More Than a Paycheck: What It Takes to Get Ahead
Two days before my brother’s 10th birthday, my family was on the brink of bankruptcy. My parents’ small business hadn’t hit its growth…
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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Trust Talks, The Podcast – Episode 27: Fueling Small Business Growth in Chicago
Small businesses are essential to stabilizing neighborhood economies. They create jobs, activate commercial corridors, and provide the goods and services that help communities…
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“Can I Invest in Community to Do Good?” Samuel Muñeton Jr. Shows Us How.
For Samuel Muñeton Jr., his philanthropy has come full circle. In his youth, Sam benefited directly from mentors and others in his community…
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Giving a Voice to Children in Foster Care
Almost 18,000 children are in foster care in Illinois. Many of these youth face a challenging and disrupted childhood, as they are placed in a…
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Fifty Years Later, Chicago Pastor Continues MLK's Local Legacy
On August 5, 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a diverse group of 700 civil rights activists, religious leaders and courageous community members marched…
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Setting Tables Across America for Community Conversation
Since On the Table debuted in 2014, thousands of people from across the Chicago region have gathered to forge new relationships and foster fresh discussions about making…
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Remembering a Son, and a Community of Compassion
In the early 1980s, Tom Graziano and his wife adopted a baby boy named John. John was constantly sick, but his doctors were never able…
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Fighting Homelessness for a New LGBTQ Generation
Hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer young people in Chicago have no place to stay tonight. Longtime activist Richard Turner is helping to…
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Remixing the Art of Protest
“How can we conduct ourselves in this space in a way that is counter to all of what is oppressive outside of this space?” [pullquote]At…
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My High School: Diverse, Enriching, Unpredictable
I was definitely not planning on attending Roosevelt when I was an eighth grader at Palmer Elementary. As a kid on the north side of…
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My High School: Creative, Inclusive, Challenging
I grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia and went to Stone Mountain Middle School. Once I started sixth grade, I immediately joined the band and…
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Evidence-Based Parenting Classes Reach Families Who Can Benefit Most
“My mom is different, and now we do more things together.” Across Chicago, parents of high-risk youth are building their parenting skills—and words like these…
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A Former Gang Member Finds New Power in Politics
Berto Aguayo is days away from graduating Dominican University summa cum laude. Aguayo sounds confident, certain. Happiness and hope resound in his voice; possibility and…
