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
I AM ABLE CENTER FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT
I AM ABLE has demonstrated significant growth this year, after receiving a 590 Crisis Care System grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services and Department of Mental Health Services. This allowed us to create a new program, Wellness H.E.A.L.S. (Helping Everyone Anytime Live Supported) which is consistent with our goal to assist residents as they deal with trauma and crises in their daily lives. This program will be operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. The funding received does not fully cover administrative costs related to this opportunity. The support that we are requesting from CCT would help to cover accounting and facility management costs.
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Grant Recipient
Greater Chicago Food Depository
The Greater Chicago Food Depository’s mission is “providing food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our community.” The organization has grown to provide over 93 million pounds of food annually, the equivalent of 300,000 meals each day. In response to the significant need as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this fiscal year the Food Depository anticipates distributing 105 million pounds of food. Our organization also implements innovative solutions to address the root causes of hunger and food insecurity, like helping low-income individuals and families enroll in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and invests in programs that strengthen the health and economic stability of communities. In particular, the Food Depository operates workforce development programs to prepare un/underemployed individuals for quality jobs, advocates for food security policies and serves as the coordinator and capacity building provider for a network of over 700 community-based food distribution partners and programs. The prevalence of hunger in Cook County demands a need for a strong network of community partners working to distribute healthy food to individuals and families in need, as well as comprehensive public policies that address food insecurity and its root causes. With the support of the Chicago Community Trust, the Greater Chicago Food Depository will continue to advance our hunger relief policy agendas and provide capacity building and technical assistance to strengthen our network of 700 food access partners – especially those in communities of color – to ensure everyone in Cook County has access to the food needed to lead healthy, stable lives.
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Grant Recipient
Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU Inc
The ACLU of Illinois (ACLU) and our coalition partners seek to end the unjust revenue-generation practices of Chicago and Illinois governments, and to implement the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) to phase out cash bail in Illinois by January 2023. Wealth-based punishments and policies, such as cash bail and excessive fines and fees, disproportionately harm low-income people while failing to improve community safety. Due to the racial wealth gap, people of color suffer disproportionately from wealth-based systems of punishment. The ACLU is working in partnership with two coalitions to address these issues at the city and state level, using policy advocacy, public education and engagement, and implementation strategies to advance reform.
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Grant Recipient
Local Initiatives Support Corp.
This request to CCT is for continued partnership with Local Initiatives Support Corporation on the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA). LISC respectfully requests the Chicago Community Trust’s renewed support of $25,000 to sponsor “The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award” to be presented at CNDA. The winner of the award in 2022, selected through a competitive application process led by cross-sector representatives from the city's community development industry, is the N. Lawndale Quality of Life Plan led by the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council. The CNDA event where the award will be presented along with other sponsored awards is on June 29, 2022 at the South Shore Cultural Center.
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Grant Recipient
Grow Greater Englewood
Grow Greater Englewood is a 501(c)3 non-profit social enterprise development organization established in 2014 focused on revitalizing the Englewood community through the creation of agriculture-based social enterprises leveraging the acquisition, repurposing and preservation of vacant land in Englewood. The Ujima Hive will provide space for creating and growing agriculture-based social enterprises and potentially serve as the Chicago Food Policy Action Council’s proposed Food Hub, a social enterprise that manages a combination of aggregation, processing, distribution and marketing on behalf of multiple urban farms
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Grant Recipient
Organized Communities Against Deportations
Two years later, our communities have overcome the worst pandemic in our lifetime. We adapted new ways of creating community, to continue to advocate and develop leaders that transform the social fabric of our communities. We learned how to use tools like zoom, streamyard, CRM programs, and how to keep our information secured. For OCAD the last two years have been transformational, we acquired our 501c3 status, completed our first audit, and brought new staff members adding a Digital Coordinator and a new Deportation Defense Coordinator. Now with 6 full time staff and 5 individual stipend members that are working 1:1 with a staff member on specific organizational projects. Our proposal is to continue to develop leadership and increasing capacity by centering and focusing on the development of directly impacted individuals by deportations, policing, and discrimination. Healing practices have been increasing member participation that is consistent and that allows us to have more power to mobilize around our mission. The creation of a self-determination curriculum that uses practices of popular education as a component to be accessible to all audiences and create a sense of power within the members of our communities. Strengthening networks between neighbors, individuals with the same experiences, and that celebrates our intersections and diversity. We have seen the impact of creating a culture of collaboration and collective problem solving. As we grow we want to also gain collective knowledge and create measures of evaluation and accountability as to not allow systems of hierarchy or oppression within structures. Creating a Theory of Change as well as finalizing our strategic planning for the next stage of the organization. We would use the funds of this proposal to collaborate with external facilitators, attend training sessions and have members use the materials obtained to document an internal-curriculum. We have learned that our communities are resilient and transformation is possible. “We Are What We Need” is one of our organizational values and embodimente for the next three years.
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Grant Recipient
Project OneTen, NFP
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Grant Recipient
Legacy Disciple