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
Allies for Community Business
A4CB intends to offer revenue-based financing to diverse Cook County entrepreneurs with high growth potential. We will leverage a $1M loan loss reserve grant from the Trust with $5M of loan capital. This loan loss reserve grant is crucial to our ability to offer this financing in an economically prudent manner. Within the first year after receiving the loan loss reserve grant, we intend to lend $5M to approximately 40 businesses (assuming $125K per loan) with a maximum repayment term of five years. We will provide intensive business coaching to these entrepreneurs throughout the five-year repayment period and beyond. If each business grows to four employees on average (in addition to the founder) after putting this growth capital to use, we expect to directly impact the lives of at least 200 people who would earn at least $30M in wages over five years. In addition, all funds successfully repaid will be relent to additional diverse entrepreneurs in Cook County, which means that an ever-growing number of people will be directly impacted for years until the $1M reserve has been exhausted by charge offs at some point in the distant future. We believe that this offering will help entrepreneurs achieve three objectives: reach whatever goals the entrepreneurs establish for themselves at the time of borrowing, create new wealth in the form of increased profits retained and wages paid, and create new jobs. If we succeed, this model could be expanded to a far greater number of diverse entrepreneurs in Cook County and could be shared with peers who wish to provide similarly structured growth capital nationwide.
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Grant Recipient
OTV OPEN TELEVISION INC
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Grant Recipient
FOLDED MAP PROJECT
This purpose of this application is to secure general operating funds that will allow Folded Map to solidify its organizational (infra)structure, and thereby position itself to expand the impact of its work. Folded Map’s mission is to be a resident-, advocacy-, and policy-influencing tool inviting audiences to open a dialogue and question how we are all impacted by racial and institutional conditions segregating the city. Together, our projects seek to (1) increase connections, community building, and empathy among students and residents of segregated Chicago across the racial/spatial divide; (2) increase understanding of the structural causes and consequences of a segregated and inequitable Chicago; and (3) catalyze action.
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Grant Recipient
Firehouse Dream Inc
The Firehouse Dream’s Community Mental Health initiatives decrease stigma and increase access to mental health resources in Proviso Township to proactively address the growing mental health crisis that has claimed the lives of several young people in recent years. Funding would go toward mental health workshops, group therapy, pop-up educational events, personal kits, and individual therapy for BIPOC youth. The estimated cost of these activities is about $137,000 a year.
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Grant Recipient
Dion's Chicago Dream Inc NFP
We are seeking this grant to expand our signature program, Dream Deliveries, to bring a year’s worth of food security to an additional 80 households. Dream Deliveries offers fresh produce straight to the doorstep of the food insecure Chicagoland residents it serves. Dream Deliveries provides families with five days’ worth of healthy food options for consumption every week at no cost. Our customers help us choose what fruits and vegetables are in the boxes. We combine our commitment to care with a state-of-the-art logistics operation that allows us to hit as many households as possible in each delivery run. We hire from the community, and we own our own vehicles.
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Grant Recipient
Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council NFP
The Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI) is seeking continued support to deepen our work with institutions to improve their procurement processes, provide support to food producers to access these institutional opportunities, and build a good food culture across all community anchor institutions in the Chicago region.
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Grant Recipient
Real Men Charities, Inc.
For over 30 years, Real Men Charities, Inc. (RMC) has been a force and advocate for minority males (particularly African Americans) to help debunk the myth that men are not standing up for their families, our children, and communities. Real Men Charities, Inc. has presented many community forums to support father engagement, restorative justice, health and wellness, and Peace & Possibility pavilions and discussions. Additionally, it runs and operates the Quarry Event Center of Chicago to bring arts and live entertainment to the communities we serve. Additionally, RMC designs, edits, and publishes The South Side Drive magazine, which reaches over 34,000 people through its distributorship. The organization’s mission is Building Healthy Families & Communities. The magazine is designed to be a catalyst for economic development, reflecting a truthful image and examples that demonstrate the art of living. We seek to share the good news about Chicago’s south side and Black culture while serving as the "Guide to the Good Life" in our city. We are 'keepers of the culture' by presenting the voices of the people who are often disenfranchised, marginalized, and undervalued. This magazine captures the essence of the beauty of Black culture, business, health, and lifestyles. RMC seeks a grant award to build capacity, circulation, and a strong digital platform.
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Grant Recipient
Green City Market
Green City Market (GCM) requests a $100,000 grant to continue its work increasing the visibility of the local food sector in Chicago while improving the efficiency of the local food businesses run by GCM farmers and food producers.