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
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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
National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities
Building on the successful partnership of the Contextualizing the Migrant Narrative webinar series, Alianza Americas, along with the Latino Policy Forum, the Resurrection Project, and the Center for Immigrant Progress are planning to lead an educational delegation of decision-makers and stakeholders from the Chicago area to Mexico City, Mexico, and Bogota, Colombia, to understand firsthand the complexities of migration in these two countries and to define further how stakeholders in the U.S. can more sustainably and empathetically respond to the needs of all migrants with a transnational lens. Alianza Americas has been leading delegations to the region for 20 years and is well-known for its transnational approach to policies that impact Latin American and Caribbean immigrants. Participants will engage with civil society leaders in Mexico and Colombia to deepen their understanding of the various factors that force many to leave their homes, with an emphasis on Venezuela and Venezuelan migration; understand firsthand how sending, transit, and receiving countries like Mexico and Colombia can improve their policies and practices, and finally strengthen existing collaborations with allied organizations and build on new relationships with civil society actors to strengthen advocacy efforts across borders.
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Grant Recipient
Womens Business Development Center (WBDC)
Over the last four years, the Women's Business Development Center (WBDC) has built solid working relationships with our Fund for Equitable Business Growth peers. As part of our projects and Fund convenings, we increased the frequency and intensity of our interactions. For Year Five of the Business Service Organization (BSO) Collective Impact Initiative, we will leverage our connections and commitment to build greater coordination of the educational resources that help diverse entrepreneurs access capital. As the Chicago Community Trust highlights, capital is crucial for diverse entrepreneurs to advance their businesses and grow their assets. While it's clear that capital is critical, accessing it can be complicated. BSOs throughout the City have programs to educate entrepreneurs on preparatory steps and capital options. For this year's project, our goal is to begin mapping the offerings of a handful of organizations. We plan to work with the same fantastic group of BSOs and add additional partners. When we understand which BSOs offer financial and economic literacy programs and how those programs differ from one another, we can construct a capital education pathway – a "Capital College" for small business owners. By mapping the various financial education programs offered by local BSOs and defining the typical personas of clients on this pathway, we can better discern which programs fit which business owners at the specific stages of their business, creating a logical cadence of learning progression. This order makes pursuing financial and economic literacy more achievable and allows entrepreneurs to access financial capital more successfully.
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Grant Recipient
Network for Young Adult Success
UtmostU is a comprehensive, tech-based, and data-driven program designed to empower young adults from marginalized communities in Chicago who have been negatively impacted by systemic inequities. Our primary objective is to support these individuals in achieving their post-secondary education and career aspirations, ultimately working towards closing the racial and ethnic wealth gap in Chicago. Understanding the unique challenges faced by these young adults (fellows), UtmostU is fully committed to providing them with the necessary support and guidance for success. Through our extensive network of coaches in schools and community-based organizations, we offer a wide range of tools, partnerships, knowledge, resources, and efficiencies that strengthen community capacity and help students earn the credentials they need to reach their goals. SUPPORT FOR FELLOWS At UtmostU, we prioritize ongoing engagement between fellows and coaches, who play a crucial role in propelling them forward as they transition into the post-secondary space. To ensure their success, UtmostU leverages technology and data to revolutionize the educational landscape. We streamline a comprehensive system that equips post-secondary coaches with the necessary tools, training, and engagement tactics to quickly identify and assist college students, including: • Monthly fellow survey analysis to identify their needs in real time • Structured one-on-one, long-term coaching • Emergency persistence funding • Monthly social-emotional assessments with referrals to mental health counseling • Professional experience access and career support • Free T-Mobile data plan to stay in contact with their coach and family SUPPORT FOR COACHES For coaches, UtmostU has created a learning community to build their capacity and knowledge, welcoming coaches from all types of schools and community-based organizations. UtmostU brings the best partners to the network, so coaches do not need to search for essential resources. Coaches also gain a community to work with a team of supportive peer coaches and organizations committed to post-secondary success through the UtmostU network, eliminating the need to work in isolation. Coaches can expand their knowledge by accessing training and professional development that builds skills and knowledge to confidently guide young adults. UtmostU grows coaching talent to meet the challenges young adults face on their journeys. Coaches also have access to: • A customized Salesforce database to record interactions and case notes • Monthly professional development sessions • College and career pathway guides connected to fellow journeys • Monthly student surveys to prioritize urgent fellow needs • Ready-made dashboards and reports to monitor impact • Coordinated communication tools, including texting and newsletters for students • Mental health support including 6 one-hour free counseling sessions with a trusted Chicago-area based counselor. With these tools and benefits, coaches can effectively support young adults on their path to post-secondary education and career success.
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Grant Recipient
Economic Security Project Inc.
The Economic Security Project (ESP) advocates for ideas that build economic power for all Americans. Our playbook – which we call ideas advocacy – is designed to take transformative ideas that are on the margins and bring them into the mainstream of the public debate and into the lives of people. We provoke the existing conventional wisdom to shift what’s considered possible, legitimize the ideas by supporting cutting-edge research and elevating champions, and win concrete policy victories for the communities. We create the environment for these ideas to take root by changing narratives, organizing to win, and passing public policies to guarantee economic stability. We are poised to be at the forefront of the fight to build an economy that delivers for people. In just seven years, ESP’s team of academics, organizers, practitioners and culture makers has had monumental success in moving transformative policy ideas from the margins into the mainstream. As a national organization with affiliates in California (ESCA) and Illinois (ESIL), states we see as vanguards of bold economic advancement, we’ve built networks of thousands of policymakers and advocates, led agenda-setting events convening top thought leaders, policymakers, and media influencers to lift up progress across the country; and generated coverage of our work in The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and hundreds of other news outlets and local publications. As a result, we’ve put trillions of dollars into the pockets of hard-working Americans and shifted policies across dozens of states and in the halls of Congress. In Illinois, ESIL has continued to champion bold economic policies and programs (and build the coalitions needed to support them) in Chicago, Cook County, and statewide. Specifically, our efforts have focused on putting more cash in people’s pockets through guaranteed income pilots (GI), as well as shaping markets to deliver the basic goods and services that communities need to thrive; in Illinois, that includes our work to support the governor’s public grocery store pilot. In the year ahead and with the support of the Chicago Community Trust and other funders, ESP is seeking to expand and build on our past success in Illinois by focusing on the following: (1) DRIVING GUARANTEED INCOME EFFORTS IN CHICAGO, COOK COUNTY, AND ACROSS ILLINOIS When the pandemic relief efforts unleashed the power of cash, ESIL was a leader to the coalition that both fought back against the anti-GI legislation and pushed for the positive ones. We invested in narrative change and communications strategies to move GI work in IL forward. To date, ESIL expanded efforts to support the growing GI movement by providing critical support through coalition building, coordinating a media cohort of participants equipped to authentically share their experiences, and technical assistance that connected experts to policymakers for the guaranteed income pilots in Evanston, Cook County, and the city of Chicago. Now that these pilots have ended, we are shifting our focus to cultivate the growth of the Illinois Guaranteed Income Community of Practice (GICP) and support efforts to win a guaranteed income in Chicago, Cook County, and statewide. Just this past year, through our C4 sister organization Economic Security Project Action (ESP/A), we held the State of Illinois’ first Guaranteed Income Hearing in the Senate and opened the door to legislative debates about how Illinois can operationalize GI statewide. Our coalition on cash led by ESIL has developed critical voices and leaders, our research has identified persuadable populations, and now we stand equipped with effective messaging to begin bringing GI forward as a primary policy consideration for Illinois. In 2024-2025, we seek to support the transition of pilots into policy by uplifting participants’ stories, organizing letters to the editors of local newspapers like the Chicago Tribune, engaging community organizers through town halls and education initiatives, and connecting these stories to local partners around Illinois to drive guaranteed income as a statewide policy. This narrative campaign is built around the GI messaging research recently released by ESP that shows there is a large, persuadable audience we can educate about GI. Support from the Trust would supercharge these efforts by allowing up to make investments in a broader range of audiences such as communities of color. Moreover, support would allow us to expand our coalition to include more organizations working downstate that can connect us to new audiences such as students in Carbondale and parents in Metro East. By building a simple and effective statewide GI narrative campaign that’s reinforced locally, we believe we can capture those unexposed to GI around the state as policy formulation takes place over the summer and fall of 2024. (2) INCREASING UPTAKE FOR THE STATE’S TAX CREDITS THROUGH DIRECT FILE AND BUILDING ON RECENT WINS Tax credits are central to ESP’s mission to fight to build an economy that delivers for people. In Illinois, we started our efforts when ESIL was first launched by creating the IL Cost-of-Living Refund, which focused on expanding the state’s Earned Income Credit (EIC) to cover more Illinoisans. Our efforts have already notched important wins for Illinoisans, including expanding the EIC to cover all childless workers and Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) filers and creating the first-ever Illinois CTC covering children 12 and under. Together, hundreds of millions of new dollars are flowing to parents across Illinois. Specifically, in 2024-2025 we’re focused on increasing the uptake to increase the overall impact these wins will have. To do this, we will deploy the IL Cost-of-Living Refund Coalition, which now boasts 54 members, to ensure the state is equipped with easier, more financially accessible administrative tools like the IRS Direct File program. Not only will this move save taxpayers money, but it will also increase the overall number of people receiving the state tax credits by removing a major cost barrier. This builds on our efforts from the past year working with the Department of Revenue and the Governor’s office to prepare for the second round of the IRS Direct File tool’s launch. By connecting executive leaders in Illinois to states who already accomplished integration with the Direct File tool, we can coordinate the transmission of information and expertise to ensure Illinois can quickly and efficiently deliver on this public option as the state Child Tax Credit begins distribution. Between new incentives to file taxes through the CTC and a free, clear path to apply for these credits, we seek to increase the number of eligible families in Illinois claiming this critical assistance, reversing a decade of slow loss that’s now seen just three in four eligible families claiming the federal EITC. As we coordinate efforts to inform, encourage, and enable Illinois’ executive leadership to commit to the IRS Direct File tool, a simultaneous action must be taken to connect coalition partners to IRS Direct File experts to ensure appropriate educational material is primed and the pilot of the tool launches with exceptional exposure through ads, media moments, and organizing before the 2025 tax season. (3) SUPPORTING THE EMERGING EFFORTS AROUND PUBLIC GROCERY STORES AND AN RX KIDS PROGRAM IN ILLINOIS In tandem with our efforts to advance policies that put cash in the pockets of Illinoisians, ESP is heavily invested in advancing public options policies in Illinois: government-provided goods and services designed to provide the essentials for everyday families. In the year ahead, we will be building on initial efforts in Illinois committed to exploring these policies. Specifically, the Illinois Grocery Initiative seeks to provide grants to local governments to aid in the creation of grocery stores in food deserts. Through its localized expertise in ESIL, ESP provided technical assistance to the cities of Chicago and Venice as they applied for grants via this new state program and led the feasibility studies. As we look ahead to 2024-2025, we will continue supporting these two cities and the governor’s office to site identification through coalition partners’ engagement, building a narrative campaign through op-eds, and training media leaders to ensure this new endeavor is well positioned to amplify the power of government in shaping markets nationwide. Additionally, we presently are leading in educating and informing state leadership about what an Rx Kids program in Illinois could look like. Rx Kids is a groundbreaking guaranteed income pilot that supports pregnant people in the city of Flint, Michigan with $1,500 during pregnancy and $500/month throughout the baby’s first year. ESP is extremely proud to co-chair the advisory board of Rx Kids and is excited to share its impact with a wider audience. In Illinois, ESP is focused on working to inform policymakers on the impact such a publicly funded Rx Kids program can have for children and families. ESP will advance a bold, shared North Star vision for how the state could use public funds, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other underutilized existing programs, to establish an Rx Kids program in Illinois. Key to this effort will be informing and engaging the Illinois GICP members and potential philanthropic partners to build support for such a program. What we believe is that Rx Kids offers an opportunity to directly invest in the health of new moms and ensure a solid foundation to stand upon as they identify and connect to these resources in the most critical moments of a child’s life. We see these emerging pilots as important interventions that will require additional, long-term investments to be successful.
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Grant Recipient
University of Chicago Urban Labs
The University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab (IEL) is working to eliminate the racial wealth gap in Chicago by removing financial barriers to postsecondary success for students of color. Thanks to generous support from the Trust, IEL published a report in partnership with Chicago Public Schools’ Office of College and Career Success (OCCS) in 2024 which described the role that unmet financial need and concerns about student debt play in constraining the college choices of CPS students. IEL also conducted, in partnership with the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office (ILSTO), a randomized controlled trial and survey research to test whether offering seed deposits can increase the rate at which households of color participate in the State’s 529 college savings program. These findings will be published and disseminated in winter 2024. For the next stage of our work, IEL will broker an institutional partnership between OCCS and ILSTO to understand the impact of automatically creating 529 accounts with larger deposits on students’ postsecondary aspirations, parental investments in their children’s education, and ultimately students’ postsecondary enrollment and persistence. This project will build upon the existing literature on college savings accounts and dovetail with growing excitement around Baby Bonds as a tool for reducing racial wealth gaps. The Inclusive Economy Lab will convene a community advisory group to ensure that parents and students of color and advocates inform the research questions, the methods, and the implementation. Additionally, IEL will work with ILSTO and OCCS to increase local knowledge of administering 529 accounts by inviting representatives from other states who have recently experimented with opt-out strategies, matching mechanisms, and seeding to present their learnings to Chicago and Illinois policymakers, funders, and community members. We will encourage our partners to share their learnings with their own networks, including but not limited to the National Association of State Treasurers and the National Association of College Admissions Counseling.
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Grant Recipient
NORTH SIDE HOUSING AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES
A $125,000 grant would immensely help us pay the operating costs of our new 70-bed, best-in-class shelter that we expect to open this November, before winter weather hits Chicago. Construction started in April. As first-time owners of a building, we know operating a large shelter will cost significantly more than operating shelters as tenants in open-floor plan church basements. Our primary funder, The Chicago Dept. of Family and Support Services (DFSS), has said they would consider an increase in their funding for the new shelter, but would not commit to an increase. For calendar 2023, DFSS funded $480,000 in shelter operating costs. We will ask that DFSS consider starting budget discussions for the new shelter later in July.
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Grant Recipient
CHICAGO COMMUNITY LOAN FUND
Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) is seeking 1.5 years of funding for up to $150,000 to support hiring a Portfolio Analyst which will be a new position that will help get more capital in neighborhoods that need it most by working with current borrowers that have strong probability to become repeat borrowers.
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Grant Recipient
Change Illinois
We aim to continue work to ensure the successful implementation of the ban on prison gerrymandering to take effect in 2025 statewide for the 2030 census. We aim to build off of our Chicago redistricting work and a redistricting survey we sponsored to build support for people and community-powered, transparent ward redistricting. We seek to grow our community organizing efforts, especially in the city's South and West sides, and statewide to grow civic power and engagement in democracy reforms like equitable redistricting, ending prison gerrymandering, ranked choice voting, improved ballot access and transparent budgeting and governing.