Advancing Equity Recap: A Three-Part Series Exploring the Homeownership Gap
In May, the Trust completed a three-part series on the homeownership gap as part of Advancing Equity, an ideas exchange that brings together various stakeholders…
Grants
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Our Grant Making 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
Founders First Community Development Corporation Inc
Founders First CDC (FFCDC) is a community development organization and small business accelerator addressing the huge disparity in revenue and job growth by small businesses led by underrepresented owners. We work with community partners to help minorities, women and veteran-owned businesses grow their businesses and impact the economy through job growth. Seasoned professionals provide one-on-one mentoring, skills training, and an established curriculum to help participants build a customized growth and funding plan. FFCDC programs conclude with competitive pitch presentations with professional judges, allowing business owners to showcase their growth plans and advance to a higher level of support and resources.
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Grant Recipient
The Chicago Community Foundation/Elevated Chicago
Elevated Chicago is a collaboration that unlocks the potential of transit stations to connect people and attract development that is racially equitable in terms of climate resilience, and health and cultural indicators. In partnership with local community-based organizations, Elevated Chicago seeks to turn the 1/2-mile radius around transit stations into community-focused centers of commerce and culture by: removing barriers that hinder innovation near station areas; equipping residents with resources to make these areas a community and civic priority; and aligning, cultivating, and deploying capital for development near transit stations, to become areas where the built environment and programming converge to create nodes of connection and opportunity.
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Grant Recipient
North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council
The North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council (NLCCC) is an organizing and planning body for the North Lawndale community led by and for residents and deep stakeholders. We have created a comprehensive Quality of Life Plan that we are now implementing – catalyzing neighborhood investment in support of the projects and capital developments as planned by and for residents so we all may participate more fully in the region’s prosperity. Funds requested here would support operations of the NLCCC, convenings, organizing efforts, and specifically our economic development committee and programs provided by NLCCC member and fiscal agent New Covenant Community Development Corporation to support local entrepreneurs, locally owned and Black-owned businesses, and development of our commercial corridors.
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Grant Recipient
Chicago Community Foundation
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Grant Recipient
Human Vaccines Project Inc
The HVP Born Strong Initiative aims to understand and influence the trajectory of a baby’s health for life by strengthening the mother’s immune system to positively impact the baby’s. The initiative is a global research project that uses recent advances in systems biology and artificial intelligence to revolutionize our understanding of maternal-fetal-newborn immunity. We want to make sure healthy happens before birth, so all children everywhere are born strong.
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Grant Recipient
The Chicago Community Foundation/Connecting Capital & Community
This initiative is designed to grow and support the number of voucher participants that can achieve homeownership through the CHA's Choose to Own Homeownership program
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Grant Recipient
UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
Funding is requested to support the general operations of the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, an alliance of companies working to reduce racial and economic inequities through the power of their business practices. Members of the Corporate Coalition challenge business as usual and identify and implement new ways to deploy their capital, capabilities, and employee enthusiasm to help build a thriving Chicago region where assets and opportunities are more equitably shared. Members of the Corporate Coalition share a vision of a corporate culture in Chicago where leaders understand that reducing inequities is essential to their business success and to a thriving regional economy, leading them to challenge business as usual in the way they invest, operate, and govern. Funding will support the Corporate Coalition in its three main areas of work: 1. Developing and supporting joint initiatives (e.g., the Corporate Connector, EPIC Fund, second chance hiring) where companies work together to change business practices 2. Public communications, to catalyze a conversation about challenging business as usual to create a more equitable region 3. Sharing of innovative practices across firms Funding will also support the Coalition in retention of an impact assessment and learning partner, an important step in the Coalition’s maturation.
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Grant Recipient
SISTERS IN CINEMA
With support of the Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment, Sisters in Cinema will work to develop and advance a set of targeted capacity building efforts to strengthen our ability to advance our mission and to further a shared vision for a thriving South Side. We will work with the Community Programs Accelerator (CPA) who will provide formal capacity building counsel to assist us in driving forward the development and advancement of key priorities. Sisters in Cinema will build on the work completed in the first year of the program with the CPA. In year one we focused on Operational Plan Design including policies and procedures necessary to effectively run the new Media Arts Center. In year two we will shift to Operational Plan Implementation. We will also conduction an evaluation of the policies and procedures created in year one that were theoretical in nature because the Media Arts Center was still under construction. We will work toward effectively fine-tuning policies and procedures based upon what we learn from practical application. In year one our goal was to work on Program Design and implementation created in collaboration with community members to create new and strengthen current programs serving needs determined by the community. We hosted focus groups with creative organizations, businesses, artists and activists and also implemented a community survey. Since the Media Arts Center is still under construction we have not been able to implement what we have learned from the community. In year two we will begin the Implementation process working with the community in terms of creating community inspired programming at the Media Arts Center.