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
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
This proposal addresses the unique socio-medical needs of high-risk Black birthing people. We propose to develop and pilot an innovative integrative model of maternity care for Black mothers with high-risk pregnancies. Melanated Group Midwifery Care Plus (MGMC+) will build upon our current PCORI-funded pregnancy and postpartum care model for low-risk women, Melanated Group Midwifery Care (MGMC), and adapt it to our high-risk Black population. MGMC+ merges five evidence-based interventions to foster greater trust and engagement and improve pregnancy and postpartum experiences: 1) Racial concordance between patients, maternal fetal medicine (MFM) physicians and certified nurse-midwives (CNM) fosters trust and communication; 2) Group prenatal care sessions with women who share a high-risk diagnosis (i.e., hypertension, diabetes, risk of pre-term birth) tailored to address health literacy, self-advocacy, and peer support reduces power hierarchies; 3) Complex care coordination, including nurse navigation and social work, minimizes the burden of multiple appointments and also facilitates access to mental health and other supportive services; 4) Provider training for all OBGYN physicians, nurses and midwives ensures patient interactions across the healthcare system are patient-centered and supports shared decision making; 5) Community-based doula support throughout pregnancy, birth and postpartum improves birth outcomes and experiences, as well as increases breastfeeding and decreases postpartum depression. Integrative and concordant obstetric care for Chicago’s Black birthing community is an innovative concept whose time has come. We are currently in our third year of successfully implementing MGMC for low-risk Black mothers at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Based on our implementation data, we realize there is much need to adapt this model to high-risk pregnancy as well as to train providers to function as part of a multidisciplinary team to deliver evidence based respectful care. Funding from the Chicago Community Trust will allow us to adapt our highly successful low risk model to meet the needs of a growing population of Black mothers with high-risk pregnancies.
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Grant Recipient
University of Chicago Urban Labs
For nearly 10 years, the UChicago Inclusive Economy Lab has engaged in a research-practice partnership with homeless service providers, homeless advocates, and the Chicago Continuum of Care (CoC). Through its Housing Stability Program, the Inclusive Economy Lab generates knowledge on the scale of housing instability in Chicago and its disproportionate impact on communities of color, particularly Black Chicagoans. Through its work to provide housing supports to returning residents and cash assistance to families experiencing homelessness, the Inclusive Economy Lab aims to promote equitable housing, education and health outcomes in Chicago and alleviate human suffering.
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Grant Recipient
Renew Lawndale Acquisitions LLC
The Steans Family Foundation (SFF) is redeveloping a 5-story, 168,000 square foot building at 4100 W. Fillmore Street in the North Lawndale neighborhood to create space for anchor tenant, Fillmore Linen Services, a 45,000- sf commercial laundry facility, and space for various small businesses including a coffee roastery and a wholesale flower distributor. SFF closed on the building acquisition in November 2022. The 168,000 sf, 5-story brick industrial building has been predominantly vacant for over 10 years. Deeply rooted in the North Lawndale community, the Steans Family Foundation is committed to reviving this 110-year property in collaboration with neighborhood and financial partners to rehabilitate and repurpose The Fillmore Center in order to created a new economic hub in the community that will help created over 200 new jobs for residents. North Lawndale has a population of approximately 34,800. 80.2% of residents are Black, 12.8% are Hispanic or Latino, and 5% white. However, 53% of North Lawndale’s jobs are held by people who identify as white. Only 15% of residents have a bachelor’s degree but 21% of the jobs in the community require a bachelor’s degree or higher. This employment paradox leads to a 14% unemployment rate in North Lawndale and forces almost 12,000 residents to leave the community for work.
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Grant Recipient
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights
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Grant Recipient
Alivio Medical Center Inc
Alivio Medical Center at Mosaic Square will transform the health landscape for residents of West and South Chicago by providing a whole-person, holistic care model, that is culturally competent and accessible, connecting the community to a wide range of health care and supportive services. Alivio Medical Center at Mosaic Square will be a collaborative comprised of eight organizations who have proudly and effectively served their communities for a collective 550+ years and include Alivio Medical Center (lead applicant), UI Health, Lurie Children’s Hospital, Healthcare Alternative Systems, Inc. (H.A.S.), Bienestar Pharmacy, City Colleges of Chicago, National Louis University, and Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). Providing comprehensive health care services where patients live and work will improve the health and wellness not just of the individual but for the entire community allowing them to live their healthiest lives.
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Grant Recipient
Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council
The Back of the Yards: Rooted and Rising campaign is proposing a radical reimagination of a neighborhood that has been neglected and starved for investment since the last stockyard closed over 50 years ago. In the ensuing decades, our neighborhood has lost jobs, residents, and businesses. We are at a tipping point - if we do not invest, we will slowly lose water as our residents will abandon the neighborhood, moving west looking for safety, better jobs, and more amenities. At the same time, we have an opportunity to tip forward; our neighborhood’s elementary schools consistently score among the best in the CPS system; our Mexican ballet dance troupe has won six national championships; our restaurants are a destination for the Southwest side; and our parents are actively organizing to create a safer, more connected community. We are proud that our neighborhood has a rich and diverse history and an active citizenry eager to reclaim our future. Building on these assets and following the voice and vision of the community, Back of the Yards: Rooted and Rising is kicking off with a $69 million mixed-use development at 4630 S. Ashland and 4615 S. Marshfield that will transform an abandoned space into a thriving and welcoming community hub. The development will truly be a one-stop shop for the neighborhood, including: the first new, all affordable housing construction in the neighborhood in decades; a new performing arts center; three community-based service providers; and potentially, a new Chicago Public Library branch and a Federally Qualified Health Center. Built along the gang-neutral Ashland Avenue, this shovel-ready development will provide a safe haven to 3,000 residents and visitors weekly. The development is specifically focused on reversing the neighborhood’s economic decline by creating hundreds of local jobs and providing services that will develop highly employable community members that create wealth right in our own backyard. Our campaign is being led by a team of community leaders and minority-owned developers and architects that are deeply rooted in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Craig Chico, President and CEO of the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council and project lead, has had family roots in the neighborhood for three generations. His Mexican-immigrant grandfather proudly organized the neighborhood to build the community’s first Spanish-speaking church.. Craig, a dynamic and influential Chicago leader for over 20 years, is continuing that family tradition today by leading our neighborhood to realize its hopeful vision. The development team is additionally comprised of Luis Puig and Matt Mosher of Park Row Development, Juan Moreno of JGMA, and Agustin Gomez-Leal of Wallin/Gomez Architects, Ltd. One of the main objectives of this project is to create new economic activity for a long dormant retail corridor. The sheer numbers of people that will be drawn to this site by all the partners in this project will provide the first essential ingredient to economic development. The entire corridor and community will benefit but the nearby businesses will stand to gain the most. Those business include restaurants, clothing stores, service agencies, and a grocery store. This economic impact is even more important now with the closing of the 47th and Damen Yards Plaza retail mall. This first development, coupled with the Invest South/West-funded initiatives happening down the block, will prove that community-led development can revitalize a long-abandoned commercial corridor in a way that builds community wealth and avoids displacement. With our positive example setting the pace, Rooted and Rising will catalyze both private and public investment across Back of the Yards, recreating the bountiful neighborhood of generations past and fulfilling our vision for the future.
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Grant Recipient
Invisible to Invincible
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Grant Recipient
World Relief Corp of National Association of Evangelicals