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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The Eternal Challenge of Ensuring Your Wishes Live on After You Are Gone
Mortmain (the French word for “dead hand”) represents the danger of unintended consequences in a will or estate plan. A serious dilemma occurs for trustees…
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Maynard J. and Elinor S. Marks Led Support for the Elderly
Maynard J. and Elinor S. Marks were compassionate advocates and supporters for the elderly. Issues such as the shortage of nursing care led them to…
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The Trust Shifts its Focus to Healthcare
Dr. Lowell T. Coggeshall helped the Trust shift its focus to healthcare during the 1960s. Dr. Coggeshall served for three decades as the Trust’s medical…
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The Trust Receives a Saloon
Before he became its first executive director, Frank Loomis gave the Trust a unique gift: a saloon. Trust chair Clifford Barnes first met Loomis while…
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The Searles Are Making a Better Future
John G. Searle felt that personal success created an obligation to help others. Inherited from his father, Gideon Daniel Searle, while it was still a…
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Inspiration in Practice: Barbara Austin Foote
In 1978 Barbara Austin Foote became the first woman to lead the Trust’s Executive Committee. The eldest daughter of Edwin C. Austin, the former legal…
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The Quiet and Patient Leader: Frank Loomis
Relief was the goal of early 20th century philanthropy. An annual report at the time described the Trust’s involvement as “community-wide humanitarian work” for residents…
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How One Man Revolutionized Market Research and Philanthropy
Great success in marketing research enabled Arthur C. Nielsen to pursue his philanthropic interests. By rethinking the practices of audience monitoring and measurement more scientifically,…
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Trust's First Social Survey Reflected Turmoil in Chicago
In the 1920s, “Americanization” was the catch-all phrase used to describe efforts to assimilate immigrants into the American way of life, narrowly defined by the…
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A Coal Magnate’s Charitable Legacy: More Transparent Foundations
As chair of the Sahara Coal Company and trustee of the Woods Charitable Fund, Inc., Frank H. Woods combined his business interests with his philanthropic…
