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
-
The Music Mentor Teaching Steel Drums on the South Side
Julian Champion remembers that when he was around age 7, he had one burning desire—to play a musical instrument. The young boy would accompany his…
-
Listening to Someone's Story, Hearing Someone's Soul
“When someone is being listened to in a really serious way, it reminds them that their story matters. And how much their lives matter.” Storytelling…
-
Anti-Violence Program Connects Police and Teens – Behind Bars
An On the Table discussion at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in May 2014, where young residents shared their hopes and frustrations, led…
-
Changing the Future for 'Anybody Else's Father, Anybody Else's Son'
“They would ask me in school, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I didn’t say a doctor, a teacher, or a…
-
Honoring Greatness Beyond Grants: The James Brown IV Awards
For more three decades, the James Brown IV Award for Outstanding Community Service recognized some of Chicago’s most significant nonprofit organizations. [pullquote]From 1973 to 2005,…
-
How Great Events Connect Us with Our Place, Our Past, and Each Other
When I first started to share my concept of a community conversation about our region, friends and colleagues responded, “Don’t we do this every day?”…
-
For Chicago's 'Forgotten Kids', Arts Education Builds Skills to Succeed
For youth involved in the criminal justice system, a better future depends on improving their social and emotional learning skills—skills like conflict resolution, career readiness…
-
For Families Fighting Cancer, Restaurant Meals Nourish Body and Spirit
Courtney White is proof that devastating moments in our lives can sometimes inspire great ideas. White is the founder of Culinary Care, a nonprofit organization…
-
The Man Behind the Bank Behind the Trust
In 1914 officers of the Harris Trust and Savings Bank were given a fascinating new document by Albert W. Harris. The document was a copy of the…
-
How the Act of Listening Connects a Divided City
“It’s impossible not to love someone whose story you have heard.” The beloved children’s TV host Mister Rogers carried that quote in his wallet, to…
