Welcome to the Community Alliance & Action Network! “We are here...” for you!
C.A.A.N. exists to serve our community, but that service is possible only through the efforts of its volunteer members. You can help by joining an ongoing committee (see our Projects page) and/or by volunteering for special events and projects, described here.
Volunteer Opportunities: (check back often for updates)
- Support Groups and Workshops:
- Latino/Latina? Si, we C.A.A.N.!:
- Joliet Pride Festival:
- Voters' Guide:
- Chicago Pride Parade:
- Congress on Issues and Needs:
Do you have experience you want to share? Perhaps you are a straight cross-dresser and want to form a support group for other cross-dressers, or you are the spouse of a person who has found it impossible to continue lying about their true nature. Maybe you are the parent of a child who is questioning their gender or orientation and you're looking for a support group as your family journeys through this time of discovery. Maybe you just want to meet others who are coming out later in life, too. The C.A.A.N. Community Center is the place in Joliet where real people come together. Please contact Gini or call the center at 815-726-7906 and leave a message.
Joliet has a large Latino/Latina population. This naturally means Joliet has fair numbers of Latino/Latina LGBT people. Some haven't learned English as a second language yet but the community center is here to serve you, too. If you speak Spanish and English, join us in creating activities for all of Joliet's LGBT community.
We are looking for people who want to help plan for Joliet's first Pride Festival. We envision a community event that will draw people from throughout the community and suburbs. We envision bands, vendors, and other community organizations participating in this event. This will happen. After all we had a downtown parade in 2009 - What not a pride festival one year. All it takes is you.
Community Alliance and Action Network reflects the diversity of the LGBT community at large. Our members are from all 3 political parties in Illinois with many independents; one size does not fit all in our community. C.A.A.N. develops a voters guide for our members from a list of questions we send candidates during the election cycle. If you are interested in helping with this please come to the membership meetings.
Chicago Pride Parade is the last Sunday in June every year and C.A.A.N. is it it. Line up for the parade begins at 10:00 am. You'll have even more fun in the parade than by watching it! We know how to have good fun.
It is from the Congress on Issues and Needs that the youth drop in center was created, that a lgbt friendly counselor list is compiled, a speaker of "safe schools" is available for presentations and a resource guide is in the works. You C.A.A.N.! Create the Future!
