Asian Giving Circle Awards $100,000 in its 2025 Grantmaking Cycle
Asian Giving Circle, an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust, is a grassroots philanthropic initiative uniting donor to make a greater collective impact…
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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African American Legacy Awards $615,000 in its 2025 Grantmaking Cycle
African American Legacy (AAL), an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust, unites donors committed to supporting the Black community in the Chicago region.…
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Strengthening Chicago’s Shared Ownership Ecosystem
For generations, Chicago’s neighborhoods have been shaped by the people who call them home. Historically, many communities like Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Little Village,…
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A Winter Hat Inspires Help for Chicago’s Homeless
“If you can’t feed a hundred people,” Mother Teresa once said, “then feed just one.” In feeding just one homeless man, 17-year-old Carlos Leon, a…
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Making Chicago Stronger, After ‘Operation Peter Pan’ Made it Her Home
Maria Bechily is keenly aware of how generosity transforms lives. In 1961, she immigrated to Chicago from Cuba as part of Operation Pedro Pan, an…
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Chamber Music in Your Home? It's On the House.
Music connects people in a way that sitting around a table for a dinner party can, but it’s even better when you can bring the…
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Volunteer Runners Help Homeless Chicagoans Take Their Next Steps
It’s just before dawn on a rainy morning on Chicago’s Near West Side where a group of men and women experiencing homelessness have gathered outside…
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For a Brighton Park Soccer Team, Determination Battles Inequality in New Documentary
In green team t-shirts and sweatshirts, the girls of Thomas Kelly High School’s soccer team filed into their school auditorium. But this time, they walked…
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Moms Join Forces to Build “Honeycomb” of Volunteers
On a road trip to visit their children at camp, Catherine Tannen and Kristina Lowenstein began brainstorming the idea that would become the Honeycomb Project.…
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Defying Media Messages About Girls of Color, a Mentor Helps Build Self-Worth
By her own admission, La’Keisha Gray-Sewell was a bit of a handful growing up. “I was the kid who was always fighting, who was always…
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Everyone Experiencing Culture Together: A Vision for Chicago's Arts Scene
If you don’t have a straightforward job, the ubiquitous “What do you do?” question can be a doozy. Being in the cultural accessibility field, it’s…
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Returning Home to Chicago, College Students Set an Example of Service
As a sophomore at Northern Illinois University, Randiss Hopkins looked around his first NIU Cares Day—an annual service event during which 1,000 students participate in…
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Seeking Refuge from War in Syria, Families Find a Home in Chicago
The violent civil war in Syria has driven more than 11 million people from their homes. While many have sought refuge in any European country…
