Resilient Chicago Fund

A collaborative philanthropic initiative supporting nonprofits and government agencies to meet communities’ needs for food, shelter, safety and healthcare while building a stronger social safety net for tomorrow.

A mural on a metal loading dock door says Chicago in vibrant blue and red type.

Supporting Innovation for Basic Needs

In Chicago and Cook County, organizations providing basic human needs—including food, shelter, healthcare and safety—are facing federal policy and funding uncertainty, rising demand for services, and increasingly complex rules. Nonprofit organizations and public agencies are stepping up to continue delivering essential benefits and services while adapting to a changing landscape.

The region’s safety net has long been strained in ways that hindered effective, dignified, people-centered service delivery. Recent changes have only heightened those pressures—and created an opening to rethink and redesign what the system could be. Nonprofits and public agencies bring deep expertise, trust and understanding of how the system works. What they often lack is dedicated time and resources to step back, reimagine long-term solutions, and design and test new models.

What is the Resilient Chicago Fund?

Resilient Chicago Fund is a collaborative philanthropic initiative created to support innovation for basic human needs. Co-chaired by The Chicago Community Trust and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the fund is guided by a Steering Committee comprised of multiple philanthropic partners.

In summer 2026, following an open call that closed in the spring, RCF will award a number of “test and learn” grants. These grants will enable nonprofits and government partners to team up and work with a design coach over roughly six months to refine new models for improving how essential services and benefits are delivered within the food, shelter, healthcare and safety systems. The coaching process is designed to meet organizations where they are, whether developing an early concept or refining a plan that is further along.

What We Mean By Innovation

Innovative ideas are:

desired by and work for the people who rely on them.
realistic to implement among partners or within government.
on a path to sustainable funding beyond a single philanthropic source.
positioned for adoption by actors responsible for delivering them.

Strengthening Our Social Safety Net for Today and the Future

Rising needs for public benefits and services have coincided with changing regulations and reduced funding. The time is now to strengthen the region’s basic human needs systems.

Up to 250,000 Chicagoans are at risk of losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits since new rules requiring many more SNAP recipients to work, participate in workforce training, or volunteer took effect February 1, 2026. People who may need assistance meeting new requirements include those with chronic health conditions and caregivers, older adults who have been out of the workforce for some time, people struggling to find stable jobs that match their skillset, people with unreliable transportation, and people who need help completing paperwork.
Calls to Chicago’s 211 show a 45 percent increase in requests for food pantry assistance in the first quarter of 2026 versus the first quarter of 2025.
Up to 700,000 Illinois residents could lose Medicaid benefits by 2028 due to federal funding and policy changes in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act approved by Congress in 2025. Medicaid covers some 3.4 million Illinoisans and pays for approximately 40 percent of childbirths and 69 percent of all nursing home care in Illinois.
When people lose SNAP benefits and Medicaid, it affects the entire region. For example, SNAP supports 9,400 retailers in Cook County, and every dollar spent on SNAP creates $1.50 in economic opportunity for local retailers, food producers and farmers. Medicaid coverage encourages people to seek preventative care, preventing costly emergency care and hospitalizations that drive up healthcare costs for everyone.