Paving the Path to Homeownership for Housing Choice Voucher Holders
Since the mid-20th century, homeownership has been one of the most important vehicles for building wealth in the United States. According to research from the…
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Our Grantmaking Strategy
For more than 100 years, The Chicago Community Trust has convened, supported, funded, and accelerated the work of community members and changemakers committed to strengthening the Chicago region. From building up our civic infrastructure to spearheading our response to the Great Recession, the Trust has brought our community together to face pressing challenges and seize our greatest opportunities.
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Grant Recipient
BDM Sports & Education Project
BDM Sports & Education Project is proposing to extend its current summer activities by offering youth a safe haven and engaging activities through the Putt'n 4 Peace Youth Golf Clinic. This program, previously set to end the first weekend in August, will run on three consecutive weekends from the second weekend in August through Labor Day. The Golf Clinic will conclude with a Community Celebration to be held at Ogden Park located at 6700 South Racine in the Englewood neighborhood. Activities include entertainment, food, music, and fun for the entire family. Rather than focusing on the negativity around recent downtown Chicago teen takeovers, Putt'n 4 Peace educates, elevates, and enriches young minds at a time when more positive impressions need to be shared. The golf clinic will serve 50-100 school-aged youth from 3rd grade through high school and youth will be recruited from our typical summer program list.
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Grant Recipient
Life Changing Community Outreach Inc.
Life Changing Community Outreach is running a 10-week youth summer camp program with the extra funding we will be able to extend our weeks longer and end later. With extending of the program, it will give us an opportunity to provide youth with a safe place until school starts. So far during this, we have had the opportunity to place smiles on so many youth faces not just proving a safe place. But where they can continue to have fun and be a kid With the E
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Grant Recipient
Pride ROC
Pride ROC 3-Week Youth Safe Passage Back 2 School Initiative 1. Briefly share your plan for the community activities and events, how you will use the funds, and describe your organizational capacity to provide support for children and youth during Labor Day weekend and/or the gap time between when The Park District’s summer programming ends and the CPS (Chicago Public School) school year begins (August 6-21). Pride ROC is on a mission to bring a radical new model of healing to the lives of young Black men who have experienced deep, systemic trauma. Our groundbreaking practice is built on a foundation of trauma-informed care, layering on holistic wellness techniques, including meditation, Egyptian yoga, nutrition, and connectedness to nature. Pride ROC was founded in response to the violence, poverty, and despair, turning some of the city's communities into war zones. Pride ROC's values are to embrace and promote self-care as a human right, as we believe you can't heal communities if you don't first heal yourself. We believe in Community Extraction, in the power of the passage, that removing an individual from a traumatizing environment is critical in helping them discover a new way of life moving forward. Our model is rooted in the concept of collaborative change. We are all connected; a sense of belonging gives us purpose and togetherness. Living in Chicago, youth are predisposition to violence. Due to the current nature of the communities in which underserved populations around Chicago live, it is a given that at some point, they may see, experience firsthand or know someone who has been a victim of gun violence or violence of some sort. Programming Initiative: August 6 -August 21, 2023 Our brief summer initiative to assist in curtailing the occurrence of violent activity in the gap period of summer camp/program commencing and school starting back will be centered around three things: I. Pride ROC Passage to Self-Acquisition Embracing our self-care value, where we meet with at least 30 – 45 youths ages 13 – 18 to help them prepare mentally for the upcoming school semester. Three days during the week, Pride ROC will host focus groups with the youth prior to the start of the athletic activity to talk about self-love and affirmation. We will have counselors that will assist in running the focus groups and are experienced in dealing with focus group facilitation. II. Community Basketball Safe Passage Tournament Sports can promote physical activity, teamwork, and discipline while keeping young individuals engaged and active. We are going to host a 3 on 3 basketball tournament within the community at Oregon Park. This will provide a structured activity that will assist in the deterrence of violent activity; Pride ROC will engage youth weekly from 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm Monday – Thursday, and on the second Friday, they will have a scrimmage game to prepare for the tournament week. Youth will participate in a basketball athletic camp and will receive mentorship, guidance, and skills training. We will provide healthy refreshments and water to each participant daily. III. Pride ROC Passage to Peace A. One field trip to Camp Sullivan to allow participants to experience Pride ROC’s Community Extraction Model, where we will take them to experience a peaceful environment, assisting them in the beginning process of releasing and letting go of the varying levels of trauma that they have had to deal with. We will discuss the establishment of safe spaces within the community where they can gather, socialize, and access various resources, including educational support and a place to come if they are facing imminent danger. We will discuss conflict resolution, including role play and scenarios of how different situations could play out. On the first Friday of week one, we will charter a bus and take participants to Sullivan Camp for the Pride ROC Passenger Experience. We will board the bus at 9:00 am and will return by 9:00 pm. A detailed agenda will be included in the report of activities due in September. B. The last activity will be a community Safe Passage Unity Walk led by Black Male Community Leaders to let our children know that we care and are here for them. The plan is for this walk to be the commencing event taking place on Saturday, August 19th.
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Grant Recipient
Gamma Ray Incorporated
Labor Day event we would like to present Balls and Books to the kids it will promote reading and physical activity to the children , preparing them for the upcoming school year.We will be doing a back to school event at Legler library 8-19 and Labor Day event 9-2 at site. We will also do the august gap event 8/8-8/9 registration and Thursday-Sat 8-10/8-12 and 8-17/8-19 we will have capacity for 25 kids for the august gap and we will have the capacity for 75 -100 for both the back to school event and the Labor Day event .
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Grant Recipient
Brainerd Family Network NFP
The New Year, New You (NYNY) programmatic series is designed to assist youth in preparation for an upcoming successful school year and lived experience. Series workshop topics will center around mindfulness (e.g. breath work, movement) career exploration and entrepreneurship. Workshop activities will take place, two days a week (August 6-21) and Labor Day weekend (September 2). Part 1. Beginning the week of August 6, youth participants will begin engaging in workshop activities and acquiring/enhancing non-cognitive skills they can use in the near future to increase their likelihood of success in the upcoming school year and beyond. Upon culmination of Part 1, participants will be required to present on knowledge they’ve acquired during their lived experience in NYNY and receive a stipend and certificate during the Labor Day event on September 2 (Part 2). Food will be provided during the workshop series and Labor Day workshop showcase/celebration.
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Grant Recipient
Mentor Teacher Brother Inc.
Mentor Teacher Brother plans to have a host of weekly group activities during Labor Day weekend and the month of August. We have provided individual and group mentoring services to young men in need of guidance for over two decades. MTB mentors have years of professional experience and extensive training in various areas including but not limited to legal, education, social service, and criminal justice. The mentors are able to provide out-of-school support during the Summer; and more specifically, Labor Day weekend and the month of August. Participants will engage in weekly group activities that include recreational and educational experiences. Most of the activities will take place at the MTB Center – a two story building that MTB purchased and rehabbed in 2010 in the Roseland community. Mentor Teacher Brother, Inc. will also host a community event – Mentees will participate in a service project (Back to School Supply Drive) and attend a Back to School Retreat.
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Grant Recipient
Urban Male Network
Urban Male Network (UMN) will plan consistent programs/events for the young men in our program weekly during the gap time and holiday weekend. Currently, we have been planning events/programs every week over the summer and the funds will allow us to extend our programming until the start of the school year.
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Grant Recipient
People's Community Development Association of Chicago
Conduct structured recreational activities:(i.e.arts and crafts, games; video and board, group sports and skateboarding competitions, scheduled field trips daily from 9am - 3pm. Youth will participate in community service activities too (i.e. food distribution, clean up projects, senior wellness checks, etc. Our staff of 5 adults will engage between 25-35 youth each day through to August 21st. During the Labor Day weekend there will be a Back To School Block Party with music, entertainment, bouncy house, competitions, face painting, pony rides, food, prizes and school supplies. There will be over 25 volunteers.