Grants

Grant Recipient

Bronzeville Trail Task Force, Inc.

Awarded: April 2022 Awarded Amount: $75,000

The Bronzeville Trail aims to convert the abandoned Kenwood ‘L’ Line to an elevated linear park and trail that will celebrate the deep historical roots of the Bronzeville community and enliven surrounding neighborhoods with new opportunities for recreation, exercise, and gathering. Abandoned in 1957, the Kenwood Line of the Chicago 'L' system running through the Bronzeville community is a historical asset and an environmental and recreational opportunity. The adaptive reuse of this industrial infrastructure site and re-envisioning of the elevated line and adjacent parcels will be catalytic for the community. This will improve recreational and open space access in this primarily Black community by creating nearly two miles of multi-use trail from State Street to the 41st Street pedestrian bridge, providing a direct connection to the Lakefront Trail. The trail will provide key community connections to the Indiana Avenue Green Line station, connect vital corridors including MLK Drive, Cottage Grove Avenue, and Drexel Boulevard, and connect educational institutions including Northeastern Illinois University, multiple neighborhood churches, and the Pershing Road commercial corridor. By activating a variety of adjacent vacant land parcels, the Bronzeville trail will provide opportunities for commercial and civic ventures and address the area’s history of disinvestment, realizing a vibrant urban landscape that supports a walkable and bicycle friendly community where people can meet their daily needs easily and comfortably using active transportation. Currently, the site is defined and, while still in the hands of the Cook County Land Bank, is being held for the development of the trail. The project supports the goals of several community plans including, Reconnecting Neighborhoods (City of Chicago), Quad Communities: Reconnecting Past, Present, and Future (LISK) plan, and the Bronzeville Retail District Land Use Plan (CMAP). It also aligns with the goals of the City’s Invest South/West Initiative, in which Bronzeville is one of the focus communities. The Bronzeville Taskforce solicited responses to an RFP for a variety of support services and a consultant project team has been selected that combines rail-to-trail conversion, multi-modal mobility, urban design, parks and open space, equitable engagement, real estate, and economic development expertise. The team includes SmithGroup, Moody Nolan, Infrastructure Engineering, Botanical City, and McLaurin Development Partners. Vernon Williams, owner of Vernon Williams Architecture, is providing project management support to the Board. Finally, support from the City of Chicago, Cook County, Trust for Public Lands, and Rails to Trails Conservancy has been secured, along with support from Aldermen and other leaders. This grant will provide necessary funding to advance the project. Like other rails to trails projects in Chicago (Bloomingdale, Lawndale, Englewood), each started with an active community organization leading engagement, building support, and executing planning initiatives, leading to governmental and non-profit construction and stewardship. Following this successful model, we will leverage this grant to evolve trail access, alignment, placemaking, and community integration, further site due diligence, prepare high-level cost estimates for future phases of work, refine the long-term stewardship plan, and engage the community. In particular, we are considering the following services: ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES: PLANNING/PRELIMINARY SCHEMATIC DESIGN AND COST ESTIMATING · Refine proposed alignment and define potential access points /open spaces · Conceptual renderings to build public interest and support future grant applications SITE DUE DILIGENCE · Further investigate adjacent property ownership /gaps in Land Bank ownership/ public right of way coordination PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS/CONSULTANTS: PROJECT APPROVAL SUPPORT · Strategic phasing plan and high-level cost estimates associated with phases · Partnership building and refining long-term stewardship plan · Define scope of work for future Framework Plan COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT + COORDINATION · Key stakeholder interviews · Material preparations and public engagement events/activities to build support, interest and to understand community priorities and align economic and cultural opportunities. The total budget for this phase of work is anticipated to be $1,350,000. The City has committed $250,000 which is to be spent this fiscal year, and the Taskforce has submitted for the Chicago Prize and has submitted a letter of interest to the Mellon Foundation and been invited to apply.

Grant Recipient

The Chicago Community Foundation/Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance

Awarded: May 2022 Awarded Amount: $175,000

This is the re-funding application for the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance. The Chicago Community Trust is a founding member and the host to the Funder Alliance. This application will support the Funder Alliance in FY22 and FY23. It re-confirms CCT as a "Leadership Funder" which means that funding (at least in part) pools with the other Leadership Funders, and that a CCT representative sits on the CWFA Management Committee to direct the funder collaborative's strategies, staff and grant-making. The application itself, as agreed to by Leadership Funders, is mainly cut and pasted from the latest version of the CWFA Leadership Funder Generic Proposal.

Grant Recipient

Southwest Organizing Project

Awarded: May 2022 Awarded Amount: $7,800