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. Today, that means confronting the racial and ethnic wealth gap.
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Grant Recipient
Love Unity & Values Institute
The Love, Unity & Values (LUV) Institute is the lead organization for the Chicago Community Trust’s Pre-Development grant as a part of a coalition of eight youth-serving not-for-profit organizations that work on Chicago’s South Side. Together, we hope to build the BEACON (the Bronzeville Empowerment and Community Outreach Network Center) Youth Center. The eight organizations in the collaborative identified Bronzeville as a neighborhood of high need, however, one with community resources that could be utilized to support a community center focused on youth and their families, that, in turn, would support the overall community. The organizations identified the building at 4150 S. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive, currently owned by the Centers for New Horizons, as one that could be renovated to meet the agencies’ requirements and provide additional space for community gatherings. Our premise is that by locating these organizations together in an area of high need, we will be better able to serve youth and families and strengthen the community surrounding the center. The mission of the BEACON Youth Center is to create a holistic environment where young people and their families can access resources and programs that promote academic performance, mentorship, personal development, health, wellness, and career readiness, thereby empowering youth to become resilient and active community members. By providing programs that support young people socially, emotionally, and academically, we hope to help youth stay in school. With workforce training programs, we hope to help youth find employment that can put them on the first rung of a career path in a high need industry. Together the programs of the proposed BEACON Youth Center cover academics, art, social and emotional healing, mental and physical health and wellness, and workforce training. Having all of the services of all of the organizations in one building means that youth can easily access the resources they need. Supporting youth means also supporting their families and their communities. The BEACON Youth Center will have a large space for community gatherings. In addition, member organizations felt strongly that bringing people together to plant, tend, and harvest a community garden would help build relationships between family members and between community members while supporting good health with fresh produce and mental health with a green space in which to be restored. Replacing a flat roof with plants is also healthy for the environment. Because the building currently has only one story, the organizations plan to add another floor to the building to create more space for programs and for holding community meetings. Our collective goal is for the BEACON Center to become a hub for the surrounding community by offering services to youth and families, providing community gathering spaces, healthy food options, and a restorative green space. We believe that the BEACON Center will become a draw to local business corridors and help build local businesses through increased consumer traffic.
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Grant Recipient
QUAD COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION NFP
Oakland, Kenwood, Grand Boulevard and Douglas
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Grant Recipient
Southeast Chicago Chamber of Commerce
South Shore, Calumet Heights, Avalon Park, Greater Grand Crossing
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Grant Recipient
Street Vendors Association of Chicago
Street Vendors Association of Chicago Seeks Pre-Development funding for architectural and design renders for the expansion of the currently owned shared kitchen workers cooperative in North Lawndale to increase service capacity to fulfil city requirements of cleaning, storage and maintenance. Additionally, a farm and fresh market cooperative and training facility designed to combat food and employment insecurity while providing economic advancement and professional development. This project seeks to provide infrastructure and walkable amenities while preventing displacement by registering the land parcels in a Community Land Trust.
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Grant Recipient
Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation
The Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC) is developing an approximately 10,000-square-foot Women’s Wellness Center in Auburn Gresham that will serve more than 6,000 patients annually. The Women’s Wellness Center, located at 7900 S. Halsted, will offer comprehensive medical care and health services that are not easily accessible in our neighborhood including cancer screenings, imaging, physical therapy, and maternity care.
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Grant Recipient
Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America Inc NFP
FORA is an organization dedicated to restoring the rights of literacy and education to preliterate refugee students, some of the most disadvantaged children in the world, through our programs of individualized and intensive High Impact Tutoring and wrap-around school-support services. We are seeking General Operating Support from the Chicago Community Trust to expand our programming to cover more refugee students, enhance our effectiveness in improving student outcomes, and improve our client data system through the implementation of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
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Grant Recipient
Big NFP
We are seeking to complete a gut rehabilitation and buildout of a building we own at 6437-39 S. Cottage Grove Ave. as a mixed-use retail/office space for our expanding needs. We have completed preliminary design and need of additional pre-development support to advance the plans/pricing, do updated market analysis, and other items to obtain full project financing.
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Grant Recipient
Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., LLC
The Wisdom Connection Initiative is leading the pre-development of the historic Roseland Theater property at 11331 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60628 (113th and Michigan Ave.), transforming it into a vibrant, community-driven commercial hub. This Initiative will restore and redevelop the long-vacant theater into a multi-use space that fosters community wealth-building, cooperative business development, and sustainable infrastructure. The revitalized Roseland Theater will serve as a cornerstone for local entrepreneurship, resident-controlled development, and community investment, featuring tenant-owned spaces for small businesses, cooperative enterprises, and community-serving organizations, as well as community investment opportunities through our community investment vehicle, community-owned energy business, and community-owned grocery store. The redevelopment will also incorporate energy-efficient systems and solar infrastructure, aligning with sustainability goals while reducing operational costs for tenants. With this pre-development funding, we will finalize architectural designs, conduct environmental assessments, and begin zoning and permitting processes to ensure a smooth path to redevelopment. By reclaiming this historic space, the Wisdom Connection Initiative aims to create lasting economic opportunities for Roseland residents while preserving the cultural and architectural legacy of the community.