Working Together to Care for Our Neighbors
The Chicago region has a long and valued tradition of community organizations working alongside government to deliver essential services and enhance residents’ lives.…
Community Wealth
Spotlights on community issues, the people, and the organizations who contribute to effective philanthropy as well as a stronger Chicago region and world.
Recent
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Bob Crawford’s Journey from Business Leader to Philanthropic Changemaker
Individual giving remains the driving force behind philanthropy in the United States. Even amid market uncertainty, giving increased by 3.3 percent in 2024…
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Young Leaders Fund Awards $100,000 in Community-Based Grants
Young Leaders Fund (YLF), an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust, provides young professionals with an innovative way to make a difference in Chicago…
“Community Wealth” Community Wealth
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Pre-Development Fund: Urban Juncture Foundation
Urban Juncture Foundation is dedicated to working alongside its neighbors to spark revitalization and economic growth in Chicago’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood. In 2011 the organization…
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Pre-Development Fund: Obsidian Collection Archives
The Obsidian Collection Archives is dedicated to preserving Black history, memory, and culture through an expansive online collection of documents, photographs, film, and other artifacts.…
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Pre-Development Fund: Urban Equities, Inc.
Urban Equities, Inc., is a full-service real estate development and project management firm with a 28-year track record of adding beauty and vitality to disinvested…
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Pre-Development Fund: PODER Learning Center
Since 1997, PODER Learning Center has served as a launchpad to good jobs and better futures for more than 13,000 Latinx immigrants and first-generation residents…
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Pre-Development Fund: Allies for Community Business and Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago
Allies for Community Business (A4CB, formerly Accion Chicago) is the region’s largest nonprofit microlender. It is also, along with the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago…
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2021: Coalitions for Equity in Wealth Policy Leverages Efforts to Address Inequity
The Chicago Community Trust launched the Coalitions for Equity in Wealth Policy funding strategy in 2020 just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.…
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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…
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Flexible Funding Catalyzes Neighborhood Investment, Even in Uncertain Times
Community-based organizations are integral to closing the region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap: They work with residents and businesses on community plans, provide supports to…
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Community Desk Chicago: Unlocking Access to Capital
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. It was and still is a predominately Black community. I remember…
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Our Great Rivers Reimagines Chicago River System as Vital Lifeforce
What if Chicago’s rivers were seen not just as waterways, but as treasured cultural and economic assets, similar to Lake Michigan? In 2016, the Metropolitan…
