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
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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
Elevate Energy
Elevate seeks funding for the community-led multimedia project "Help This Garden Grow," a documentary podcast series uplifting the story of how a community at the edge of Chicago fought to breathe, took the fight around the world, and birthed the modern Environmental Justice movement. Produced by AirGo Radio, "Help This Garden Grow" (HTGG) explores the story of Hazel Johnson, a resident of the Altgeld Gardens community on the far South Side, who founded the People for Community Recovery (PCR) to address the toxic industrial pollution that was killing the families of her community. Over the course of the multigenerational multipart documentary, we will talk with Hazel Johnson’s daughter and the current Executive Director of PCR, Cheryl Johnson. We will also interview organizers, policymakers, historians, and community members about how PCR emerged, the legacy of Ms. Johnson's work, and how this Chicago community built the lineage of today's vibrant, impactful, and necessary environmental justice movement. Project partners include People for Community Recovery, a non-profit environmental organization founded by Hazel Johnson that for over 40 years has enhanced the quality of life of residents living in communities affected by pollution and educating communities on Environmental Justice; AirGo Radio, a media firm that documents and contributes to liberatory cultural and political movements; Elevate, a national organization that seeks to create a just and equitable world in which everyone has clean and affordable heat, power, and water; and the HTGG Creative Cabinet, a cohort of Chicago-based environmental justice leaders. The HTGG cohort will guide the narrative of the show, help identify additional voices to include in the conversation, and lead community discussions centering how Hazel Johnson and PCR have shaped the world-changing work of which the Cabinet members are at the forefront. This project is also designed to be a new model for equitable media collaboration, building a payment and production infrastructure that centers both Cheryl Johnson and our Creative Cabinet’s lived experience and engages them as co-creators of the story we are shaping together.
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Grant Recipient
The Growing Season, Inc.
The Aux is a commercial redevelopment that uses real estate as a tool for racial equity. It lifts Black entrepreneurs, catalyzes community wellness and supports community wealth-building. The project will transform a 16,000 sq ft vacant building and give rise to a vibrant space for Black-owned businesses that offer a full-range of wellness services. The Aux brings an innovative redevelopment model to the Chicago area – one that disrupts entrenched barriers in banking and real estate systems with a cooperative financing and ownership model centered on social and economic impact. It innovates by working outside traditional systems, building projects that are financially supported by, owned by, developed by, and filled with businesses run by community members who employ local residents and support community well-being.
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Grant Recipient
Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County
In support of general operations.
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Grant Recipient
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF CHICAGO INC
As a newly formed collaborative, Chicago Flats Initiative is seeking a consultant to assist in the development of an initial strategic plan and work plan to guide the collaborative as it seeks to define its goals and priorities to substantially impact Chicago neighborhoods over the next 3-5 years. The consultant first will work directly with the Steering Committee of the Chicago Flats Initiative (i.e. Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, Communities United and Enterprise Community Partners) to design and facilitate an engaging and actionable retreat for the Initiative's members, focused on creating common understanding and moving toward alignment on the Initiative's priorities. Post-retreat the consultant will work with the Steering Committee and relevant stakeholders to undertake an environmental scan of the ecosystem of relevant related preservation efforts. With collaborative members they will also analyze the systems and forces that impact displacement prevention and wealth building through 2-4 flat preservation and define key barriers to and drivers of change. Impactful strategies will be identified resulting in a work plan with measurable goals.
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Grant Recipient
Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
In support of general operations.
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Grant Recipient
DISABILITY LEAD
With generous support from The Chicago Community Trust as our founding sponsor, Disability Lead has proudly established itself as the nation’s first and only leadership program for people with disabilities in the last six years. Over the previous two years, Disability Lead has operated as a successful start-up, enabled by our smooth transition from a program in incubation at the Trust, to an independent nonprofit, supported by a back-office partnership with National Able Network. Funding from the Trust at this critical juncture of our development will allow Disability Lead to scale its programs and impact while implementing strategies to further its long-term growth and sustainability as a new nonprofit.
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Grant Recipient
Ubica Inc.
Michael Tyler’s books, The Skin You Live In and Mirror Face, allow educators, parents and other caregivers to begin difficult, but necessary dialogues with the young people in their lives. He has teamed up with educators all over the nation to find unique and impactful ways to use his books as a foundational resource for Social Emotional based learning (SEL), some of which include: Working with Beyond Differences as a featured author for their nationwide initiative, “Know Your Classmates” day Teaming up with Atlanta Public Schools, Los Angeles Public Schools, Marin County Public Schools, Ontario Province Public Schools and Scotland Public Schools on various curricula, workshops and author readings Partnerships with the Clinton Presidential Center and the MLK Center on virtual workshops and student discussions Working with a national organization of arts educators to develop an arts-based curricula tied to The Skin you Live In Collaboration with the NBA’s Mental Health Program to develop discussion guides tied to promoting self -love and positive body image This would involve more than just delivering a curriculum and toolkit/study guide for educators and young children—although both would be part of the strategy. Rather, this is an opportunity to create a “pilot project and template” that engages key stakeholders—young children, parents, caregivers, teachers, pediatricians, child psychologists, social workers, social media experts, and others—in a collaborative process that does truly inform the development of the curriculum, while also building “a community” that can guide its use—in school districts not only in the Chicagoland area and the rest of Illinois, but also nationwide. As the Chicago Community Trust considers making a grant to Michael Tyler to be a partner in developing a “pilot” curriculum and attendant toolkit/study guide and outreach/engagement strategy. Our team's educational expert, Carlos Mendez, is an elementary school teacher with a Masters in Education, who is also an LGBTQ advocate. Carlos will lead a robust discovery process to engage key stakeholders and thought leaders to help develop a multi-level curriculum for K-5 grade levels.
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Grant Recipient
Ageoptions Inc
In support of general operations.