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
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.
-
Grant Recipient
Chicago Commons
Chicago Commons’ Family Hub promotes racial and social equity and economic mobility by addressing families’ multi-faceted needs, not just through asset development, but by providing a supportive, holistic environment and resources that enable success. Family Hub reaches participants from underserved neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West sides. Participant recruitment and program implementation occurs predominantly within our four early childhood education (ECE) centers. Programmatic components include financial literacy and empowerment, entrepreneurship, job success skill development, degree/accreditation attainment services, health and wellness services, and self-advocacy.
-
Grant Recipient
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF CHICAGO INC
In recognition of each partner’s own individual success in the field of housing, and our shared interest in addressing lending inequity and racially based disinvestment, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago (NHS), the Chicago Urban League, and Self-Help Federal Credit Union have joined together to continue work started in the first year of our partnership, and continue advancing our strategies to implement innovative loan products and outreach programs that reach Black and Brown potential homebuyers to help them obtain a fairly-priced home loan. This year, we are joined by the Woodstock Institute, and Self Help’s policy affiliate, the Center for Responsible Lending. Affordable homeownership is still the main driver of household and generational wealth, and is a driver of mixed-income, sustainable neighborhoods. Through the support of the Chicago Community Trust’s 2024 Home Lending Partnership Program opportunity, this collaborative partnership will work towards opening equitable CDFI lending to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac secondary markets, fundamentally changing the accessibility and availability of such lending, not only in the Chicago area, but nationally. To this end, we will convene a Council with the goal of discussing how we can combine private and government resources to create a pilot loan program, fundraise for its loan pool, and develop multi-year performance data to act as qualified evidence to support systematic change at the federal level.
-
Grant Recipient
Braven
The mission of Braven is to empower promising, underrepresented young people—first-generation college students, students from low-income backgrounds, and students of color—with the skills, confidence, experiences and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact. Our vision is that the next generation of leaders will emerge from everywhere and be as diverse as our future demands. While Braven is a national nonprofit, our Founder and CEO Aimée Eubanks Davis is a Black woman raised on Chicago’s Southside with a deep commitment to creating economic mobility for the Black and Latine populations in our city. Therefore, Chicago is our national headquarters and serves as the birthplace of Braven's most innovative programs (explained in more detail below): Braven at National Louis University (NLU), BravenX, and Braven at Northern Illinois University (NIU). Braven-Chicago is requesting funding to execute the Braven Fellowship inclusive of the Accelerator Course and post-course supports to Chicago-based Fellows at NLU, NIU, and through BravenX in FY25. We have served over 2,000 Fellows across our three sites (NIU, NLU, and BravenX), of which nearly 1,200 are Chicago-based since Spring of 2018. In FY23 alone, we served 306 Chicago-based Fellows. Our desire is to continue to scale all three programs, recognizing the urgency to ensure that underrepresented young people coming from low-income backgrounds are able to obtain the American Promise on pace with their white peers, and we anticipate we will serve 350-400 Chicago-based Fellows in FY25, when this grant would be received. Braven works in deep partnership with higher education partners and employers to empower students with the skills, confidence, experiences and social capital they will need to land strong first jobs that put them on the path to upward economic mobility through our 2.5 year Fellowship experience. Students begin their Braven Fellowship with the one semester Accelerator course, typically during their sophomore or transfer junior year, and then join the Braven network and can take advantage of post-course supports including our one-on-one Professional Mentor program, Career Communities, industry workshops, and referral networks. Our North star is to ensure Braven Fellows get quality first economic opportunities within six months of graduation. We desire to make good on America’s promise. Braven intervenes at just the right moment – in students’ sophomore or transfer junior year – and we help them over the finish line, catching them before they undermatch in the job market. Rather than wasting all that potential talent, we unleash it on the job market in ways that build economic equity. Innovation Programs: BravenX: This innovation program is virtual and identical in length (14 weeks), content, and cohort structure as our core product, however it is made possible through partnerships with college access and success organizations instead of universities. In lieu of academic credit, BravenX Fellows earn a financial stipend upon completion of the program. BravenX’s goal is to extend the critical work of college success organizations and charter high schools into strong career outcomes after college. By partnering with such organizations, Braven helps ensure that their alumni who share the demographics of our target students not only graduate, enroll and persist in college, but also build the foundation for a lifelong career path. NLU: Since 2018, Braven has been executing an innovative pilot of the university model at National Louis University (NLU) in Chicago, a private university whose students represent a higher-need demographic (in terms of financial and academic readiness) compared to our other partners nationally, and complete a 10 week-modified version of the standard Accelerator since the school is on a quarter system. NLU is an open-access (98% acceptance rate) university, which means greater access to college education, but students may come in less academically prepared. This Chicago program is an important pilot for evaluating our model with a higher-need student body and shortened course. In terms of outcomes, we anticipate that these students will outpace peer students at NLU but not see the same level of strong job attainment that we do with our public universities.
-
Grant Recipient
Connections for the Homeless, Inc.
Homelessness is solvable. for the Homeless provides critical eviction prevention, shelter, and housing services to over 5,000 individuals per year in 52 Chicagoland communities while mobilizing our community to combat systemic inequities and build innovative and responsive programs and partnerships that create a thriving community.
-
Grant Recipient
NEW LIFE CENTERS OF CHICAGOLAND NFP
New Life Centers is pleased to submit an application for the Sustainable Solutions for Housing Stability grant opportunity offered by the Chicago Community Trust. Our organization has a long-standing commitment to serving vulnerable populations in the Chicago metropolitan area and addressing the pressing issue of homelessness and unstable housing situations. Through our New Vecinos program, we have demonstrated an ability to provide essential support and resources to individuals and families in need. From resettlement efforts to emergency supply distribution, case management, and community engagement, our organization is dedicated to creating sustainable solutions for housing stability. New Vecinos began in 2023, and we have successfully accomplished the following: • Resettlement - Together we’ve moved over 4000 families into apartments and 160,000 individuals! We are now moving 55 apartments per day! • Storehouse - We have distributed over 240,000 emergency items to police stations, shelters, and the landing zone including jackets, hats, gloves, hygiene kits, clothing, diapers, and more. We receive and distribute donations within 24 hours of an order being placed. • Shelter Community Care - On Christmas Eve, we opened the O’Hare Hilton and have now transferred families to the new Little Village Shelter. We currently care for over 225 people comprised of young families one shelter, and have opened a second shelter that will serve 400 people. We provide community care, case management, connection to resources and community, and continue to walk with families. • Landing Zone Support and Intake Center - For the past few months we have worked with OEMC in welcoming new neighbors at the landing zone and support Catholic Charities with Outmigration and Relocation as well as providing emergency supplies and winter gear. We have opened an intake center and provide a system of welcoming, support, outmigration, and diversion for those arriving in Chicago. 100-300 people a day come through the center. • Welcome Center - Each week in Little Village we see 800-1000 walk-ins at our Welcome Center. We help with food, case management, clothing, and guidance on their journey, including information about housing and resettlement. • Pan De Vida - At our 6 sites across the city and our two fresh markets, we feed over 6,000 families per month. We give them high-quality groceries as well as connections to wrap-around supports. • Neighborhood Welcoming - We have hosted “Welcome to the Neighborhood” events in Woodlawn, North Lawndale, Little Village, and have more planned each month. We welcome families to the community and connect them to social service agencies, churches, and other supports. This helps them on their journey to long-term sustainability. Our approach ensures we prioritize the needs of marginalized communities, including asylum-seekers, unaccompanied youth, and families facing housing instability. With the support of the Sustainable Solutions for Housing Stability grant, New Life Centers will continue to run and enhance our existing programs to reach vulnerable individuals and families. We are working on a new initiative to take lessons learned from New Vecinos' mission and apply those lessons to the general unhoused in Chicago. We are excited to continue to build a stronger and more collaborative effort across the city to care for the unhoused at all levels. Thank you for considering our application. We look forward to the opportunity to partner with the Chicago Community Trust in our shared mission to promote housing stability and support the most vulnerable members of our community.
-
Grant Recipient
Chicago State University Foundation
As an anchor institution rooted in Roseland, Chicago State University (CSU) is committed to facilitating revitalization along 95th Street that enhances quality of life for our students and community members. Through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, CSU released a 95th Street Economic Development Plan that reflected feedback from hundreds of community and campus stakeholders. The Chicago State Foundation requests funding to allow CSU to hire a technical team that will conduct pre-development activities that lead to groundbreaking by 2026 for one (1) or more sites identified in CSU’s 95th Street Corridor Development Framework.
-
Grant Recipient
THRIVE SCHOLARS
Economic mobility serves as Thrive Scholars' guiding principle. By addressing systemic barriers and providing tailored support for college students, our program empowers marginalized students to achieve their full potential and contribute to a more equitable society. From Summer Academy to Career Pathways, our program offers tailored support, fostering academic success and career readiness. Our goal is to ensure all Scholars have career optionality and are on a path toward economic mobility. The need for our programming in Chicago is overwhelming. Therefore, we have set the ambitious goal of increasing the annual number of new Scholars admitted in Chicago from 60 in 2023 to 600 students within the next three years. With Trust’s support, we can accomplish this by scaling our Summer Academy and Career Pathway programming, enabling system-level change for Chicago in the long term, and creating pathways to economic mobility for hundreds of deserving Chicago students.
-
Grant Recipient
Xchange Chicago, Inc
Co-founded by Comer Education Campus and P33, Xchange Chicago elevates existing community assets and education anchors into an innovation corridor. The primary objective of Xchange is to create a more equitable and inclusive economy by advancing innovative workforce solutions that equip local residents with the skills and resources to access high-growth employment opportunities in tech and other rapidly growing fields with high earning potential. Xchange’s strategy relies on both the opportunity within Chicago’s Tech Sector and the local commercial demand for IT services. “Reshoring” IT service roles will help rebuild the middle class while acting as proven onramps into higher-skill, higher-wage jobs in tech over time. Commercial tenants at the inaugural site in Grand Crossing will hire from the community and work with tech training partners to build a pipeline of diverse talent for careers in tech. Xchange adopts an innovative revenue stream from sourcing IT contracts that will be reinvested to cover ongoing operations, providing a unique, long-term mechanism for sustainability. Xchange meets the increasing competition for talent through its commitment to invest in often overlooked individuals eager for a career in tech while infusing new capital into neighborhoods ready to welcome new businesses into the community. Xchange promises a triple bottom line with these integrated drivers of change: (1) Job training and job creation for diverse talent at scale; (2) Capacity building and growth for high performing, minority business enterprise suppliers; and (3) New business hubs operating on Chicago’s South Side.