Trusted Voices: Reimagining How We Meet Critical Needs

Across the region, households are struggling to make ends meet amid rising costs, changes in federal policies and social service programs, and funding uncertainty.

These shifts also mean that the nonprofits and public agencies that serve our most vulnerable neighbors are shouldering more responsibility with fewer resources. Calls to Chicago’s 211 show a 45 percent increase in requests for food pantry assistance in the first quarter of 2026 versus the first quarter of 2025.

As the pressures on our social safety net continue to build, it’s not enough to simply meet the current moment. That is where Resilient Chicago Fund (RCF) comes in. RCF is a collaboration of leading philanthropic organizations and individual donors that is helping organizations continue to meet basic human needs today while innovating new ways to deliver services tomorrow.

“Local nonprofits and public agencies are stepping up to meet rising needs while adapting to a changing landscape and more complex rules about who is eligible for benefits. They continue to care for our neighbors who need aid such as working parents, older adults on fixed incomes, students juggling school and work, families with mixed immigration status, and people living on the street,” said Dan Tollefson, executive director of the Resilient Chicago Fund.

“Service providers in our community know what works. They need the support to meet our community’s current needs, and they deserve time and resources to imagine a different future.”

Co-chaired by The Chicago Community Trust and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Resilient Chicago Fund is guided by a Steering Committee that includes Crown Family Philanthropies, Polk Bros. Foundation, Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Schreiber Philanthropy, Steans Family Foundation, RRF Foundation for Aging, and United Way of Metro Chicago.

How Resilient Chicago Fund Works: Testing New Ideas While Responding to Immediate Needs 

In March, Resilient Chicago Fund launched a funding opportunity to enable nonprofits and government partners to adapt, rethink and redesign how essential benefits and services are delivered within food, shelter, healthcare, and safety systems. We will share further updates on these efforts in the coming months.

The Resilient Chicago Fund has also responded to immediate needs. RCF invested $1.5 million in United Way of Metro Chicago’s Response Fund, which used 211 call data and other indicators to direct resources where demand was greatest following the pause in federal food assistance benefits in November 2025.

“When the need is so urgent, there’s a tension between mobilizing an immediate response and staying focused on long-term change. The reality is, you have to do both,” said Trust President and CEO Andrea Sáenz. “This is where philanthropy can really act as a force multiplier, supporting solutions that can only be achieved through innovation and collective action.”  

Together, we can improve how vital services reach those who need them most. To support Resilient Chicago Fund, contact donorservices@cct.org.