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
Featured
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
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomes The Chicago Community Trust’s partnership to support the initial phase of our comprehensive campaign. The campaign honors the significant historical contributions of the Ryerson and Smith families to the preservation of this site and supports our goals for a vibrant Chicagoland where people of all backgrounds have a voice and a role in supporting the health of people and nature in their own communities. This initial investment will support a campaign consultant to oversee the campaign launch and implementation as well as the first phase of immediate renovations to the historic Brushwood building.
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Grant Recipient
Chicago Botanic Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest (WCH) program requests support for its community health initiative, VeggieRx, which will provide nutrition education and 60,000 pounds of fresh produce to an estimated 1,000 unique individuals in 2021. WCH will coordinate with medical staff at four healthcare organizations—the Lawndale Christian Health Center in North Lawndale, PCC Community Wellness Center in Austin and Belmont-Cragin, Proviso Partners for Health in Maywood, and Esperanza Health Centers in Brighton Park—to refer patients with diet-related illnesses into VeggieRx. Reduced-price produce sales at WCH’s North Lawndale headquarters, the Farm on Ogden, will create food access for an additional 30,000 community residents.
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Grant Recipient
Latino Policy Forum
A project of the Forum, Illinois Unidos seeks to eliminate the disproportionate impact of COVID in the Latino community by developing strategies to address the health, education, and economic consequences of COVID. Latinos have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Illinois, more than 10% of the Latino community has/had COVID. This rate is 50% higher than it is for both the Black and White population, whose rates are each 6.9%. .
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Grant Recipient
Nourishing Hope
Lakeview Pantry, Chicago’s largest food pantry, has more than 50 years of history as a trusted and reliable resource for our neighbors. We work to meet the needs of individuals and families facing financial instability through food distribution, social services, and community mental health programs. Through our food access programs, families are given a full allotment of fresh and nutritious groceries once per month and are encouraged to return weekly for supplemental bread and produce. All families are screened for additional needs during each visit and connected to a staff case manager as needed. At this time, Lakeview Pantry continues to see a 200% increase in demand across programs over pre-COVID service levels.
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Grant Recipient
WOMEN EMPLOYED
Women Employed (WE) plays a unique role in increasing opportunities and security for women as policy advocates seeking systemic improvements that touch the lives of women in low-income jobs and women of color, particularly Black and Latinx/a women. In our new strategic plan, WE reaffirms our mission, with the goal of growing women’s economic power in order to close the wealth gap at the intersection of race and gender. When we think about economic power, the word Poder in Spanish is helpful. Poder both means power (n) and to be able to (v). To close the wealth gap and fulfill the goal of growing the economic power of women – their economic ability to make decisions that benefit them and improve their quality of life is essential.
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Grant Recipient
Academy for Global Citizenship Charter School
Working hand-in-hand with our community, our Sustainability & Wellness Hub and urban farm will contribute to a resilient local food economy, conserve three acres of land and increase access to fresh, healthy and local food production in SW Chicago.
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Grant Recipient
Housing Opportunities & Maintenance for the Elderly, Inc.
H.O.M.E., founded in 1982, pioneered an innovative intergenerational housing model for seniors with low incomes. H.O.M.E.’s affordable residences exemplify a normative goal of “aging in community” by intentionally bringing together seniors, younger adults living and working as Resident Assistants, and families with children under the same roof H.O.M.E. plans to expand its intergenerational model to Washington Park through a partnership with The Renaissance Collaborative for a new affordable building offering supportive services. In addition to housing, H.O.M.E. offers Community Programs for seniors with low incomes in disinvested neighborhoods across Chicago: an Upkeep and Repair program, a Shopping Bus program, and a Moving Program.
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Grant Recipient
Resurrection Project
TRP respectfully requests support for its comprehensive homeownership program, Full Circle Homes (FCH). FCH provides prospective homeowners the tools and support they need to qualify, find, and responsibly buy a home, while offering post-purchase services to ensure owners remain in their homes for the long-term. FCH leverages TRP’s decades of homebuyer preparation experience with lending and realty services. TRP is a trusted provider of bilingual, culturally inclusive services tailored to meet the needs of Chicago’s Latinx community and immigrant households. As a voice for increasing access to homeownership, TRP also advocates for systems and practice change, while bringing innovative housing models, including modular homes, to the market.