rooted in ALSO's vision of safe streets and safe homes.

Core Conviction

The elimination of violence is a collective responsibility — no one is free from the threat or act of violence until we are all free from the threat or act of violence. 

Our Approach

Recognizing the connection between violence inside and outside the home, ALSO takes a cross-disciplinary approach, placing unique emphasis on the intersection of community violence and the many forms of interpersonal violence. 

 Our Role

ALSO works hand-in-hand with people who are at-risk of violence to provide direct services, training, and consultation, with a focus on the specific needs of Chicago’s Northwest Side community. Our work is hyperlocal and community-informed, operating in collaboration with advocates and ally organizations as part of an expanding national movement to prevent violence and eliminate the root causes of violence and systemic violence.

Agency & Program Overview: 

Incorporated in 1998, the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Chicago, Illinois. We recognize that violence in homes and streets can be connected, and we work to end both. ALSO’s mission is to work in partnership with people living in risk of violence to promote safer streets and homes. ALSO’s vision is: Safe Homes, Safe Streets.

Through its Underserved Technical Assistance Project, ALSO is the comprehensive technical assistance provider for the Grants for Outreach and Services to Underserved Populations Program, a federal grant program authorized in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) of 2013, and administered by the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women for the purpose of supporting the development and implementation of outreach strategies targeted at victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in underserved populations - and to provide victim services to meet the needs of those victims. 

The Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) through needs-based tailored training, consultation and resource-sharing, ALSO’s “Safe Homes” and “Policy” teams work with governmental and nongovernmental agencies located throughout the 56 U.S. States and Territories to build their capacity to improve systemic and community-based responses to address domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence.

The Safe Streets team partners with a wide range of local organizations and coalitions, including Chicago CRED, Metropolitan Family Services, and Communities Partnering 4 Peace, which features ALSO and Chicago’s other leading outreach organizations that have combined their expertise to jointly impact Chicago communities most affected by gun violence. A member of the Restorative Justice (RJ) Hub Network, ALSO subscribes to this community led restorative justice approach to youth crime and conflict and to the RJ Hub values, including: Radical Hospitality, Accompaniment, Building Relationships with Youth and Families, Relentless Engagement of Stakeholders and Systems along with Collaboration and Relationships with other RJ Hubs.

We work to reduce both community violence and domestic violence, and the ways in which they intersect. We emphasize partnerships and professional understandings with community members, elected officials, social service providers, local law enforcement, and restorative justice practitioners citywide to reduce community levels of community violence and domestic violence (intimate partner and familial). We help create a safer, healthier environment for young adults, youth and their families. These general approaches will be addressed using four major methods: Community-based Street Outreach, Community-based Case Management and Re-entry services, Victim Support Services and the Metropolitan Peace Academy Training. 

Our Culture:

Everyone who is part of the ALSO culture — from our staff to our partners to the individuals and communities which we serve — operates on the basis of a uniquely lived experience and that people are the experts in their own lives. Our collaborative alliance celebrates these differences, utilizing each unique background and expertise to create a cross-programmatic knowledge base with deep layers of meaning.

Inclusivity at the Core:

We understand that vulnerability to violence takes many forms. Therefore, we are committed to providing services with accessibility for culturally-, linguistically-specific groups, and to providing services to those most at risk of violence.

Decisions and criteria governing the employment relationship with all employees of the Alliance of Local Service Organizations are made in a non-discriminatory manner, without regard to race, ethnicity, creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, citizenship status, military service, marital status, order of protection status, handicap, disability including HIV/AIDS status, or any other factor determined to be unlawful by federal, state, or local statutes.