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
The Conservation Fund
This application seeks operational funding to expand capacity of the Working Farms Fund program in metro Chicago. The Working Farms Fund program is an innovative model to support a resilient regional food system by addressing farmland as a critical piece of supply chain infrastructure. Specifically designed to enable talented and diverse growers to scale production to meet institutional demand for local food, the Working Farms Fund protects critical at-risk farmland and offers a path to farmland ownership as the basis for business resiliency and intergenerational wealth creation.
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Grant Recipient
Alt Space Chicago
alt_ is an artist-led non-profit organization, based in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to revitalizing communities through art and culture. alt_ strives to spark dialogue and pioneer tangible acts of service using art and faith as tools that galvanize impassioned, self-sufficient communities. Founded as a collaboration between Jon Veal and Jordan Campbell, alt_ was a response to the trauma they witnessed in their community and their belief that art could be used as a resource for healing. The debut alt_ program, “Project Stamp”, was a free family photo day which attracted over 100 Austin residents. Project Stamp provided an opportunity for alt_ to collect powerful images of residents, learn about their experiences, and develop a deeper understanding of their individual and collective stories. Youth in the community were then recruited to assist in using the photographs for community beautification by “stamping” larger than life images on abandoned and boarded up buildings. Stamping the neighborhood with their own narrative and their own legacy led to continued dialogue, increased engagement and a rich archive of community history which alt_ has begun to use for continued planning and collective action. The initiative, funded by a grant through the Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities, became the model for future projects geared toward preparing youth and young adults to become leaders and advocates in their community. For example, alt_ Academy utilizes a creative placemaking pedagogy for youth entitled “Creating Live Art for the Youth (C.L.A.Y.)”. Through this initiative, alt_ guides youth in understanding how social and cultural environments impact the health, education, and vocational prospects of the community, while challenging them to develop their individual aspirations into concrete action. alt_ has also embarked on an ambitious initiative to serve as an incubator for workforce development. With a focus on young adults, projects like alt_ [b.i.n.] and Redemptive Plastics create job and training opportunities for the next generation of artists, visionaries and leaders seeking to positively disrupt their communities. This committment to the Austin community has resulted in over 100 youth receiving training using the C.L.A.Y. curriculum since 2019 and those youth reporting a change in their perceptions of how their own actions can create and sustain changes in the community. Many of those youth have gone on to serve as volunteers, advocates and create their own projects and initiatives aimed at community change.
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Grant Recipient
CARA PROGRAM
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Grant Recipient
Chicagos Sunshine Enterprises Inc
Next Level Exchange’s (NLE) vision is to be the central Chicago Area intersection of a growing community of diverse entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations offering entrepreneur support programs, and the established business community. Through these relationships, NLE will accelerate efforts to create an inclusive and growing business community that supports opportunity and wealth creation in often overlooked and under-resourced communities. Next Level Exchange’s mission is to support BSOs and their client/entrepreneurs through high-quality, meaningful, and long-term mentor relationships with established business owners, executives, and professionals; networking opportunities; and ongoing business education. Sunshine Enterprises is applying on behalf of the Next Level Exchange collaborative for $75,000 to grow the NLE program and prepare for it to scale over the next 3-5 years. The NLE collaborative also includes the Chicago Urban League (CUL), the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), and Bruce Taylor (NLE co-founder and volunteer). During the grant period NLE plans to run 3 cohorts of the year-long NLE mentoring program, serving 45 unique entrepreneurs; host 7-8 events (workshops, town halls, networking events, mentor huddles, and a graduation) for current and past NLE participants; refine and operationalize an NLE Playbook; fundraise a budget of $245K; bring on a full-time NLE staff member to coordinate and lead the NLE program; and after that staff is onboarded, explore options for adding a fourth BSO partner. Within five years NLE seeks to: - Grow the collaborative program to include 5 BSO's - Annually match 75 diverse entrepreneurs who have successfully completed an entrepreneurship training program at one of the NLE partner organizations with an experienced business professional - Provide ongoing support to all past and present participants in the program by delivering at least four workshops per year on topics of importance to business owners, a minimum of three networking events where meaningful connections can be made, and the opportunity to be matched with new mentors.
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Grant Recipient
MKB Business Strategies, LLC
MKB Business Strategies, LLC (MKB) mission is to build better communities by galvanizing community resources, residents, contractors, and developers. Our vision is to provide affordable homeownership opportunities to low-to-moderate families and individuals throughout the Chicagoland area. Our goal is to provide a standard of living that supports skills-based training, new career pathways, and an improved quality of life for underserved communities and low-to- moderate income families. The housing market in Chicago's African American, Latinx, and Hispanic inner city and south suburban communities is in dire need of investment and repair. The social impact we deliver is simply unmatched! We promote building a better community by enhancing neighborhood vitality. Our Heritage Pointe II project is designed to achieve just that - vitality and newer, more modern, and affordable housing options for working families in the East Garfield and Near West Side areas. On Tuesday, September 14, 2022, our team completed our groundbreaking ceremony to build 8 single-family homes for this project. The project is projected to be completed by August 2023. Dignitaries in attendance at our groundbreaking included: Alderwoman Emma Mitts, Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr., Community Investment Corporation (CIC), Brian O'Donnell of the City of Chicago's Department of Housing (DHD), and Representatives from the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. Our goal is to rebuild this community area with improved living, walking, and green spaces. Our Heritage Pointe II project is one of many to drive economic power throughout under-supported areas in Chicago. We are hyper-focused on building back better to develop stronger business corridors and communities in Chicago's hardest hit areas that not only survive, but thrive. With housing insecurity at an all- time high, especially in minority areas, we are ready, willing, and able to provide improvements to neighborhood infrastructure to better communities in dire need of construction improvements. Studies show there's more than 55,000 vacant homes in Cook County, MKB is the solution to a growing issue. This project will serve over 50 community residents and 8 working families. In aggregate, our serves helps thousands of Chicagoland residents annually. The Heritage Pointe II project is just the tip of the iceberg! We serve all facets of the community to proactively anticipate their needs and to improve their standard of living. For over a decade, our teams have been changing lives by developing, rehabbing, reselling and donating properties to low and moderate income families. Our established relationships with banks nationwide, city municipalities, and local governments has opened a segue for job creation of community residents and contract opportunities for contractors and small businesses. By utilizing our services, the community benefits from: safer communities with more curb appeal; increased possibilities for gainful employment; connections to community partners; more support from local businesses and national corporations; economic development opportunities, and more. This grant will assist with developer soft costs associated with the development of Heritage Pointe II. Overall the project budget for this opportunity is estimated at $1,941,660 and we are requesting $100,000. Help us create a better community for working families on Chicago's West Side!
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Grant Recipient
CENTER FOR DISABILITY AND ELDER LAW INC
Over the past three years, CDEL’s funding has grown, thanks to additional government funds from the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan funds from the state, county, and city. In 2022, CDEL received more than $500,000 from various government funders. Each new grant brought additional compliance issues and more intensive reporting, stretching the time and capabilities of the executive director and legal director. Meanwhile, CDEL's staff has doubled in size, and the additional human resource needs have also strained organization leadership. CDEL hired an operations manager in December 2022 to provide more support to the leadership team, but this role requires additional funding. A capacity building grant from CCT will enable CDEL to 1. configure its case management system (LegalServer) to better support compliance with government grants; 2. stay on top of changes in human resources with a membership to the Society for Human Resource Management; 3. train leadership staff on human resources and federal grant compliance; 4. cover grant writing costs associated with preparation and submission of large grant applications; 5. enable CDEL's outside bookkeeper to keep up with the number of vouchers CDEL must submit monthly or quarterly; and 6. cover a portion of the salary of the new operations manager.
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Grant Recipient
PLANT CHICAGO NFP
Plant Chicago is requesting support for our food access, markets, and indoor victory garden project. Collectively these activities support small food producers while at the same time ensure that low income residents have access to locally and sustainably produced food.
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Grant Recipient
Business Services Collective NFP
Business Services Collective was launched in 2019 as a shared ownership resource for the community of BIPOC construction firms in Chicagoland. We have aspired to be a cooperative since our ideation stage and to launch as a two-tiered coop co-owned by the businesses we serve and their workers. We successfully build a shared back office model using a 501c3 structure, now serving a network of more than 100 businesses. Based on our discussions with experts in the cooperative field, we now have the track record, model proof and community buy-in to advance a segment of our network into a tighter-knit community with a cooperative structure. We believe 2023 will be our preparatory year to launch our coop in 2024 and we are generating resources to get ready. We seek $20K towards hiring a cooperative expert who has set up a construction cooperative with a similar community in Houston, Texas and expressed interest in supporting us through early stage development of structure, governance, coop principles, membership design and member-owner rights and responsibilities.