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
Corporation For Supportive Housing
CSH will continue to advance our efforts to connect individuals to housing solutions that break the cycle of chronic homelessness. Specifically, we will: 1) Continue expanding our work with the Chicago/Cook Co. Flexible Housing Pool (FHP)—a coordinated body that is re-orienting the crisis response system by funding supportive housing for people with complex health needs and cycling through homelessness and costly health crisis services. For this grant period, our priorities will focus on engaging new sectors as Investors, increasing the amount of money invested in the FHP, and using project data that has been evaluated to better refine the FHP’s marketing pitch to primarily target MCOs. 2) Continue working to improve the IL Justice System’s process for reentry of returning citizens at risk of homelessness through a robust quality improvement effort surrounding housing placement, as well as improved standards for transitional housing—key steps in ensuring all returning citizens are connected to safe, stable housing upon exiting prison. For this grant period, our priorities will focus on providing training on the Housing Needs Assessment to IL Dept. of Corrections (IDOC) staff and transitional housing providers, as well as engaging with key stakeholder groups, in particular the IL Reentry Council’s Housing Workgroup, related to: 1) expanding the knowledge of and availability of alternative housing and services options, outside of recovery housing, and 2) strategizing about how to connect high-need reentry groups to housing. CSH is also working to fundraise for a reentry housing demonstration project with the FHP in order to build evidence for the effectiveness of paying for supportive housing to reduce recidivism and increase stability and opportunities for community members coming home.
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Grant Recipient
ILLINOIS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS
As the undocumented population continues to be left out of federal relief legislation, our directly impacted leaders continue to speak out about the need for state and local governments to provide permanent direct cash assistance. ICIRR, as a member of the IL Cost of Living Refund Coalition, partners with Economic Security for Illinois (ESIL) and provides strategy, organizing, and legislative support around ESIL’s campaign to expand inclusion of the state Earned Income Credit to ITIN filers and other historically excluded persons. ICIRR will engage its broad membership in 2022 to make Illinois one of the few states to include these groups, and will also advocate and organize around direct cash assistance in the context of COVID relief.
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Grant Recipient
Thrive Counseling Center
Thrive Counseling Center, serving Chicago’s West Side and Near West Suburbs, respectfully requests $50,000 to expand and enhance mental health care for minority and low-income youth ages 6-17. It is no surprise that the demand for care has jumped dramatically during the pandemic. The American Pediatric Association recently declared a mental health crisis for our nation's children and teens. The capacity to provide affordable care lags far behind this demand. Thrive clients must wait an average of three to four months to see a therapist or psychiatrist unless their condition is especially acute. And yet, the agency is often the only option for mental health care for these low-income families in our area as very few private practitioners accept Medicaid. Support from the Chicago Community Trust will enable Thrive to: a) hire an additional youth therapist to expand capacity to assist youth, and b) enhance our therapists’ ability to address trauma, especially racial trauma, by hosting a series of four focused workshops delivered by an external trainer with expertise in this modality. When polled, Thrive therapists rated racial trauma training as the number one professional development need. Outcomes include an increase in low-income youth clients and an enhancement in therapists' confidence in their abilities to effectively treat racial trauma among their clients.
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Grant Recipient
DEPAUL UNIVERSITY
DePaul University, which has a long history of welcoming immigrants and those who otherwise might be excluded from higher education, seeks philanthropic contributions to support ten displaced female students, whose lives and academic plans have been interrupted by conflict in South Asia. These students have urgent and significant financial need, having been required to unexpectedly and quickly leave the region. In addition to scholarship support provided by the university, funding will be critical to providing necessary resources to enable these students to continue their education in Chicago, covering costs that include tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies, transportation, technology and personal items.
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Grant Recipient
Chicago Public Media Inc
Chicago Public Media is committed to serving the public as a trusted, independent source of news and information that makes our region and our democracy stronger. We have always believed that robust local journalism is at the heart of a well-functioning society, and now more than ever, we are committed to serving our region with award-winning coverage of local, national, and international news that connects Chicagoans to each other — and to the world. With the Trust’s investment of $150,000, we will amplify the public conversation by telling the stories that matter; stories that provoke thought, entertain, capture emotion and inspire action. Chicago Public Media shares in the Trust’s desire to connect residents to one another and amplify authentic community narratives. Underpinning all of Chicago Public Media’s work is a theory of change and intended impact centered around empathy: We aim to create a more informed, connected, and empathetic Chicagoland. Our process of identifying a topic for investigation, reporting, and engaging the community is interconnected by design. With intentional community engagement throughout the process, we are more aware of the needs of our community and better positioned to accurately reflect the lived experiences of Chicagoans. As a trusted, independent source of news and information, we leverage our strengths in investigative and enterprise journalism to shine a light on the consequential issues affecting local communities and empower individuals to make informed decisions and advance what’s important to them. In an annual audience survey, we asked our audience members what, if any, actions they have taken as a result of hearing or reading a WBEZ story. We found that 73% of our audience felt they were more informed when they voted, 69% reconsidered or broadened their perspective on an issue, 49% were inspired to take a more active role in their community, and 46% became involved with a local or national cause. These results demonstrate that inclusive storytelling can serve as a pathway toward understanding and that audio storytelling, in particular, has a unique power to connect people, and in many cases, move people to take action. In the coming year, WBEZ will deliver more impactful journalism for the people of Chicago. Our human-centered, solutions-oriented approach to local journalism will shine a light on deep challenges and systemic inequities to effect positive change. Our strategy, approved by Chicago Public Media’s Board of Directors in June 2021, is to invest in daily journalism and build addressable direct relationships via digital platforms to build daily habits and grow the diversity and engagement of our audience. To deliver on our strategy, we have identified priorities across four pillars: Content, Audience Growth, Funding, and People and Culture. Specifically, we seek to: Invest in our journalism to build a compelling daily news product that focuses on the Chicago region, builds daily habits, and earns the trust of our audience. Build direct addressable relationships through digital platforms, converting one-time listeners to email subscribers and mobile app users to increase diversity, frequency, duration, and support among our audience. Fueled by support from our community and generous philanthropic partners, we nourish the public conversation by telling the stories that matter—stories that provoke thought, entertain, capture emotion, and inspire action. With your continued support in the coming year, we will preserve and strengthen that public service mission for our audience today and in the future.
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Grant Recipient
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
Support from The Chicago Community Trust will support AIDS Foundation Chicago’s (AFC) work to protect and advance access to high-quality healthcare for people living with or vulnerable to HIV and other chronic conditions, particularly centering on Black and Latinx communities who are disproportionately impacted by chronic conditions. In order to achieve such, AFC staff will: 1) monitor and respond to threats to health reform and access to care; 2) advocate for a state budget that ensures sufficient and equitable resources for people living with HIV; 3) monitor discriminatory practices among health insurance plans and advocate as needed; and 4) advocate for policies within the Illinois Healthcare Feasibility Study that increase affordability and accessibility for AFC’s focus populations.
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Grant Recipient
Northeastern Illinois University Foundation
Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) seeks support to increase the capacity of its Afghan (Refugee) Transition Program to serve the academic and non-academic needs of refugee students impacted by humanitarian crises. While the University Board of Trustees approved supporting up to 17 qualified Afghan evacuees who have settled in the Chicago area with tuition and housing waivers, these students have a host of other needs that must be met if they are to begin to heal and lead normal lives while pursuing an education at NEIU.
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Grant Recipient
ILLINOIS PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE
IPHI proposes to work with partners in the Alliance for Health Equity and CHHRGE to increase engagement of health leaders to address evictions and support more affordable housing in communities across Chicago and Cook County. Covid-19 has highlighted the intersections of health and housing inequities rooted in structural racism, and Covid-19 has also demonstrated that community orgs in Black and Latinx communities across the County are at the forefront of innovative solutions that bridge community development and health. We propose to build on our existing cross-sector work to strengthen partnerships between health stakeholders, local community development orgs and housing and legal experts to support effective advocacy and systems change.