3C Community Profile: Humboldt Park
Take a stroll down the Paseo Boricua corridor on Division Street and it’s easy to see why Humboldt Park is one of Chicago’s most vibrant…
Grants
Featured
Our Grantmaking Strategy
For more than 100 years, The Chicago Community Trust has convened, supported, funded, and accelerated the work of community members and changemakers committed to strengthening the Chicago region. From building up our civic infrastructure to spearheading our response to the Great Recession, the Trust has brought our community together to face pressing challenges and seize our greatest opportunities. Today, that means confronting the racial and ethnic wealth gap.
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Grant Recipient
Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative
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Grant Recipient
Erie Neighborhood House
Erie House seeks funding and grant support to support the professional development efforts for our Early Childhood Education (ECE) staff. We will allocate funding towards providing specialized training for ECE staff, covering topics such as bilingual education, child development, curriculum design, trauma-informed practices, and culturally responsive teaching strategies. The impact of specialized early childhood education training extends far beyond the walls of Erie House, shaping the trajectory of children's lives and strengthening the fabric of communities.
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Grant Recipient
National Museum of Mexican Art
The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) is requesting continued support for Listo para el museo (Ready for the Museum), a program that is geared toward employing Mexican culture and artmaking to support cognitive development in young children. The Museum seeks to serve as a community resource for parents looking for unique, culturally relevant ways to support their children’s development. What’s more, NMMA seeks to incorporate art made by Chicago born or based artists in order to make children and families aware of the richness of art from their own Mexican community.
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Grant Recipient
Resurrection Project
There are an estimated 24,000 – 30,000 undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens residing in Illinois who are likely to meet eligibility requirements for the new parole in place (PIP) program along with an unknown number of Dreamers eligible for expedited work visas. To ensure that each of these individuals has awareness and an opportunity to apply prior to the end of the calendar year, The Resurrection Project (TRP) will lead an expedited implementation effort, inclusive of statewide outreach, education, advocacy, screening, pro se workshops, and legal services, by engaging the existing Illinois Access to Justice (ILA2J) network of immigrant serving organizations.
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Grant Recipient
Logan Square Neighborhood Association
Across all of our program areas, the vast majority—about 89 percent—of Palenque LSNA’s participants and leaders are Latinx and/or Spanish-speaking. In addition, approximately 80 percent of our base are immigrants. Palenque LSNA has served these communities with immigration related programming and organizing efforts since 2005, ultimately aiding thousands in applying for citizenship, green cards, and DACA status. More recently, we have been engaging new arrivals with referrals and supports. Moreover, gentrification and displacement have disrupted people’s networks of support, separating them from their resources and communities. Many of our community members and leaders feel isolated and are seeing their culture displaced through gentrification. We recognize both through our own experience and the increasing body of research that our built environment is an important element of community building and its positive effects on public safety and mental health. Palenque LSNA is fully committed to re-activating spaces through a placekeeping strategy that engages our local schools and other connected public and private spaces as a way to create a sense of belonging for people who have been marginalized. As described in more detail below, in the coming year we will connect immigrants to resources, including new arrivals, and support a culture of belonging/placekeeping.
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Grant Recipient
Fawohodie Foundation NFP
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Grant Recipient
TALLER DE JOSE
For more than 15 years, Taller de Jose (TDJ) has served Chicago’s Latinx communities through our unique programs and services that connect, accompany, and advocate for people in need of help with issues ranging from immigration to legal, financial, medical, and others. Demand for services has risen dramatically in recent years, largely because we serve a great number of migrants seeking asylum and citizenship. As we endeavor to meet demand by increasing staff and volunteer participation, we gratefully seek funding through the Nuestro Futuro opportunity.
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Grant Recipient
ARISE CHICAGO
Arise Chicago is the lead organization in the nation in securing immigration protection for workers defending their rights on the job through the federal Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement (DALE) policy. Under DALE, immigrant workers involved in labor disputes have access to temporary work permits and valid Social Security numbers. In order to meet the needs of the community, Arise Chicago must rapidly expand our DALE campaign prior to the presidential election, when the policy’s fate is unknown. DALE cuts across race, class, gender, and age and has the power to dismantle racist, structural inequalities and indignities and the potential to bring greater stability to immigrant communities. A temporary work permit allows workers to speak up about unsafe conditions, unpaid sick days, unlawful scheduling, and other workplace abuses. It could provide upward mobility to immigrants, allowing them to fight to improve working conditions and wages. For example, Arise has supported El Milagro food production workers through the DALE process and to take collective action in the workplace to earn over $2 million in wage increases. Securing a valid SSN and being able to tie it to previously-used SSN without penalty from the employer means that workers who become residents or citizens can reap benefits of Social Security in retirement and access Medicare at age 65. This is a critical opportunity for health care access for immigrant workers otherwise often left out of health coverage. Arise Chicago members are immigrant workers who work in the lowest paid, least regulated industries, including non-union manufacturing and food production, restaurants, commercial cleaning, small non-union construction, and domestic work (home cleaners, nannies, care workers). 90% of our 1,624 current members are Latine-identified, the vast majority immigrants who could benefit from a program like DALE. Arise Chicago’s DALE programming is spearheaded by our Worker Center, which is led by a Latina and 100% of the staff is Latine-identified. In 2023, we invested heavily in growing our expertise and being at national tables on DALE strategy. Arise Chicago launched and learned from a successful pilot program, educated 1,500 new workers on their rights, and rapidly expanded staff to respond to the monumental need in the community. Arise Chicago is a national leader on DALE applications; thus far we have scheduled 444 intakes, submitted 428 applications, and 357 workers have received their work permit! Arise Chicago has also worked tirelessly to educate more agencies about the DALE program, assist other groups with establishing new systems for processing claims, and successfully advocated for a smoother application process. Thus far, Arise has: Initiated, designed, and led a symposium, with 100 immigration, community, and labor leaders attending (including Jessie Hahn from NILC as a presenter) Developed a 40-page DALE Resource Guide With Chicago Federation of Labor, led a second symposium Developed a 46-page DALE Toolkit Twice convened six offices from Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois government offices to guide and support them in developing their guidelines Invited to join tables with prominent national immigrant rights groups, including NILC to advocate for and learn latest DALE developments Educated over 700 workers about DALE in 2023 alone Developed worker handouts explaining DALE in easy to understand language Organized workers to testify to the Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Labor Briefed Congress in Washington, D.C. in April 2023, with 2 El Milagro workers speaking Met with individual union leaders to educate them about how to best support their undocumented members Held workshops at consulates to educate immigrants on their rights Collaborated with national groups to develop legal strategies and programming Piloted the first individual domestic worker DALE case in the country, which will serve to create a national model Trained 13 other organizations, both locally and nationally, on the DALE program Similar to other forms of immigration relief, the application process is complex: It involves knowledge of approximately 10 government offices and their individual particular requirements, turn-around time, investigations, etc. Each application requires about 10-15 hours of individual attention from staff. DALE PROCESS For eligible workers who wish to apply for DALE, workers: Receive extensive training in the requirements to apply for DALE Identify the labor dispute in their workplace in order for Arise to secure the Statement of Interest Co-strategize with Arise as to which government office to apply for the SOI Cooperate with government office’s investigation if required Acquire SOI that verifies their labor dispute Meet individually with an Arise DALE Navigator for an intake; and to verify all DHS-required documents are compiled Allow Arise to fingerprint them, to screen for outstanding violations that could flag problems* Meet with DALE Navigator to develop draft of written narrative about their experience in border crossing, required for DHS application Meet individually with Arise-appointed attorney to be interviewed Be screened for eligibility for U-visas, advanced parole, and parole in place Sign the final document that gives permission to the attorney to submit the DHS application When possible, engage Consulates to help defer a portion of the $410 DHS application fee *For complex cases that were flagged, Arise will secure a highly seasoned attorney with complex case experience. AFTER DHS APPROVAL workers: Complete biometrics process required by applicants DHS has approved Receive a 2-year temporary work permit Complete process with Social Security Administration to secure new SSN Develop strategy with Arise on how to update SSN in employer’s personnel records Bring their hard-earned Social Security benefits from the past into their new valid SSN Begin renewal process 6 months before expiration of the two-year work permit Receive support, if eligible, to recover Social Security benefits Receive support, if eligible, to revise status to access Medicare Bring financial stability and dignity to workers, their families, their communities In order to better meet the need of our base, Arise Chicago hired 2 Arise members as full-time DALE Coordinators (one of whom is a DALE recipient herself); hired an Arise member as full-time DALE & Membership Assistant; contracted 3 Arise worker members as DALE Navigators; secured pro bono or low bono services from 20 lawyers from 12 firms and non-profits; secured volunteer retired immigration attorneys to help screen cases; and secured a volunteer Ecuadorian lawyer who is unable to practice in the US as a DALE Navigator and Data Coordinator. There is increased urgency to rapidly expand our capacity to submit DALE applications because the fate of the program is unknown following the presidential election later this year. In partnership with groups across the country, Arise has developed a strategy to submit as many DALE applications as possible prior to the fall 2024. We believe that the more workers are processed, the more likely it is that the Department of Homeland Security will continue this crucial program. We also plan to advocate to make this program permanent should the election outcome be favorable to immigrants. So many community members stand to benefit from DALE protection. Attendance at our Know Your RIghts workshops have quadrupled since the start of 2023. We believe that, as word-of-mouth grows, we could have 20,000 people at our door. Our waitlist grows exponentially every day, expanding further because many of the initial cases will be up for renewal in the coming months. Arise has the expertise and systems in place, but lacks the financial resources to hire and contract the needed personnel, and purchase the necessary equipment and supplies to scale up to meet the need. In order to respond to this urgent need, Arise must expand its capacity. With this funding, Arise could: Train 2,000 more community members on their rights in the workplace Increase current 3 DALE Navigator hours to meet the urgent demand in the community Contract and train 2 additional DALE Navigators Assess growing need for DALE Navigators and continue to increase their hours and/or recruit, contract hire, and train more Navigators as needed Contract and/or hire legal personnel to coordinate, recruit, assign, track, oversee and update cases with lawyers; Contract an immigration attorney or legal non-profit to develop an Arise pilot program of pro se cases to conduct staff trainings, oversee applications Recruit law students Recruit volunteers Transition to a fully digital application process Purchase additional laptops and other tech equipment for processing applications