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
NIJC NFP
In April 2024, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) relaunched as an independent 501c3 organization after 40 years of history as a program of Heartland Alliance. This transition ensures NIJC's sustainability and continued ability to advance justice for thousands of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. As part of this transition, NIJC has been strengthening its organizational infrastructure and back-office functions, such as information technology, finance and accounting, and human resources. NIJC seeks a $75,000 grant from The Chicago Community Trust to build our organizational capacity and infrastructure and ensure our continued health and sustainability.
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Grant Recipient
Chicagos Sunshine Enterprises Inc
Next Level Exchange (NLE)’s mission is to support BSOs and their client/entrepreneurs through high-quality, meaningful, and long-term mentoring relationships with established business owners, executives, and professionals; networking opportunities; and ongoing business education. NLE is a collaboration comprised of Sunshine Enterprises (SE), the Chicago Urban League (CUL), the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), and Bruce Taylor (NLE co-founder and volunteer). Sunshine Enterprises is applying on behalf of Next Level Exchange for $75,000 to strengthen NLE programmatically and support its continued growth and expansion. Most notably in 2024, NLE will capitalize on the new capacity it has to grow with a dedicated, full-time NLE staff member helping with the coordination, effectiveness, and sustainability of the program. In 2023, NLE successfully recruited 40 new mentees, conducted 3 cohorts and 8 events (including workshops, town halls, networking events, mentor huddles, and a graduation), and added 11 new mentors. Mentee confidence in managing their business financials increased from 13% being very confident to 33% being very confident. We made significant progress in the NLE playbook implementation and enhancement, including getting helpful feedback from the Ecosystem Innovation Project (EIP) developed in conjunction with WBDC, Urban League, and The Coleman Center for Entrepreneurship at DePaul University. That input highlighted the importance of bringing on a full-time staff person before tackling new goals. As a result, many of the efforts in Q3 and Q4 of 2023 focused on establishing and aligning a job description for the NLE staff person role, then subsequently reviewing, screening, interviewing, and deliberating on candidates to find a great fit for the role. In mid-January we are excited to be extending an offer for that full-time staff person. During this upcoming grant period in 2024, NLE also plans to continue running 3 cohorts of the year-long mentoring program, serving 50 unique entrepreneurs; continue to host 7-8 events for current and past NLE participants; fundraise a budget of $207,000; continue to operationalize and enhance the NLE Playbook; develop a draft of an overarching NLE MOU; recruit and train 5 new female and/or BIPOC mentors to help the mentor pool further reflect our mentees’ lived experiences; and after onboarding and training a full-time NLE staff member, explore adding a fourth BSO partner to help execute the program and increase the number of entrepreneurs served. If additional funding allows, NLE also plans to hire a part-time NLE data analyst to perform program evaluation and data management and set up a basic CRM functionality to manage program participants and data.
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Grant Recipient
University of Chicago Urban Labs
Our organization is applying for additional funding to launch (In)Sights: PhotoVoice in the Chicago Resilient Communities, a PhotoVoice exhibition that captures the impact of the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot through participants’ own photography and captions. The exhibition launch at the Harold Washington Public Library will aim for 200 guests and target elected officials who are not yet supporters of guaranteed income in order to shift the narrative around unconditional cash assistance. After a monthlong residency, the PhotoVoice exhibit will travel to other Chicago Public Library branches on the North, South, and West sides of Chicago in the fall of 2024 and will be permanently displayed through a microsite on the Inclusive Economy Lab website
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Grant Recipient
Window To the World Communications Inc
WTTW respectfully requests The Chicago Community Trust’s consideration of a renewed grant of $125,000 for general operating support, including WTTW News—which provides trusted, fact-based journalism that is inclusive and reflective of diverse voices within the Chicago region.
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Grant Recipient
Fresh Taste
Fresh Taste, a collaborative funder initiative, was conceived as a catalytic process that systemically changes the way food is produced and consumed in the Chicago region to promote healthy land, healthy people, and healthy communities. Fresh Taste also manages the Chicago Region Food System Fund, Austin Fresh, North Lawndale Fresh and Midwest Regenerative Agriculture Fund.
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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 growers to access these institutional opportunities, and ensure the consistent application of the good food goals of fair wages, sustainable practices, and equitable access.
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Grant Recipient
FAITH IN PLACE
Faith in Place’s “Engaging Faith Communities to Advance the Local Food System” project builds on our work to 1) sustain, strengthen, and expand our Congregation-Supported Agriculture (CSA) sustainable farm network and 2) expand the impact of our Community Incubator Kitchen pilot project at Greater St. John Bible Church in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood by assisting Stone Temple Missionary Baptist Church, in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, secure shared kitchen licensing for their kitchen. Grant period activities include 1) continue to provide technical assistance, mentoring, and access to resources for our 7 existing CSA program farm partners; 2) community outreach to explore adding more faith-based sustainable farms to our CSA network; 3) provide technical assistance, mentoring, and related support to the Community Incubator Kitchen project team at Greater St. John Bible Church as they ramp up shared kitchen operations to serve the public; 4) provide technical assistance to guide Stone Temple Missionary Baptist Church through the process of securing shared kitchen licensing for their facility; and 5) education and advocacy engagement with policymakers to remedy policies detrimental to CSA farm operations and to launching Community Incubator Kitchens at houses of worship.
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Grant Recipient
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT)
FACT launched the Fund-a-Farmer Grants Program in 2012 in response to a clear need among humane livestock and poultry farmers for capital in order to transition from conventional to pasture-based systems. There are very few resources available for small and mid-size farmers who want to make this transition. The need for this support has only grown since then. After more than a decade of grantmaking, there is no doubt that our Fund-a-Farmer Grants are significantly benefiting farmer livelihood, animal welfare, and environmental health. We at FACT believe that partnering with - and investing in - humane farmers is one of the best ways to make a difference in the lives of food-producing animals. We trust that the innovative, ethical farmers in our ever-expanding network know what is best for their land, animals and communities. Surveys from past grant recipients show that these grants have a lasting effect on the success of farm businesses and the welfare of animals. In the spring of 2024 FACT awarded a total of $251,011 to 87 farms throughout the US. Thanks to the FLO grant, 19 of those grants totaling $54,857 went to farmers located in 5 states focusing on the Chicago area market: Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. The renewal of this FLO grant at a higher level will enable us to expand the funds allocated to farms that market their products within the greater Chicago area.