Today we spent several hours with an organization in uptown Chicago called Apna Ghar, which means Our Home.  Apna Ghar is a resource center that provides shelter and legal services for immigrant women who have been victims of domestic violence, and was created to serve the South Asian population in the community.

We split into different groups for our volunteer time.  Some of us were making phone calls to potential participants in an upcoming fundraiser the organization is planning.  Others were organizing certificates for people who had recently completed domestic violence response training.  A few of us got to sit in on a domestic violence committee meeting at the 17th district police station, and then follow a member of Apna Ghar's staff while she did some community outreach, dropping off packets of information at public schools.

All these different volunteer activities helped give us an idea of how much the members of the organization have to do (fundraising, volunteer training, community outreach) in order to keep providing their services and remain effective in the community.

This afternoon we were also able to visit the Chicago Cultural Center which was really beautiful.