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
Covenant House Illinois Inc
For 50 years, the broader Covenant House International network has served youth experiencing homelessness. Covenant House Illinois (CHIL) opened in 2017, offering services through our Drop-In Center. The following year we opened our Interim Housing Program and Covenant Works Program. In 2019, we purchased a three-story building in the East Garfield Park Neighborhood on Chicago’s west side. This location was chosen intentionally, responding to a dearth of homeless providers serving youth on the west side of Chicago. Since 2019, CHIL has completely redeveloped all three floors, housing our administrative offices, Drop-In Center, our 37-bed Interim Housing Program, and our newly launched 19-bed Transitional Housing Program called Rites of Passage. We have been working with community partners, elected officials, and the broader East Garfield Park community to plan our new campus since 2019. Late-stage adolescence, and in particular the 18-24-year-old demographic CHIL serves, is characterized by unique biological, social, psychological, and cognitive processes. The delivery of developmentally appropriate interventions is dependent upon the unique factors that influence late-stage adolescence, such as increased independence, the establishment of moral, sexual, and vocational identities, and the transition to adulthood. Exposure to violence, sexual assault, poverty, and significant trauma are hallmarks for youth experiencing homelessness within this age range. These experiences can lead to protracted homelessness and an unhealthy delay in the transition to adulthood. In Chicago, homelessness overwhelmingly affects youth in this critical developmental stage. In fact, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, youth ages 18-24, make up 90 percent of all youth experiencing homelessness nation-wide. We are respectfully requesting $150,000 in general operating support for our Interim Shelter Program and our Rights of Passage (ROP) Transitional Housing Program, along with the programs that provide wraparound services such as our Drop-In, Street Outreach, and Employment programs. CHIL partners with youth to offer comprehensive support services and residential programs for homeless and trafficked young people. At CHIL, we provide access to necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, and trauma-sensitive wraparound services, including physical and mental healthcare, employment counseling, legal services, and life-skills workshops. Through our core programs, we serve approximately 500 youth per year.
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Grant Recipient
The Chicago Community Trust/Office of Equity and Racial Justice
Chicago, as a sanctuary city, is facing unprecedented challenges due to the recent influx of migrants following the lifting of Title 42. With over 29,301 New Arrivals, primarily from Venezuela, having arrived in Chicago as of December 29th, 2023, the city is grappling with the logistical and humanitarian aspects of accommodating and supporting these individuals. The sudden and continuous arrival of migrants, often without advance notice, has overwhelmed city officials, forcing the opening of 27 shelters with more in the pipeline. This influx, coupled with the lack of federal and limited state funding, has strained city resources, leading to tension among residents, particularly in historically underfunded low-income Black and brown communities. The City remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting New Arrivals and facilitating their permanent resettlement in Chicago. However, the media landscape, dominated by local and national outlets, contributes to a challenging environment. The portrayal of New Arrivals in the media is often reactionary and echoes xenophobic sentiments, influencing public opinion negatively. To counter this, the city administration and community leaders recognize the need for a dedicated communications help to implement a rapid response strategy, shifting the narrative and discourse around New Arrivals and immigration. This represents a crucial opportunity for Chicago, the third-largest city in the United States, to lead in immigration reform, resettlement, and exemplify the essence of being a Sanctuary City. The city administration and key stakeholders, urgently require a coordinated multi-media communications plan. This plan would involve developing and supporting the implementation of a strategic communications strategy for the city's efforts to welcome New Arrivals. Additionally, it would include analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes, and potential issues that might impact the city's response. Collaboration between the city administration and diverse coalition partners is crucial for ensuring better coordinated responses, maintaining message discipline, and engaging in research-informed communication. The plan should also encompass supporting all aspects of rapid response efforts, such as crafting talking points, press releases, and social media content to shape a more positive narrative around the challenges faced by Chicago as a result of the influx of migrants. The CCT will will initiate a sub-granting process to support the city administration's communications' plan on new arrivals. CCT will partner with the Office of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights, responsible for this communications' initiative, that will include identifying and contracting suitable firms to address the public affairs strategy understaffing related to asylum seekers. Building on their successful collaboration during the COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund, where CCT identified and supported community-based organizations and individuals impacted by the pandemic, the trust will once again leverage its expertise to ensure that the communications strategy aligns with the values of multiculturalism and peacekeeping. CCT's role in monitoring the process will uphold public trust, ensuring transparency, and contributing to the effective implementation of the strategy to address the needs of the city and its New Arrivals. This partnership demonstrates the shared commitment of the City administration and CCT to address pressing issues and effect lasting positive change for all Chicagoans. Over the years, the City of Chicago and The Chicago Community Trust (CCT) have built impactful partnerships, seen in initiatives like Elevated Works. This program, under Elevated Chicago, disperses $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to 60 Equitable Transit Oriented Development (ETOD) sites. CCT plays a crucial role by matching these federal dollars with an additional $1 million or more in flexible funding, ensuring prompt capital and a comprehensive range of services for the City's ETOD grantees, maximizing the impact of recovery funds on community development. Furthermore, the joint efforts of CCT and the City to combat community violence are evident through their involvement in the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities (PSPC). This coalition, consisting of over 50 foundations and private funders, actively supports effective solutions against community violence. In 2023, the city administration, CCT, and PSPC collaborated to amplify the impact of the Chicago Fund, resulting in an increased investment of over $2.5 million in grants distributed among 253 grassroots organizations. This collective initiative now aims to extend its reach by engaging more young people in activities throughout the year, going beyond the traditional gap period between the end of the school year and the beginning of Chicago Park District programming. The clear synergy between CCT and the City of Chicago demonstrates our shared commitment to addressing urgent and longstanding social issues.
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Grant Recipient
Deborah's Place
Deborah’s Place is requesting support for our housing-first, harm-reductive, human-centered programs that support single women as they transition from experiences of homelessness to permanent, stable housing. Grant funding from the Chicago Community Trust will be used to deepen the participation of clients (who are primarily women of color) and improve the agency’s delivery of services to address evolving community needs.
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Grant Recipient
The Chicago Community Foundation/Elevated Chicago
Elevated Chicago is a coalition of organizations advancing Equitable Transit-Oriented Development [ETOD] to unlock the potential of transit hubs to connect people and attract development that is racially equitable in terms of climate resilience, health and cultural indicators. In partnership with local community-based organizations, Elevated Chicago seeks to transform the 1/2-mile radius around CTA, Metra, and Pace hubs and corridors into community-focused centers of commerce and culture by 1) removing barriers that hinder innovation near station areas; 2) equipping residents with resources to make these areas a community and civic priority; and 3) aligning, cultivating, and deploying capital for development near transit stations, to become areas where the built environment and programming converge to create nodes of connection and opportunity.
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Grant Recipient
Revolution Institute
RI is committed to bridging the racial wealth gap through an innovative strategy: acquiring and converting businesses into worker cooperatives as well as helping to prepare the workfoce of the future. When our organization originally launched, RI concentrated on launching a startup cooperative business. However, recognizing the untapped potential of existing businesses, RI strategically shifted its approach to a social acquisition model. This shift underscores RI's commitment to derisking our efforts while maximizing our resources and moving with a sense of urgency. The funding requested from The CCT will predominantly support RI's Partnership Pathway initiative, a collaborative effort involving multiple organizations such as MTEC, IMAN, and others. This initiative offers comprehensive workforce development training designed to equip individuals from underserved communities with the skills, mindset, and capacity necessary for success in democratic workplaces and other professional settings in the manufacturing and adjacent sectors. By building a pathway of supports that spans multiple organizations, RI ensures participants receive holistic training that addresses various aspects of their personal, professional, and communal development. Central to the Partnership Pathway is RI's Cooperative Leadership Training, which integrates social and human development modules on wellness, business ownership, cooperative leadership, conflict resolution, collective decision making, and economic democracy. Through this comprehensive training, participants not only gain technical skills but also develop critical leadership abilities, social and human development (e.g. cultural education, environmental education, financial literacy, health and wellness, critical thinking, digital literacy and academic supports) essential for cooperative ownership, worker agency, and leadership roles within their communities.
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Grant Recipient
McKinley Park Development Council
We published the South Branch Connectivity Project Framework Plan (attached) in June 2024 and are now taking the first steps toward implementation. These steps include continued detailed planning, community engagement, advocacy efforts, negotiations with landowners, and holistic action on concerns like transportation and housing affordability in surrounding areas. Many details are laid out in the plan’s recommendations (p53) and implementation matrix (p 80).
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Grant Recipient
SMALL BUSINESS MAJORITY FOUNDATION INC
Small Business Majority [SBM] requests support to continue Pathways to Entrepreneurial Growth, offered in partnership with Rogers Park Business Alliance [RPBA] and New Covenant Community Development Center [NCCDC]. Pathways increases access to business support, financial management training and capital for entrepreneurs of color by linking together RPBA’s GROW/PROGRESANDO program, NCCDC’s Financial Dashboard program and SBM’s “Ready for Capital” capstone workshop. Partners monitor outcomes and feedback from multi-program participants and identify adaptable best practices aimed at boosting cultural competence and humility in service delivery—key to increasing effective, fair service delivery for entrepreneurs disproportionately harmed by structural discrimination, public disinvestment and the pandemic.
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Grant Recipient
Elevate Energy
Elevate, in partnership with Business Services Collective (BSC) and Sustainable Options for Urban Living (S.O.U.L.), provides a tailored approach to assist a range of contractors and construction firms looking to strengthen their participation in the growing clean energy industry in Chicago and Illinois, which includes enhanced support in project preparedness and financial well-being.