Unity Fund: A Look at Impact in 2025
The Chicago Community Trust’s Unity Fund is a testament to the power of collective giving. Since its founding in 2008 at the height…
Stories
Spotlights on community issues, the people, and the organizations who contribute to effective philanthropy as well as a stronger Chicago region and world.
Recent Stories
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Financial Health in Cook County: Why it Matters and How Policy Impacts Financial Well-Being
In 2025, The Chicago Community Trust, with support from JPMorganChase, commissioned the Financial Health Network to update the findings of its Financial Health…
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Responding to Chicago’s Urgent Needs in 2025
As the region’s community foundation, The Chicago Community Trust exists to respond to the needs of our region and the people who call…
All Stories
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Our Journey to Acknowledge the Ancestral Homeland of Our New Office
As part of our move to our new office at 33 South State Street, The Chicago Community Trust worked with Starla Thompson, an Indigenous scholar,…
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Alberto Morales on Mobilizing the Latinx Community – and Ensuring the Next Generation Thrives
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), the Trust is featuring a series of conversations with Latinx philanthropists and leaders who…
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Rethinking What It Means to Be Civically Engaged
Every single one of us participates in public life—whether you’re reporting a pothole on the city’s 311 app, attending Ward night, or volunteering at the…
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Virginia Oviedo on the Power of Uniting to Advance Community
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), the Trust is featuring a series of conversations with Latinx philanthropists and leaders who…
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An Early Boost Gives Community Developers a Huge Leg Up
How an innovative Trust grant program helps neighborhood visions for growth become reality The Chicago Community Trust believes all Chicago neighborhoods are assets, each one…
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Moving Equitable Development to the Front of the Bus: ETOD as Policy in Chicago
I like to call myself a product of the public transportation system. My hometown, a mid-size city in the north of Spain, runs a network…
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Selling Distress: How the Tax Foreclosure System Exacerbates Disinvestment in Cook County Communities
Following a comprehensive study of the Scavenger Sale, a national multi-jurisdiction analysis offers communities a roadmap for improvement. Property taxes are the largest source of…
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NatureConnections: The Legacy of Ellen Thorne and Hermon Dunlap Smith
In the late 1980s, the Chicago Public Library collaborated with a network of zoos, museums, and science centers throughout Chicago to design a groundbreaking collection…
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Trust Talks, The Podcast - Episode 8: Building Neighborhood Wealth w/ Community Investment Vehicles
In this episode of the Trust Talks podcast, learn about what Community Investment Vehicles (CIVs) are and the wealth building opportunities they could create for neighborhoods…
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Let’s Work Together Now to Close Chicago’s Racial and Ethnic Wealth Gap
For over a century, the Trust has partnered with donors, nonprofits, and other stakeholders to strengthen the Chicago region. If you think about it, that’s…
