Raíz

Planned Parenthood fights to ensure that all people have access to high-quality and affordable health care, regardless of race, income, geography, immigration status or gender identity — no matter what. That is why Planned Parenthood Illinois Action’s Raíz Program is committed to breaking down barriers in health care access within the Latinx community.

The Raíz Program is about more than just health. It’s about justice, knowledge, and power.

Get Involved

Are you ready to make a difference in your community? Join us to advocate for the Latinx community at the local, state and federal level and help elect Latinx folx to public office!

Join Raíz Now

By Latinxs, For Latinxs

Illinois’ Raíz Program works to build sustainable, community organizing teams in mutual partnership with Latinx communities.

“Latinx” is a gender-inclusive and non-binary term used to describe the people Raíz serves. Raíz aims to build power among everyone in the Latinx community, regardless of gender.
Our Raíz supporters are from the communities they serve. They have first-hand knowledge of the issues impacting Latinxs and how to find solutions.
Raíz’s is statewide, organizing in communities across Illinois. We are working to build out a strong network of Latinx supporters from across the state.

Click here to read blog posts from the Raíz Program.

Our Work

In 2018, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action recognized a need for more support services for the Latinx community. There were many established groups working with the Latinx population, but they were primarily centered in the City of Chicago, with very few dedicated to serving the growing Latinx population in the Western suburbs. That is why the Raíz Program was founded in Aurora, to help serve and empower the ever-growing Latinx community in the area.

Recognizing similar needs in the south suburbs, PPIA’s Raíz Program will soon be expanding into Chicago’s southland, as well.

Ready to take action? Join the Raíz Program now.

Aurora Rapid Response Team

Raiz’s first project was working with the Aurora Rapid Response Team (ARRT).

ARRT is a group of volunteers that assists families who have been harmed by raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Planned Parenthood is proud to work alongside and support the ARRT, to serve the Latinx community in and around Aurora.

Elgin Rapid Response Network

After successfully partnering with the Aurora Rapid Response Team, we replicated the same model to help establish another team in Elgin, a suburb north of Aurora.

The Raiz program was instrumental in ensuring a similar rapid response network was available for families in the Elgin area. This group remains active and has helped many Latinx families in the Elgin area.

The Quad County Fund

The rise of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly stretched many families’ resources and increased their needs. To meet those needs, we helped establish the Quad County Fund (QCF).

The QCF is a community mutual aid fund designed to provide relief to those who need urgent assistance, but do not qualify for government help, often due to their immigration status.

Since it was established in Spring 2020, the QCF has raised and granted thousands of dollars and helped countless families at a time when they needed it most.

Our Goals

The Raíz Program is dedicated to making an impact in the Latinx community.

Advocate for quality and affordable health care for undocumented immigrants.

Working with groups like Healthy Illinois, we are organizing to ensure that undocumented immigrants can access needed health care.

Dismantle the taboo and shame around reproductive health in Latinx communities.

We are committed to breaking down stigmas around menstrual health, birth control, and abortion by hosting pláticas and working within the communities we serve.

Advocate for immigrant communities to live safely and be free.

We work with partner organizations to advocate for progressive policies at the state level, including the right for communities to be free of ICE.

Address anti-Blackness in the Latinx community.

We are dedicated to confronting the racism that exists in the Latinx community.