2025 Illinois General Assembly Recap
I came to The Chicago Community Trust in March after spending years as chief of staff to Illinois State Rep. Kelly Cassidy. I…
Critical Needs
Spotlights on community issues, the people, and the organizations who contribute to effective philanthropy as well as a stronger Chicago region and world.
Recent
-
-
Trust Talks, The Podcast – Episode 19: Confronting Homeownership Barriers
While homeownership is often viewed as a pathway to building wealth, a range of challenges can hinder its effectiveness, particularly for specific groups.…
-
Transforming the College Transfer Experience
In the Spring of 2006, my mother and I walked into a meeting with a public state university admissions counselor to discuss my…
“Critical Needs” Critical Needs
-
Violence as a Public Health Crisis: Starting Off with the Right Question
“Have you eaten?” Inevitably, this is the first question my parents ask guests who enter their home. My parents are fluent in three languages: Korean,…
-
Trust Talks, The Podcast - Episode 6: Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy
In this episode of the Trust Talks podcast, Anna Lee, Senior Director of Community Impact, sits down with members of the Chicagoland Vaccine Partnership–Lee Edwards of Free…
-
Year-End Gifts to the Unity Fund Help Meet the Region’s Immediate Needs
Respond Now works to prevent hunger and homelessness in the south suburbs. The Harbour offers safe, stable housing to young mothers and their children. Erie…
-
2021 Q4 Grants Highlight Trust’s Dual Focus on Wealth Gap and Pandemic Recovery
Throughout The Chicago Community Trust’s 2021 fiscal year—October 2020 to September 2021, including 347 discretionary grants totaling $29.1 million—COVID-19 remained a persistent challenge.* The year’s…
-
2021 Q3 Grants Foster Partnerships for Equity
More than a grant maker, the Chicago Community Trust aims to close the region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap by being a changemaker. Change at…
-
The Collaborative: Bringing Together Advocates, Policymakers, and the Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated
There are so many nonprofit organizations and activists engaged in changing the Illinois criminal legal system that it often is challenging to keep track of…
-
Promoting Wellbeing by Building an Infrastructure of Care
Each one of us is both in need of care and a caregiver. Sometimes we are both at once, as many have acutely experienced during…
-
Chicago Residents Transform Our Communities by Strengthening Connections
Social cohesion is defined as bonding, feelings of connectedness and solidarity, or a closeness and affection within groups. These are essential qualities to building trusted…
-
Bi-Directional Feedback Leads to Systems & Policy Innovations
Investing in people is a winning strategy. For over 100 years, The Chicago Community Trust has partnered with local nonprofit organizations to address the most…
-
2021 Q2 Grants Support Policy and Systems Change, Community Engagement
As the Trust pursues its moonshot goal of closing the region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap, it is clear that discriminatory policies and systems helped…
