Paving the Path to Homeownership for Housing Choice Voucher Holders
Since the mid-20th century, homeownership has been one of the most important vehicles for building wealth in the United States. According to research from the…
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
Court Theatre Fund
A gala to support the work of Court Theatre and fundraise for Court's Charles Newell Production Fund.
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Grant Recipient
Focus Fairies Mentoring
Focus Fairies’ proposed BEE Girls program is a trauma-informed therapeutic service that will provide young African American girls ages 12-18 with a safe and supportive environment for healing, self-care, personal growth, and empowerment. By recognizing and addressing the impacts of trauma, racism, and other systemic and environmental factors, this program will promote positive mental health and wellness, emotional intelligence, self-love, belonging, healthy coping strategies, and positive identity development among the fairies. Along the way, the BEE Girls experience will evoke feelings, challenge social constructions, and drive forward the curriculum values of self-awareness, self-esteem, self-advocacy, leadership, and empathy with a Fairy life.
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Grant Recipient
Black Girls Dance
To support programs of Black Girls Dance (BGD), whose mission is to champion and elevate dancers of color by providing a transformative journey that encompasses training, exposure, and performance opportunities. Dance is not only an art form but a powerful avenue for personal growth and empowerment, our mission transcends the stage to impact lives and communities. We provide excellent training, mentorship, and career guidance to dancers of color through: • Dance instruction for ages 3 to 18 in Beginner (ages 3 to 8), Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Acrobatics/dance, and Contemporary plus a STEM from Dance specialty program • Black Girls Dance Ensemble for girls envisioning a career in dance. Senior ensemble members also act as youth leadership, mentors, and peer support. • Performance, including concerts presented by our dancers, and exposure through field trips to important dance events
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Grant Recipient
ILA Creative Studio
AT ILA, we empower Black artists to thrive in their creative journeys, fostering a multigenerational community where talent meets opportunity. Our commitment to advancing Black artists through comprehensive educational workshops, groundbreaking events, and targeted programming ensures that every artist we touch is equipped to build a sustainable career in the arts. We don’t just create spaces; we build bridges to resources, exposure and a supportive network that artists might not find elsewhere. During FY2023 we saw the most growth and engagement with our evergreen program, G-To-G (Getting to Our Goals). We hosted 5 very important educational workshops to help strengthen the knowledge for artists connected to our community. These workshops focused on maintaining balance with creative projects, learning how to write grants for individual artistic practice, filing taxes as an independent artist, and learning how to strengthen and build relationships. The intentionality with the types of workshops we presented led to an attendance increase of 30% across the board. Another one of our big milestones from the past year was the development of our 3-year strategic plan. Hiring a consultant to steer that project and keep the stewardship of our work mission-aligned and within the needs of our community adequately helped us prepare for the way we implement our work for the future. In this grant proposal, we're requesting General Operating support that will allow us to effectively implement the strategies that have been mapped out in our plan. Vital investment needs to be made in the way that we market and collect data for our program and service offerings so that we're able to intentionally grow + expand our reach.
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Grant Recipient
Sista Afya Community Care NFP
Sista Afya Community Care (SACC), a preeminent organization led by and dedicated to Black women, is honored to present this application for the consideration of the Chicago Community Trust. Our organization provides extensive mental health services and engages in advocacy to uplift, empower, and strengthen the Black communities on Chicago’s South Side. Our aligned mission makes us an excellent candidate for grant assistance from the African-American Legacy Fund, as evidenced by the generous support we have received in recent years. We are enthusiastic about the prospect of continuing this relationship into 2024. SACC embodies the fundamental principles of the AAL initiative by actively involving community members, fostering transformative changes, and delivering mental health services specifically designed for Black women in Chicago. Our initiatives confront the exacerbated levels of stress and trauma within Black communities, particularly those affected by economic challenges, family-related stresses, traumatic events, and gun violence. Our strategy is rooted in community engagement, cultural relevance, and combating disparities through innovative and collaborative efforts. We offer a comprehensive suite of holistic mental wellness services at no cost, including individual therapy, wellness classes, community workshops, and professional development training throughout the Chicagoland area. Our trio of programs collaboratively targets the multifaceted aspects of mental health disparities experienced by Black women. SACC’s programs include the following: Thrive in Therapy, a program that provides free weekly customized therapy for Black women and girls experiencing multiple barriers to mental wellness care. Community Care, a community support program that offers topic-based workshops, group therapy, and wellness classes focused on issues relevant to Black women's mental health. Developing Mental Wellness Warriors, a program that provides free professional development training including Mental Health First Aid, equipping community members with the tools to respond to mental health crises while transforming the mental health care space to be more inclusive in working with Black women. Heal TogetHER and Clinical Case Management: Early Intervention & Screening: Newly created in 2024, SACC’s Heal TogetHER offers support for those with mild to moderate mental health concerns through brief, solution-focused interventions, resource connections, and educational efforts about mental health conditions. Peer Supporters are instrumental in making mental wellness care both accessible and approachable, especially for those hesitant about seeking help or those who are not yet ready to commence therapy. Currently reaching individuals through both in-person and virtual interactions across Chicago, Heal TogetHER acts as an essential early intervention and resource connection hub. Our goal is to hire six additional Peer Supporters to engage annually with 300 people, offering them no-cost preventative mental health support. Additionally, to enhance the basic needs security and clinical needs of Black women, we aim to employ two clinical case managers. These managers will address key stressors like food insecurity, workforce training, housing, primary care, and childcare and conduct mental health screenings using tools like the PHQ-9, GAD-7, CAGE, and ACE questionnaires. Our objective is to serve 100 women each year through Clinical Case Management. SACC operates primarily in the South Side of Chicago, focusing its efforts on predominantly Black communities where over 90% of our constituents reside. These communities are facing ongoing mental health challenges, which have been intensified by the shutdown of multiple mental health facilities. Our initiatives are conceived, designed, and implemented by members of the communities we serve, ensuring that our programs genuinely reflect their needs and perspectives. We employ an asset-based approach in our work, acknowledging and utilizing the inherent strengths and potential of our community members to shape and drive our programming. SACC operates as a fully Black-led and Black-serving organization. Its governance and management structures, including the Board, executive leadership, and staff, are primarily composed of individuals who are Black or of African American descent, with Black members constituting 90 percent of the Board. The entirety of our executive team, including the Executive Director, as well as all staff members, are Black or hail from the African Diaspora. This organizational structure is fundamental to our purpose, equipping us to genuinely comprehend and address the mental health concerns of Black women in our community, and to represent their needs effectively. Supported by the foundational funding granted by AAL, SACC has continued to meet and exceed programmatic and organizational development goals. In 2022, SACC continued to meet and exceed programmatic and organizational development goals. We more than doubled the number of Free Therapy Sessions in 2021 by providing free therapy to over 100 women. We additionally expanded the number of workshops, classes, and retreats we provide while growing and diversifying our funding and supporter base. In 2023, we truly embodied the Community Care focus of our mission by consistently offering care that heals the whole person with compassion and support. Last year, we served over 550 people- more than any other year in operation. SACC has recently expanded services to include Medicaid recipients, of which there are over 3.3 million in Illinois. Additionally, we have received support from funders and from key stakeholders in our community to serve adolescents through our Thrive in Therapy for Teens program. This will increase access to mental wellness for a large group of women who will now be able to receive our therapy services. In 2024, we aim to provide more than 2000 free therapy sessions to 175 women and girls experiencing multiple barriers to care. Ultimately, we hope that women who receive therapy at SACC gain life-long skills and benefit from not having financial strain while taking care of their mental health needs. To support SACC’s continued growth and enhance the delivery of the vital services we provide, we respectfully request a grant in the amount of $20,000. These funds will be channeled directly into our programs to increase the number of Black women we can support with quality mental wellness resources through Thrive in Therapy and Community Care, and to bolster our efforts in educating community members about Black women’s mental health through Developing Mental Wellness Warriors.
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Grant Recipient
GIRLS 4 SCIENCE
Girls 4 Science seeks funding to equip 500 girls of color aged 10-18 in the Chicago region with the knowledge and confidence to pursue advanced study and careers in STEM through its free, year-round, out-of-school-time program.
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Grant Recipient
MUSICAL ARTS INSTITUTE
The Musical Arts Institute is a 501 c 3 music (arts) education school that has a dual role in educating over 2900 students per week and facilitating three performing arts ensembles that feed the cultural vitality of the far south side of Chicago communities that are served. The organization's founders, Executive director, Board, and Staff are all African American. The performing ensembles feature groups of young, elite African American musicians who perform music composed by composers of African descent. MAI has the dual role of presenting music to the excellence of our culture to the community while training the generation of musicians and audience members. The Musical Arts Institute is a formidable non-profit organization providing music education to over 1200 students weekly. In addition, it manages three performing arts ensembles that significantly enhance the cultural vitality of Chicago's far south side neighborhoods. Notably, all of the organization's founders, executive directors, board members, and staff are African American, demonstrating the organization's unwavering commitment to diversity. The performing ensembles feature young, exceptionally talented African American musicians who perform compositions of African descent. MAI's vision is to showcase culturally rich music to the community while equipping the next generation of musicians and music enthusiasts with the necessary skills to excel.
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Grant Recipient
Circles and Ciphers
With AAL, we hope to create a more sustainable and clear trajectory for the next cohort of black leaders to flourish as they build towards generational wealth and stability. Through establishing cooperatives and facilitating business development workshops for black youth, we desire a future where our black leaders will not only grow in their personal development but in their economic stability as well.