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
Love Unity & Values Institute
The Love, Unity & Values (LUV) Institute provides four programs to youth and young adults living on Chicago's South Side. Due to the prevalence of violence and other traumatic adversity experienced by the young people LUV Institute serves – justice-involved youth, Youth in Care (foster youth), parenting teens, and economically challenged youth – core elements of all LUV programs include restorative justice practices. All of our programs begin with "Journey to My Better Self" because we focus on restorative practices in all of our programs. Participants learn how to communicate with others in positive, affirming ways and to navigate obstacles, including their own negative feelings and reactions that are borne from previous crises and experiences. It is not enough to provide training in work related skills if participants are unable to manage their thoughts and emotions in the face of life's regular stresses and difficulties. As a result, LUV Institute’s evidence-based curricula in its four youth programs support young people in building resilience in the face of violence and trauma. Our programs are: Journey to My Better Self - College and Career Academy; Journey to My Better Self - Artistic Expression Program; Journey to My Better Self -Entrepreneurship Program; Journey to My Better Self - Media Empowerment program. The programs provide participants with education and work related skills so that they will be able to find self-sustaining employment in the future. We focus on entrepreneurial skills and skills in high-demand occupations while guiding youth to define their own interests and find their own voices. Guided by the organization’s strategic plan, the LUV Institute has two distinct strategies for reaching youth: life, college, and career preparedness, and social responsibility and engagement. Using these strategies, the LUV Institute works to: 1. Equip Chicagoland youth with critical skills and knowledge necessary to attend college or obtain employment. 2. Increase the number of youth able to manage their personal finances and become self-sufficient adults. 3. Expand the pool of socially responsible youth engaged in their communities to create positive change. 4. Increase the number of youth-serving professionals trained in restorative justice practices.
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Grant Recipient
Not Me We NFP
Not Me We is a black lead community groups whose mission is to "Organize Black, Poor & Working Class Community members in order to build grassroots infrastructure that allows for collective and individual repatriation of resources & power in South Shore and adjacent neighborhoods." We envision a Chicago where Black families can experience unconditional joy and humanity. Where families have the self determination and the ability to afford to live and care for themselves – wherever they choose. Where the environment is sustainable, health is prioritized, and community members have their material needs met, regardless of their ability or income. Where all spaces are free of oppression and everyone is committed to their role in sustaining liberation for all. Not Me We is seeking $20,000 for general operating support.
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Grant Recipient
D-Composed Gives
We are requesting general operating support so we can continue amplifying the representation of Black composers and musicians throughout Chicago with an emphasis on communities that have been traditionally excluded from the classical music experience.
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Grant Recipient
A Step Ahead Chess
In response to the findings from our data analysis, ASAC identified a critical challenge: a shortage of skilled black educators available to coach chess lessons for our participants. As the problem solvers we are, ASAC overcome this obstacle with a combination of innovation and commitment. We internalized the solution to the coach shortage by introducing a career readiness program where upon entering high school, we train and hire our own talented youth as paid chess coaches. This initiative, launched in 2023, focuses on training and employing talented youth as paid chess coaches, thereby addressing the shortage and nurturing future leaders within our organization. Looking ahead, our Coach in Training Program is poised for expansion. By the end of 2028, we aim to train, develop, and hire 165 coaches to sustain our growth of serving 1,000 youth affectionately known as 'stormers' by 2028. However, to extend our impact, we recognize the need to increase our coaching staff. Currently, a waitlist of 100 eager participants underscores the pressing demand for our services, yet our growth potential is constrained by the shortage of qualified coaches. In addition to prioritizing quality instructors, we are also committed to promoting diversity and representation within our organization. As a black-led organization, we recognize the importance of hiring and empowering black and brown individuals who can serve as role models for our participants, are passionate about chess education, and share our commitment to academic enrichment and STEAM fields. As we celebrate 5 years since our launch in 2018, ASAC continues our dedication to creating an inclusive environment and providing quality programming and joy to youth everywhere. This Grant presents an invaluable opportunity to overcome this barrier and accelerate our impact. By securing funding through this grant, we intend to recruit and train additional coaches, enabling us to meet the demand and serve more youth effectively. This strategic collaboration will not only address the immediate challenge of educator shortage but also lay the groundwork for sustainable growth and community impact.
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Grant Recipient
West Point Fellowship Inc
West Point School of Music (WPSoM) is a Morgan Park-based music education organization providing academic enrichment in the area of arts education in Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods of Morgan Park, Roseland, South Shore, Englewood, Grand Crossing, Pullman, and Bronzeville. WPSoM was founded in 2011 with a mission to engage urban youth through music instruction and performance; cultivating artistically connected, socially conscious, productive adults. With 98% of program participants identifying as Black, WPSoM is Chicago’s only completely free music education program that centers African diaspora cultural heritage. We use the steel drum to increase the relevance of arts education for Chicago’s Black youth. WPSoM envisions a world where music education and performance help to rebuild a thriving middle class in Chicago’s Black communities. We address unequal access to music education in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that disproportionately impacts the City’s African American youth with lifelong consequences. We provide school- and site-based music education programs: Urban Music Makers (UMM) is a traditional school band program for youth in 2nd-8th grade; Celebration on Steel is a steel drum education program for youth in 2nd-12th grades. Teaching artists from the community, all of whom are graduates of WP programs, lead and teach these programs. Using music education to spur creativity, social-emotional learning, teamwork, mentoring, and fun, WPSoM provides enrichment activities Chicago’s Black youth need to reach their fullest potential, to build successful lives, and careers. WPSoM seeks $20,000 in general operating support that will assist the organization’s efforts to increase student participation at its recently acquired WPSoM Performing and Cultural Arts Center on the border of Roseland and Morgan Park.
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Grant Recipient
PRAIZE PRODUCTIONS INC
Praize Productions Inc. (PPI) was founded in, serves, and roots its artwork in Chicago’s South and West side Black community. Our facility is in Bronzeville, the historic and current heart of this community. We engage with our community through our Academy (arts education programming for youth and adults), our youth and professional dance companies, and our multidisciplinary professional-quality annual production. A grant to PPI would enable us continue to grow in service to Chicago’s Black community, filling a recognized and significant need more each year. Our leaders and professional artists are all Black women rooted in our community – some grew up here on the South side, some live here with their families today. We are proud of our community and know its potential. We highlight the untapped artistry in Chicago’s Black community, impact our city with the often-disregarded potential of Black women and girls, and center the long-ignored beauty and power of Black voices. We bring high quality, relevant art to audiences largely ignored by Chicago’s arts organizations. And through our own programming and our partnerships with peers across Chicagoland, we open the wealth of Chicago’s arts and culture community to our students and audiences – making space for Black girls and women throughout Chicago and fostering today’s Black women leaders and artists while we prepare the next generation.
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Grant Recipient
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
The Alliance will raise the visibility of local food and help foster a policy environment that is more favorable to farms and local food businesses by organizing farmers and eaters, developing their leadership and participation in Alliance caucus, working in coalition with allies on issues, and educating policymakers.
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Grant Recipient
Zumwalt Acres
Zumwalt Acres (ZA) is a regenerative educational farm, community hub, and research center. ZA is grounded in Jewish values and centers queer identities. A three-month long fellowship for beginning growers to develop skills, build community, and learn about the landscape of farming in the Chicago foodshed is hosted at ZA. In addition, ZA hosts workshops, festivals, and community gatherings on the farm to offer more people the opportunity to learn about growing food regeneratively and mitigating climate change through farming, and to connect with the environment. On a weekly basis, ZA distributes fresh vegetables and fruit to communities throughout Chicago and downstate Illinois.