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
League of Black Women
The League of Black Women (LBW) has founded an Entrepreneurship Accelerator and Incubator Institute (EAII) as a program to close the funding gap for Black women-owned companies in the manufacturing space with a specific focus on acquiring and/or expanding existing firms. Studies have shown that the success rate of entrepreneurs that acquire companies is much higher than those that pursue the startup route. Moreover, the skill sets honed in the corporate sector are more compatible and applicable to acquiring and expanding existing operating companies. Therefore, EAII will design and study the feasibility of expanding the size and accelerating the growth curve of existing businesses and future businesses started and owned by Black women. We will also create the metrics to measure the improved outcomes of businesses owned by Black women as evidenced by growth, hiring, and increased wealth of ownership. The focus of the EAII is growth of businesses started by Black women. The EAII should provide both new and existing compatible businesses with an environment that supports their growth from small to mid-sized business, increase their likelihood of success, and increase their likelihood to grow employment with workers from the surrounding community.
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Grant Recipient
YOUNG INVINCIBLES
Since 2018, the Chicago chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Young Invincibles (YI) have been statewide leaders on advocacy and programming to transform the way Illinois’ colleges and universities support student mental health.
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Grant Recipient
McHenry County College
MCC's Center for Agrarian Learning and its Entrepreneurial Agriculture degree program will support the local food economy through increased focus on innovative land access models, farm product mix, and intern/mentor relationships. Curriculum enhancements and stand-alone educational intensives will be developed and delivered along these three focus areas.
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Grant Recipient
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) operates a technical assistance program for northeastern Illinois comprising the seven counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will and 284 municipalities. In 2020, CMAP created a suite of technical assistance projects to offer training and boots-on-the-ground support to local governments throughout the region. Projects developed under this program had a personalized, practical approach to boosting the ability of local communities to engage in planning, leverage resources, and execute projects. CMAP requests support to expand the scope of services provided with the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and Grant Readiness technical assistance offerings to include non-transportation grants and infrastructure improvements, as current funding sources preclude such considerations. These offerings would be targeted to historically disadvantaged communities of color in the south and near west suburbs of Cook County. Additionally, the CIP project will include an enhanced equitable engagement activity with resident stakeholders that are historically underrepresented in these types of processes.
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Grant Recipient
Enlace Chicago
Enlace will continue to support young adults in community-based settings in pursuing community college degrees – with a specific focus on the three City Colleges most often attended by Little Village students – through the facilitation Equity Response Teams, the Peer Mentor Program and Future Forward. These initiatives are specifically tailored to build on the strengths and community cultural wealth of Little Village students and their families, and to address the specific challenges that they face in getting to and through college. Through Equity Response Teams at each partnering city college institution, changes will be made to the policies and procedures currently in place in admissions, enrollment, financial aid, student services, and curriculum and instruction. With appropriate institutional changes and the type of community-based engagement and support that Future Forward and Peer Mentor Program provide, students will be supported in their postsecondary pathways, be able to access resources, and be on track to re-enroll, transfer or graduate.
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Grant Recipient
Basils Harvest
Basil’s Harvest seeks a renewal grant to support the RAH initiative to build a procurement process in the Chicago Foodshed, expand soil health research, support communication along the supply chain system.
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Grant Recipient
Inner-City Computer Stars Foundation
i.c.stars respectfully requests $150,000 from Bridges to Brighter Futures. Funding will support: 1) Expanded technology job skills program including career support, credentialing, mentorship, counseling, and case management for 75 Chicago participants; 2) Strengthened staff capacity and deepened employer relationships; and 3) Enhanced alumni resources. i.c.stars serves young adults without a formal education, who have the systems thinking and resiliency to thrive in technology careers. This year, our goal is to expand from 20 to 25 participants per cohort, serving approximately 70-75 participants during the year. We are increasing participant stipends from $200/week to $210/week. Program delivery will be hybrid, with in-person learning Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Cycle 51 will run August - December 2022 with participants responding to a business challenge from software firm Paylocity, a former project sponsor and employer. Cycle 52 will run January 2023 - April 2023 with United Airlines, a first-time project sponsor and employer. Cycle 53 will run May - Aug 2023 with Medline Industries, a former project sponsor and employer. Wraparound support will include trauma-informed counseling and case management, with connection to health care providers, childcare support, Internet access, housing aid, transportation assistance, and pro bono legal aid. We are strengthening the Residency Program, the 20 months of support following the bootcamp. In addition to access to career coaching, higher education counseling, continued wraparound support and networking, we are adding more industry certifications with sponsored exams as well as additional wellness and support. This also includes activities led by the Workforce Development Director to promote nontraditional talent, and to coach and work with employers in support of higher wages. In support of these efforts, we are also enhancing our data collection and discovery of specialized training opportunities, among other activities. The grant will also promote enhanced staff capacity including a Vice President of Learning role and a Chicago Managing Director role, which together will strengthen program delivery and help us grow in Chicago. A Chicago Program Fellow role will help distribute the workload, supporting staff retention. Finally, the grant will enable deepened employer relationships, in support of increased job placement and retention outcomes for i.c.stars alumni. This work is tied to our i.c.culture and Teacher’s Bureau initiatives, and will help ensure that placed graduates and other nontraditional talent at partner firms are met with inclusive practices, as well as that employers are working towards improving DE&I efforts to attract and retain talent.
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Grant Recipient
Network for Young Adult Success
UtmostU, a post-secondary success program operated by the Network for Young Adult Success, empowers young adults from low-income backgrounds to realize their educational and professional aspirations by supporting them as they earn college degrees, certifications, and launch their careers. The Bridges to Success - 2022 initiative will utilize our post-secondary coaching model to support 125 students in the City Colleges of Chicago system. Our program will ensure that young adults from under-resourced Chicago neighborhoods have the tools and guidance to earn degrees and attain careers of their choosing. Through a combination of strong partnerships, structured student interactions, and the use of technology, Bridges to Success - 2022 will continue to have a city-wide economic and social impact.