Priorities – Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment
Addressing the wealth gap at the neighborhood level through more investment in community-led revitalization.
Build a Foundation
The Trust supports baseline activities for investment, including various flexible funding opportunities to meet the needs of Black and Latinx community organizations, who are responsible for progress but typically face funding constraints.
Priorities
Flexible Funding to provide small- and medium-sized organizations with general operating support, capacity-building resources, and dollars to cover the costs of collaboration
- Funding Opportunities: Flexible Funding Program
Backbone funding for coalitions, consortia, and other collaborative structures with neighborhood investment agendas
Recent funding:
Leadership development for individuals innovating on collaborative community-driven investment
- Funding priority in development—check back for updates.
Pathways for private sector investment in disinvested majority-Black and Latinx communities
- Funding Opportunities: Pre-Development Fund
Recent funding:
- Chicago Emerging Minority Developers Initiative
- Chicagoland Opportunity Zones Consortium
- Community Desk Chicago
- Corporate Coalition of Chicago
Take Collective Action
Community stakeholders often come together to solve problems and pursue opportunities, from imagining a new use for a vacant building to revitalizing a commercial corridor. No matter the project, collaborative planning can be a complex process that requires time, resources, and coordination. The Trust supports a variety of planning solutions for guiding community investment.
Priorities
Creation and implementation of place-based and issue-area plans and initiatives that advance neighborhood investment goals
- Funding Opportunities: Open Call for Ideas
Recent funding:
- Far South Quality of Life planning
- We Will Chicago planning
Creative use of community assets that serve as catalysts for neighborhood investment
- Funding Opportunities: Open Call for Ideas
Recent funding:
Change Systems
Even the best-laid plans for neighborhood investment will falter on implementation without the fuel of financial capital or a supportive policy environment. The stakes are especially high in disinvested communities where financial capital investment—specifically, private capital—pales in comparison to affluent communities. The Trust supports finance and policy solutions that effect systemic change.
Priorities
Finance and development tools that facilitate neighborhood investment
Funding Opportunities:
- Open Call for Ideas
- Pre-Development Fund
Recent funding:
- Community Investment Vehicles
- Chicago Cityscape Scavenger Sale Portal
- Southland Development Authority
Community-driven investment policy solutions
- Funding Opportunities: Open Call for Ideas
Recent funding:
How You Can Take Action
Interested in learning more or partnering with us?
Please contact Christen Wiggins, Interim Senior Director of Community Impact, at cwiggins@cct.org, or Adele Nandan, Interim Director of Resource Development, at anandan@cct.org.