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…
Grants
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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
Habitat for Humanity Chicago
Homeownership is a significant wealth-generating tool for families and a key factor in neighborhood health; however, one in ten Chicagoans live in substandard housing, and four in ten in declining neighborhoods. Chicago has the largest gap between White and Black homeowners among major U.S. cities—74.1% of White Chicagoans compared to only 39.1% of Black Chicagoans—a gap perpetuated by the disparity in loans made to Black communities. To respond to this disparity Habitat for Humanity Chicago (Habitat Chicago) will create a new loan product, considering income, the availability of vacant land, percentage of owner-occupied units, and the diversity of housing stock. These metrics ensure that we are providing homeownership opportunities to low-moderate income individuals in neighborhoods in need of single-family homes. Habitat Chicago will implement this new loan program in partnership with two HUD certified organizations: Oak Park Regional Housing Center (OPRHC) and Far South Community Development Corporation (FSCDC). Both organizations have a history of preparing homebuyers in our focus neighborhoods, while also fulfilling a service gap for Habitat Chicago- qualified buyers. Habitat Chicago was established through a consolidation of multiple Habitat for Humanity affiliates in 2002, and in 2011 adopted a strategy to focus on neighborhood health by providing affordable new home construction, homebuyer education, and neighborhood development grants in targeted communities. We build affordable homes for qualified buyers, equip them for homeownership with in-depth financial literacy education and equitable lending, and facilitate positive community action through neighborhood improvement projects that promote social cohesion. Habitat Chicago works in historically disinvested neighborhoods where exclusionary housing policies and inequitable development have limited wealth building for generations. In 2012, we began work in West Pullman on Chicago’s South Side. We broke ground in Greater Grand Crossing in spring 2021 and we are preparing to expand services to Austin on Chicago’s West Side. We intentionally serve neighborhoods with predominantly Black populations because regional prosperity depends on the health of these communities. In consideration of current and future needs of our focus neighborhoods, our FYE 2024-2028 Neighborhood Forward Strategic Plan identifies four areas of impact to include: strengthen the neighborhood housing market, connect the community, elevate the neighborhood appeal, and enhance the physical environment. This grant will allow us to strengthen the neighborhood housing market with our key tactics being to expand access to pre-purchase educational opportunities and financing to promote sustainable long-term homeownership through our Affordable Homeownership Program (AHP). AHP gives qualifying homebuyers access to a 30-year, zero percent interest mortgage to purchase newly constructed, affordable, energy efficient homes built by Habitat’s construction team, subcontractors, volunteers, and homebuyers. Qualified homebuyers receive extensive support from application to closing, attend classes and guidance meetings, and help build their homes. In FY24, we plan to complete eight new homes, and twelve more in FY25. Further, we recently piloted a collaborative workforce development initiative at our construction sites with several local workforce development programs (Revolution Workshop, Chicago Women in Trade, Rebuilding Exchange, etc) that will allow us to increase our construction delivery over time. Funds acquired by this grant will provide Habitat Chicago with the opportunity to expand an existing project to include more structured homebuyer preparation and more flexible underwriting guidelines than our current loan product. Additionally, this proposal includes the creation of a special purpose financing program to provide greater access and to specifically target Austin and West Pullman.
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Grant Recipient
LATINOS PROGRESANDO
Latinos Progresando (LP) requests renewed support to promote a healthy neighborhood ecosystem through resident-driven, equitable community development in Marshall Square, located on the southwest side of Chicago. LP’s approach leverages the strength of the Marshall Square Resource Network (MSRN) and deepens relationships with local, entrepreneurial businesses to promote community economic viability and engagement in neighborhood life. Development activities are organized around a cluster of community assets: the newly-opened Latinos Progresando Community Center, a redevelopment of a long-vacant Chicago public library branch; the Cermak/California commercial corridors; and the CTA Pink Line California station. Our broader vision also includes collaboration with the neighboring community of North Lawndale to promote joint community investment through the One Lawndale initiative.
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Grant Recipient
Goldin Institute
With the support of the Chicago Community Trust, the Goldin Institute will continue to collaborate with the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities to host the Chicago Peace Fellows program to promote real and authentic community safety in the neighborhoods most impacted by violence. In particular, we will host a annual cohorts of Chicago Peace Fellows while expanding the Mutual Aid Collaborative as an ongoing platform for shared learning and collaboration for the network of 60 Alumni and growing.
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Grant Recipient
GREATER WEST TOWN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Greater West Town Community Development Project (GWTP) would be grateful to partner with Chicago Community Trust to help close the racial and ethnic wealth gap at the household and community levels in Chicago. GWTP has been committed to this mission for the last 35 years through educational and economic empowerment in disinvested communities in Chicago, particularly on the West Side (East and West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Humboldt Park, and Austin). GWTP’s Occupational Skills Training Program was strategically designed to respond to issues of poverty, unemployment, and lack of educational attainment through programs that create access to economic opportunities for multi-barriered and historically disinvested community residents. The program offers two certified tracks in the high-growth industries of Shipping & Receiving and Woodworking & Solid Surface Manufacturing that aim to equip participants with the certifications and tools to retain employment in a growing field and increase their income and opportunities to grow household wealth. GWTP’s Occupational Training in Shipping & Receiving (12 weeks) and Woodworking & Solid Surface Manufacturing (15 weeks) fully incorporate technical skills with basic skills remediation, wraparound services, and 12 months of post-program support, including job readiness and job placement. Both programs are approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and nationally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges. Two Program Advisory Committees (PACs) composed of local employer partners meet regularly to advise GWTP on curricula and industry best practices. By design, the Occupational Skills Training Program offers individualized employment and educational plans. Those who successfully complete the program and are placed in employment will receive follow-up check-ins at least once a month for their first year in the workforce. With funding from Chicago Community Trust, GWTP will recruit and enroll 90 participants in state-approved, certification-granting occupational skills training programs over the 12-month grant period. 72 out of the 90 participants will complete training and earn an occupational skills certificate, and 63 of those will be placed in living-wage employment with an average wage of $16.75.
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Grant Recipient
Foundation of Little Village
The Xquina Entrepreneurial Ecosystem partnership collective works to build community wealth through the strategic alignment of entrepreneurial resources. By equipping local businesses – both current and emerging – with expanded access to a network of culturally relevant, Spanish-language programming, mentorship, resources, and capital support, they are better positioned to make informed business decisions that, in turn, enhance the economic vitality of Little Village as a whole.
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Grant Recipient
GREATER SOUTHWEST DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
The Greater Southwest Development Corporation’s (GSDC) primary goal is to improve the quality of life in southwest Chicago through economic development strategies designed to address the specific challenges of the neighborhoods and businesses we serve. Our commercial division supports local businesses and entrepreneurs and drives business investment into the area. GSDC also offers residents training and supports and builds and manages rental properties. Requested funds would enable us to help establish, stabilize, and expand more businesses, catalyze greater investments, and help build internal capacity around our Real Estate and Community Development efforts.
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Grant Recipient
REVOLUTION WORKSHOP
Revolution Workshop (RW) builds skills, hope, and resilience in Chicago’s underserved communities through job training, financial capabilities services, and career advancement support. Our Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Job Training Program combines technical skills training with holistic skills-building opportunities in employability, executive functioning, and financial capabilities—all designed to help our participants chart their paths to prosperity. Upon completion of our program, we place graduates into living-wage career pathways in the construction sector and provide ongoing career advancement and financial counseling support via our Career Growth Services. With this application, we are requesting funding to support our program as well as expand the financial capabilities services we offer to our graduates, including hiring an alumni-focused Financial Capabilities Coordinator and building out/offering in-house credit-building, twin-account products. All programming and expansion elements outlined in this proposal are in alignment with the “Quality Employment Opportunities” and “Quality Financial Health Opportunities” priority strategies of the Income Growth Solutions RFP.
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Grant Recipient
LIFT INC
LIFT-Chicago's mission is to break the cycle of poverty by investing in parents. We do this by partnering with parents to achieve economic stability and mobility through our holistic, two-generation coaching model with wraparound supports, including financial capabilities workshops and quarterly cash infusions. Through 1:1 coaching focused on Family Economic Mobility and group workshops, LIFT-Chicago members work with coaches to identify goals and develop individualized action plans to achieve them, including obtaining higher education, securing family-sustaining employment, and developing critical financial capabilities that promote long-term economic security. LIFT-Chicago serves families in Chicago, focused on the South and West sides of the city. Because of our hybrid coaching model, parents are not limited by their geographic location and are able to access virtual coaching that fits into the rhythms of their daily lives. In addition, parents have the option to access in-person services at our location in Bronzeville. LIFT-Chicago recognizes that our members’ persistence toward economic mobility, including their self-identified education and employment goals, is rooted in their resilience. As we move forward in our direct service work, we are investing more deeply in trauma-informed, healing-centered, and racial equity-driven coaching, with staff training and updated coaching protocols, to promote members’ wellbeing. We are expanding our group coaching availability, which offers opportunities to scale coaching to more families while capitalizing on the bridged and bonded social capital that can be developed in a group setting – particularly important after the social isolation during COVID. Finally, we are focused on continuing to achieve high-quality impact as we scale and expand our direct service work to support members’ wellbeing. For example, we are introducing evidence-informed skill-based stress reduction techniques into our coaching program for members who need more support but do not have access to immediate mental health care. LIFT-Chicago's coaches, who are Master of Social Work interns, undertake specialized training to implement LIFT’s holistic model and gain experience providing strengths-based support through a race equity and inclusion lens. LIFT-Chicago recognizes the importance of enlisting coaches from diverse and low-income backgrounds with matched lived experience to our members. As such, LIFT-Chicago seeks to identify LIFT members interested in human services careers and create a pipeline for future coaches as members complete their social work programs. LIFT-Chicago will create a framework to offer opportunities to current and past LIFT members who express an interest in social work as they work toward their personal career goals. This will further the educational and career aspirations of our members, inform the next generation of human service delivery with holistic approaches to disrupting intergenerational poverty, and advance equity by filling a gap in the human service workforce with highly trained BIPOC clinicians.