Grants

Grant Recipient

Community Desk Chicago

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $150,000

The Chicago Community Wealth Building Center (“The Center”) is a new center being incubated at the Community Desk Chicago ("The Desk) designed to strengthen Chicago’s local community wealth building ecosystem through four key strategies: (1) pipeline management and technical assistance; (2) funder education and capital coordination; (3) policy, advocacy & coalition-building; and (4) arts, storytelling and community education. The Center will be housed at The Desk to incubate with the goal of launching as a separate 501c3 within two to three years.

Grant Recipient

WINGS Program, Inc.

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $50,000

WINGS Program, Inc. respectfully requests $50,000 from the Chicago Community Trust for general operating support. This funding will help manage the administrative and compliance requirements of the Cook County JAC government grant. WINGS’ current federal and state government grant portfolio includes funding totaling $4,569,462. WINGS indirect costs are calculated using the MTDC Formula which excludes applying indirect costs on leasing or rental housing; however, the 10% allocated to indirect costs from government grants is insufficient to cover the true administrative and compliance costs of the government grants. WINGS annual budget has increased 60% in the last two years to accommodate growth of programs and the administration to support the robust continuum of programs primarily providing housing for Survivors of domestic violence. Within the last year, to relieve the burden of administering government grants, WINGS expanded the Administration team by hiring a FTE Controller and a FTE Accounting clerk with no new administration dollars from government grants. The funds requested will bridge the gap between allocated indirect costs and actual expenses, allowing WINGS to enhance overall organizational effectiveness.

Grant Recipient

The Chicago Community Trust

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $33,000

Grant Recipient

Allies for Community Business

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $50,000

Allies for Community Business (A4CB) seeks matching funds for an active government grant award we have secured with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund that was funded through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. A4CB was one of over 600 CDFIs that was awarded grants via the CDFI Fund’s new Equitable Recovery Program (ERP), which is intended to strengthen the ability of CDFIs to help low- and moderate-income communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and invest in long-term prosperity. A CDFI is a mission-driven organization that expands economic opportunity in low-income communities by providing access to financial products and services for local residents and businesses. This grant will help A4CB provide capital and coaching to small businesses, with a focus on serving entrepreneurs of color that remain in need of assistance as they recover from the pandemic in areas with increased economic distress.

Grant Recipient

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $50,000

CNT seeks a $50,000 general operating support grant from the Chicago Community Trust to offset administrative and compliance costs associated with its $6 million grant from Cook County, which received funding from The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This grant funds the planning and programmatic costs associated with implementing the RainReady Calumet Corridor plans in Cook County’s south suburbs. RainReady works with communities and property owners to identify and implement solutions to urban flooding. The investments in community infrastructure resulting from this grant will reduce flooding and build resilience to climate change while creating more beautiful neighborhoods, new green jobs, outdoor recreation opportunities, retail activity, and habitat conservation. Funding from the Trust will enable CNT to offset the true costs of administering this grant – beyond the de minimis indirect cost rate of 10 percent -- and ensure that CNT can maintain an administrative structure that allows us to serve as the prime applicant on government awards, ensuring that our community-based partners can participate as subrecipients and have access to funds for which they’d otherwise be ineligible.

Grant Recipient

Womens Business Development Center (WBDC)

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $50,000

Please see answers below per RFP instructions.

Grant Recipient

UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $400,000

In 2023, with support from The Chicago Community Trust, United Way of Metro Chicago successfully launched the 211 Metro Chicago program. The 211 System is a partnership between the City of Chicago, Cook County, United Way of Metro Chicago, and other philanthropic partners to connect residents of the Chicago/Cook region to essential services. After years of planning, design, and development, the 211 Contact Center opened in January 2023 and was fully operable by March 2023—providing all Cook County residents with a caring, confidential, and accessible resource to get the basic health and social service support they need, when they need it. In the first year of implementation, 211 Metro Chicago connected 106,000 residents of Cook County—more than 80% from Chicago’s south- and west-side communities—to trauma-informed, equity-focused referrals to help navigate the county’s social safety net. The program saw steadily increased utilization and made powerful data and reporting available to providers, partners, and the public. In year two, with Chicago Community Trust support, 211 Metro Chicago will continue to address the region’s critical needs by expanding 211 utilizations, increasing numbers and quality of referrals, and developing partnerships with local service providers/government agencies to build a stronger, more coordinated system. It will ensure the program’s financial sustainability, improve data systems and reporting to better identify need areas, demographics, and regional service gaps, and continuously scale and improve operations. In time, the 211 system can increasingly impact the region by arming Chicago-area service providers with accurate and timely data to inform local needs. This will support adjustment or expansion of existing programs and development of new services. Its data resources will be able to support policy changes that minimize barriers and increase access to essential human services. Leveraged effectively, the 211 Metro Chicago system can address regional needs and drive system change.