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
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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
Womens Business Development Center (WBDC)
Over 130 BSOs provide support to business owners in the Chicago area, many with a focus on a particular geography, industry, or population. Services provided by each may range from very general to narrowly targeted. As a result, service delivery is uneven across geographies and inefficient overall. Organizations focus on their offerings, often unaware of alternative and complementary options available to the entrepreneurs they support. What is needed is an ecosystem transformed for Access – increased coordination and collaboration via processes co-designed by participating BSOs that enable business owners to obtain from them what they need: Access to Education they can use to make better business decisions Access to Markets they can reach to increase their revenues Access to Capital they can employ to grow their enterprises Access to Networks they can leverage to connect to opportunities The WBDC is requesting funding to deliver EMBA-Year 3 to provide minority business owners with increased Access to Education, Markets and Networks. The aspirational goal of EMBA is to reduce racial wealth disparities and create generational wealth for minority businesses through higher-margin private/public sector contracting/procurement opportunities. As Helene D Gayle, President and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust wrote in her May 18, 2022 Chicago Tribune Editorial entitled, ‘Community development builds framework to close racial wealth gap’, “At all stages of development, Black and Brown-owned businesses must be assured a fair shot at contracts that allow them to hire, train and expand resources within the community”. For this to happen, Black and Brown-owned businesses must first be made aware of this business pathway and then how to be ready and position themselves for a fair shot. This is the goal of EMBA. EMBA's primary customers are Business Service Organizations (BSOs) within the Greater Chicago ecosystem. As BSO partners, they will be trained and provided with the information, education, resources, tools, and collateral necessary to educate neighborhood minority business owners about these higher-margin business pathways. EMBA has a three-step focus; advancing and deepening BSO knowledge in the contracting arena, ensuring minority businesses are aware of these pathways; and providing the 'roadmap' and technical assistance required for business owners to successfully enter and navigate this complex marketplace. Execution will be accomplished using a Hub-and-Spoke model in which the WBDC will serve as the Hub, CMSDC as a Subject Matter Expert Spoke and four neighborhood Business Service Organizations as local Awareness and Education Spokes. The WBDC and CMSDC will update the EMBA learning module, Tool Kit, and other related collateral for the Spokes to deploy. In addition, they will lead Train-the-Trainer Sessions for Spoke staff, facilitate client-focused Workshops and Webinars, deliver targeted one-on-one advising to Spoke clients, and leverage corporate, government, and Women and Minority Business Enterprise SMEs as mentors. Spoke organizations will complement these actions by marketing the opportunities, organizing and recruiting minority businesses to attend the Webinars and Workshops, delivering general one-on-one advising, assisting with matching businesses and mentors, adhering to reporting requirements, and participating in EMBA Hub and Spoke meetings and related activities. The WBDC's positive experience as both a Hub and a Spoke will enable a project structure that helps to build capacity, and is respectful and empowering for the partner BSO's, and builds an informational channel for minority small businesses. The budgetary request to FEBG is greater than the previous two years because it is inclusive of compensation for the five partner BSOs engagement, effort and expertise.
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Grant Recipient
The Chicago Community Trust
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Grant Recipient
The Chicago Community Trust
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Grant Recipient
Metropolitan Planning Council
For the past two years, MPC has provided support and guidance to the City of Chicago as it has conducted pre- and current planning activities for the We Will Chicago citywide plan. Now, in preparation for the next phase, MPC proposes a 12-month grant for $200,000 that advances solutions towards two very specific needs and opportunities: 1) creating inclusive and sustained community engagement in planning; and 2) meeting challenges presented with current implementation of the zoning code. Activities over the next year include: Meeting in a Box revision and rollout, Global Pillars Events Series, Historical Acknowledgement Planning Process, and the development of a research methodology and coalition building for a Zoning Assessment, which is a key tool to produce a more equitable, healthy, and resilient community.
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Grant Recipient
The Chicago Community Trust
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Grant Recipient
WE ARE ABLE
We Are Able, a 501c3, in partnership with the Chicago Police Board, launched the Chicago Youth Council for Police Accountability (CYCPA) in 2021. Our mission is to spark a dialogue about policing issues in Chicago, empower young people from across the City to engage in the work of the Chicago Police Board, and amplify young people’s voices that have been historically underrepresented and underutilized. The CYCPA is comprised of 11 young people ages 16-25. Their work includes: • Attending and providing input into police board meetings • Researching and drafting policy recommendations that are presented to the board • Performing outreach and awareness-building to increase engagement with the police board, and • Facilitating community-building events that foster inclusive communities
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Grant Recipient
President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Grant Recipient
Cicero Independiente
General operating support to ensure that Cicero Independiente can continue to meet the information needs of a bilingual, immigrant community and provide paid opportunities for people of color to acquire journalism skills and increase civic engagement.