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
-
-
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…
-
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
-
Trust Helps Align Donors’ Giving with Their Values
During 2020, charitable giving rose five percent to a new all-time high, according to a recent report by Giving USA. Building on that momentum, the…
-
A Family’s Commitment to Serving Those Most in Need
One of the greatest challenges of philanthropy is how to address the most critical needs, especially in tough economic times. In 1984, donor Kathleen Busse…
-
Giving Insights: Unlocking the Value in Businesses to Fuel Philanthropic Passions
The past year-and-a-half has been a period of rapid innovation and transition for businesses. Despite myriad challenges, many companies have survived—and even thrived—during the pandemic.…
-
LGBTQ Community Fund Provides Critical Grant Making During the Pandemic
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the LGBTQ Community Fund provided its largest annual grant making total in 2020, awarding $813,000 in total grant…
-
2021: Coalitions for Equity in Wealth Policy Leverages Efforts to Address Inequity
The Chicago Community Trust launched the Coalitions for Equity in Wealth Policy funding strategy in 2020 just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.…
-
COVID Recovery: What We Need to Set Us Up for Future Success
There is so much we can learn from a crisis. Crises reveal the weaknesses in our systems, but they also have a way of augmenting…
-
2021: Protecting & Advancing Equitable Homeownership
The Chicago Community Trust is committed to closing the Chicago region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap and increasing the share of economic prosperity for Black…
-
Bi-Directional Feedback Leads to Systems & Policy Innovations
Investing in people is a winning strategy. For over 100 years, The Chicago Community Trust has partnered with local nonprofit organizations to address the most…
-
Strengthening the Affordable Housing Ordinance to Address Chicago’s Affordable Housing Crisis
On April 21, the Chicago City Council voted to revise the Affordable Requirements Ordinance to encourage the production of more affordable family-sized housing units, expand…
-
2021 Q2 Grants Support Policy and Systems Change, Community Engagement
As the Trust pursues its moonshot goal of closing the region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap, it is clear that discriminatory policies and systems helped…
