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…
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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.
Explore Our Discretionary Grants
Showing 3471–3478 of 3873 results
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Grant Recipient
Reparations Media NFP
The podcast journalism lab will focus two of its twelve episodes in season 4 of Change Agents on homeownership for Black and Latinx families by pairing emerging journalists with select community based organizations to collaborate and identify new sources and stories of these efforts that will heighten awareness, inspire and build trust in media storytelling.
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Grant Recipient
FAR SOUTH CDC
The purpose of this application is to apply for general operating support to sustain the day-to-day operations and staffing of the Far South Community Development Corporation (Far South CDC). Far South CDC’s mission is to alleviate low-income communities on Chicago's far south side of poverty, blight, and economic distress through effective economic and community development. The organization achieves this through three main pillars: business services, community and housing services, and development+planning. To continue providing critical and vital services to the region, Far South CDC needs continued support in capacity and programmatic funds to further its mission.
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Grant Recipient
Think Blue LLC
Blue Azul is a new construction, multidisciplinary facility in Auburn Gresham, focusing on sports, fitness and mental health. Our focus is on the health and well-being of our community members, while providing a safe space to heal, be, grow, learn and play. We aim for our facility and programs to have a positive impact on residents' health, recreational and educational needs, and overall quality of life. This facility’s vision is to create short- and long-term jobs, while providing programs and services that all ages can benefit from. Blue Azul’s amenities will strengthen the local corridor. Its mission and programming aligns with current developments in the area – all of which work towards enhancing residents’ well-being and access to resources. The beauty of the building not only represents design excellence but the love that Blue Azul has for the servicing community. Its outside beauty will match is inside beauty as well as bring a breath of fresh air to the community that is expected to be contagious to the incoming developers. Another vision of ours as Developers is for every lot in Auburn Gresham to be filled with beautiful buildings and relevant programming. Inside of our building, you will find a high school regulation maple wood basketball court with a total of six ceiling mounted retractable basketball hoops and a motorized curtain divider at half court, a fitness room with brand new state-of-the-art equipment, an indoor courtyard a pop-up court, a café section, a commercial kitchen, a receptionist area, bathrooms, storage rooms, and offices. The offices will be enclosed within their own corridor, in order to add more soundproofing capabilities. The office corridor will be home to our mental health clinic, providing the community with much needed services including psychotherapy and neuropsychological testing to properly rule out ADHD, autism, learning disorders and intellectual disabilities. The café space will allow local vendors the opportunity to rent the space and offer healthy food and drink options. With a heart and passion for our inner city, our focus is on improving the quality of life for all community members. Our organization is committed to ensuring that Chicagoans, whether children, teens, adults or families, have a safe environment where their physical and mental health needs can be met. We strive to provide services and programming that improve health outcomes, reduce violence and encourage self-actualization. Our belief is that having a safe environment where one can learn about different occupations, work through mental health or family challenges, and engage in activities such as exercise which is a natural anti-depressant will improve mood and behavior/decision-making. It is anticipated that this improvement in health will trickle down to families and ultimately neighborhoods.
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Grant Recipient
Bridges From School to Work Inc.
Bridges from School to Work (Bridges) improves employment and career outcomes for young adults with disabilities ages 17 to 24. We provide a full continuum of workforce development services, including intake, assessment, employability skills, mentoring, job search, career exploration, help with job applications and résumés, job development, and job matching. These services aim to culminate in competitive, unsubsidized employment for 80% of enrolled participants, including 12 months of post-hire follow up and ongoing case management. Bridges particpants also have access to on-demand training through Accenture's Skills to Succeed platform. Courses include software and technical training that lead to career progression and upskilling. Through the Bridges program, young adults with disabilities prepare for, succeed, and advance in jobs that help them develop an identity, find a purpose, grow in self-confidence, gain economic empowerment, and increase their prospects for social mobility.
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Grant Recipient
YOUNG INVINCIBLES
Young Invincibles (YI) trains and guides young adults (ages 18-34 years) to amplify their stories and lived experiences. We elevate young adult perspective with decision makers and leaders of higher education and workforce policy. With them, we conduct young adult research, build campaigns, speak out, and forcefully push for progress in systemic policy reforms. YI closely collaborate with our partners in the field to ensure young adult voices are amplified and are centered in policy reforms that will impact them, particularly young adults from traditionally marginalized communities.
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Grant Recipient
Small Business Advocacy Council
Thriving commercial corridors support local communities across Chicago and Cook County. However, many commercial corridors in disadvantaged communities are struggling, plagued by vacancies and a lack of economic activity. This application seeks funding that will support efforts to formulate and advocate for policies that will revitalize and support disadvantaged commercial corridors. This application seeks funding to amplify the impact of policies that have been advanced through this project and the efforts of a robust coalition. This project will continue connecting chambers, place-based organizations, and other stakeholders, expanding the neighborhood revitalization coalition, and building on the collaborative efforts of organizations focused on the enactment of policies and initiatives to revitalize and support commercial corridors and neighborhood business districts.
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Grant Recipient
Chicagos Sunshine Enterprises Inc
Sunshine Enterprises (SE) and the South Shore Chamber Community Development Corporation (SSCCDC) will offer two cohorts of SE’s "Community Business Academy" (CBA), a 12-week cohort-based model of technical assistance for local entrepreneurs. These two cohorts for artists and artisans industries will serve 15-20 entrepreneurs each. SE will then offer Business Acceleration Services including coaching, credit improvement, access to capital, and workshops. After each CBA, SSCCDC will conduct “The Artisans Collective” (TAC) retail readiness training program (twice total). TAC’s retail readiness program is a 6-week, cohort-based model of technical assistance geared towards helping artisans become retail-ready. It is then paired with affordable access to The Artist Hub, a commercial space in South Shore for qualified businesses with the long-term goal of the clients being ready for retail space in South Shore’s commercial corridors. The Artist Hub will feature low-rent access to space as well as create a place of enjoyment and community Further, SSCCDC will offer supplemental workshops for continuing education. Together SSCCDC will serve at least 50 unduplicated clients in addition to those served in the SE CBA, totaling 80-90 entrepreneurs overall. Finally, the partnership will introduce several new interventions to improve the success of the entrepreneurs. Those include: supporting entrepreneurs at over a dozen pop-ups (and sponsoring entrepreneurs to attend); developing an even clearer bridge from CBA to TAC curriculum; providing affordable commercial spaces in South Shore for clients to utilize for business activities; partnering with The Sanctuary to increase outreach to younger artists as well as to build and deepen connections between clients and the South Shore community; and providing advanced coaching to help clients access capital. We are deepening our partnership with 37 Oaks to not only provide retail readiness training, but also provide clients with technical assistance to catalyze their transition from the hobby/start-up phase into the growth phase.
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Grant Recipient
QUAD COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION NFP
Application Summary QCDC appreciates being invited to renew the Flexible Funding Grant with the Chicago Community Trust. 2023 is an exciting time for QCDC - One of growth, change, and endless possibilities to impact Hyperlocal economic development and neighborhood investment by expanding access to available resources and opportunities. We respectfully request a grant for $100,000 to support our agency continued work in narrowing the racial and economic equity in the Quad Communities by building up our infrastructure and expanding programming. For 20 years, QCDC has been a driving force for ensuring that community revitalization, arts, culture, and economic development continue to improve the Quality of Life for area residents along our commercial corridors in alignment with our 2005 Quality of Life Plan (QOLP). QCDC will continue to focus on Increasing Organizational Capacity through Talent Acquisition stifled by pandemic-driven resignations and business sector competition for available talent and staff skills development. During the previous grant cycle, we made significant goals in Increasing Organizational Effectiveness due to professional development opportunities for our Executive Director and staff. To enhance client outcomes, we expanded geographic reach as one of the City's Regional Neighborhood Business Development sites via expanded hyperlocal consumer and business services programs. Likewise, new grant funds continue to help leverage and diversify our funding portfolio and maintain compliance standards, opening up additional Investment Opportunities. This year one of our goals is to begin research and review the state of the community as a precursor to curating bold new plans for future growth and sustainability. Staffing our Project Manager Position will enable QCDC to identify any changes in the core community, decision-makers, organizations, ongoing community-driven initiatives, and stakeholder participation in preparation for convening constituents for a new QOLP for our geographic footprint. Continuous improvement in our infrastructure administration, operations, financial standards, and talent acquisition will result in a sustainable, comprehensive strategy to yield economic and partnership opportunities for our core constituents. During the current grant cycle, we experienced a change in Board leadership due to the passing of our Board Chairperson, Shirley Newsome, one of our founding board members and a social and community advocate for economic and social change in the Chicagoland area. As we embark on a new chapter, QCDC is grateful to have enthusiastic new Board Leadership in place, strong community relationships, and critical civic partnerships. We look to expand and leverage our partnership with the Chicago Community Trust and our impact on building wealth in disinvested communities. During our most recent site meeting with our CCT program management representatives, they shared details regarding the Open Call neighborhood Investment applications. They encouraged us to submit our new ideas for innovative community programming. In summary, QCDC will utilize the additional $100,000 to continue building our internal infrastructure with new staffing and resources, expand program services, and attract new investments. How does your organization meet the needs and opportunities defined in the RFP or as discussed with your program contact? (required) Do not use the following symbols ( ) % #" % : QCDC is committed to continuing our work as a leader in Community Economic Development and as a local resource for Small Business Services beyond the grant cycle. Key to this commitment is building a sustainable, financially healthy organization with a diversified funding stream, the highest qualified team of professionals, and appropriate technology to best position the agency to be efficient and impactful. Increase Organizational Capacity -The agency currently has a team of highly qualified, seasoned professionals, which has allowed the organization to develop and execute unique programming and receive high praise for its outcomes. Renewed grant funding will further support team development with more FTE, thus stabilizing staffing and allowing the agency to build an ancillary team with equal talent and impact. A Key component to this process in team building and talent retention is continued access to high-quality professional development. Increase Organizational Power – We maintain working partnerships, peer-to-peer programming, collaborations, and shared convening opportunities with nearly 20 stakeholders. We consider these relationships critical and impactful while not formally documented with agreements or MOUs. Our stakeholders include other BSOs and CDCs, local aldermanic ward offices, elected officials, and large institutions. Over the past three years, we have focused on impact programming partnerships, specifically with other BSOs and CDC's this work has allowed us to expand our reach, share Subject Matter Experts, and generally weave a "red thread" throughout the fabric of our small business service community. In Chicago, relationships with local elected officials, the city department, and the Mayor's office aid in the success of most economic development efforts. This I especially true every four years following an election. While QCDC is proud to be among the few City CDCs regularly sought after and engaged by various government departments based on our agency's 20-year track record of innovative programming and successful outcomes. The time required by Executive Directors for building, educating, and managing these types of relationships is largely undercounted and not funded. Also critical to our work are strong relationships with local and citywide media and quasi-government entities such as Choose Chicago and World Business Chicago. These influencers have assisted with our goal of continuing to raise the visibility and image of our community on local, national, and international levels. Results include our local businesses being featured in national campaigns, numerous hospitality and journalist visiting Bronzeville, and increased tourist visits, all resulting in increased economic impact. During the Covid period, our agency found these types of relationships to be more critical than ever, and post the height of the pandemic, we have continued to build these relationships with a focus on increasing our impact. Renewed grant funding will continue to support these efforts and speak to the heart of the Catalyzing Neighborhood initiative. Increase Organizational Effectiveness Technology In the current three-year grant period, we have made great strides in technology via equipment, and digital services, which were fundamental to general operations. With the renewed grant technology, the acquisition of technology resources continues with services such as City Scape Chicago, SMS messaging, and continued uses of the Salesforce platform. These examples have been and will continue to be instrumental in access to timely and relevant market data, real-time access to our client base, and building internal data management. Over the past three years, during the covid pandemic, civil unrest, and economic downturn, our service area experienced less than 15 small business losses compared to the national average of 40 percent. During this same period, we have supported new African American businesses starting ten new leads across 3000 square feet of retail space and providing high-touch professional consultation services to nearly ten new developments and planning, including Invest Southwest Projects. Our agency efforts contribute to our low business loss and all the cited new starts to our high-touch business services and education programs. We intend to continue to drive this exponential growth in our current ecosystem and replicate its positive outcomes.