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
African American Arts Alliance of Chicago
The 25-year-old African American Arts Alliance of Chicago respectfully seeks a $25,000 general operating grant in support of our Non-Profit art service organization. The mission of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago is to increase interaction, communication, and development of African American arts organizations and artists while delivering programs that increase their visibility, marketability, stability, and sustainability. Our membership includes organizations and individual artists in the fields of theater, dance, music, literature, film, technology, and visual arts. We serve as an advocate on behalf of our membership to ensure that they are recognized as important economic contributors to the cultural fabric of our city and state while increasing their visibility and support within the local and national funding community. For nearly three decades, the Alliance has created and produced hundreds of capacity-building workshops that encourage, educate and support individual artists and arts organizations with professional resources and career-enhancing opportunities such as auditions, mentoring programs, and artist development. The Alliance is an active member of Arts Alliance Illinois’ Advocacy Leadership, where we advocate on behalf of the Black Arts community for increased funding and media representation. With the support of the African American Legacy Fund, the Alliance’s programs and workshops will continue to strengthen and enhance the capabilities and capacity of artists and leaders to serve the needs and interests of the arts & cultural community.
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Grant Recipient
Ladies of Virtue NFP
Ladies of Virtue (LOV), a mentoring and leadership development program for girls aged 9-24 on Chicago’s South and West Sides will provide workshops, small group and individual mental health counseling to 200 girls and workshops for their parents, staff and mentors in our program. Counseling will support emotional well-being and social-emotional learning. Adult workshops cover trauma-informed care, adolescent mental health, social-emotional development in young people, and other topics requested by parents. All counseling and workshops will be delivered via in-person or videoconference by a licensed mental health professional.
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Grant Recipient
EcoWomanist Institute
The EcoWomanist Institute (EWI), located in Chicago, Il is seeking $30,000 from CCT to continue to provide the mental, emotional and leadership support to Black women in leadership who are on the frontline of EJ communities working to dismantle the impact of decades of systemic racism and the toll it has taken on both them and their community. The EWI mental health model; Soulcare/Selfcare was created by a collaboration of African American women and women of African descent from a cross-section of Black women who represented urban communities in Chicago and other metropolitan cites. The EWI leadership team hosted what we affectionally call, "Kitchen table Talks", much like what we grow up seeing how the women in our families gathered to talk about things that mattered to them. We meet over the course of several months with Black women ranging in age from 19 to mid 70s, who represented a cross-section of occupations, college student, educators, community activists, social workers, entrepreneurs, block club leaders, environmentalist, lawyers, clergy public health workers and retirees. From the GED to the PhD, every voice at those tables was listen to and affirmed. Together we made the decision to create a mental health and leadership support model that we deemed "culturally relevant, deeply personal and unapologetically focused on what Black from all walks of life felt be needed to give ourselves. The late Audre Lorde reminded us that, " The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House". Therefore EWI is seeking funding to continue the work of "dismantling" the effects that systemic racism has had on Black women.
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Grant Recipient
Live Free Chicago
Live Free Chicago is requesting general operating support to strengthen and advance our organizing and advocacy efforts in Chicago and across Illinois. In 2016, the city of Chicago lost 762 lives due to gun violence. Over 80% of the victims were Black men and women. Church leaders in Chicago were deeply pained by the growing number of funerals of young people in their communities and were frustrated with the absolute absence of a coordinated strategy by city leaders and their own faith community. In addition to gun violence, black communities continue to suffer from divestment, over-policing, and criminalization of black bodies, and other forms of structural violence. This drove them to help found Live Free Chicago in March of 2017. Live Free’s goal is to end all forms of violence against black people, specifically mass incarceration, gun and police violence.
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Grant Recipient
Rush University Medical Center
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Grant Recipient
DEEPLY ROOTED PRODUCTIONS
Requested funds will help Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (DRDT) strengthen and expand its organizational infrastructure, programming, and impact in the coming year. This will include the company’s important progress toward a full-time company and staff of equitably compensated employees, the development of a South Side Center for Black Dance and Creative Communities, and a significant expansion of programming on the South Side.
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Grant Recipient
New LIfe K.N.E.W. Solutions Mental Health Community Center
New Life Knew Solutions is a minority-owned and operated Community Mental Health Center established in 2019. NLKS's current client population is 90% comprised of the target demographic for this funding opportunity. Treating individuals and families desiring therapeutic services is an investment in Chicago's Westside neighborhoods. Operational funding through the Mental Health Strategy will support the need for accessible mental health services while addressing the challenges. Challenges include inadequate numbers of Licensed practitioners who specialize in Cognitive Behavioral, Expressive Art, Behavioral Health, and Emotionally Focused therapies and a lack of online access for people seeking treatment.
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Grant Recipient
PROJECT EDUCATION PLUS
Project Education Plus is looking to continue our expanded, exemplary programs that benefit students’ grades K-12. Our program demographic includes 75% African American children who come from low-income residences such as Near North Cabrini-Green, and West Town. We also service 10% white, 10% Hispanic, 5% Asian, American Indian, and other nationalities. PEP's request will be used to fulfill the goals and objective of these educational services that help combat anger, frustration, and negative attitudes while encouraging positive outlooks. Our educational services consist of mentoring, after school activities, STEM, and high school tutoring/e-tutoring. Baseball was added to our program as of last year and has essentially become an extension to our after school program; the students who attend our after school program are also active members of the baseball team. These expanded programs are helping us revert back to pre-covid operations.