Grants

Grant Recipient

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $100,000

This proposal addresses the unique socio-medical needs of high-risk Black birthing people. We propose to develop and pilot an innovative integrative model of maternity care for Black mothers with high-risk pregnancies. Melanated Group Midwifery Care Plus (MGMC+) will build upon our current PCORI-funded pregnancy and postpartum care model for low-risk women, Melanated Group Midwifery Care (MGMC), and adapt it to our high-risk Black population. MGMC+ merges five evidence-based interventions to foster greater trust and engagement and improve pregnancy and postpartum experiences: 1) Racial concordance between patients, maternal fetal medicine (MFM) physicians and certified nurse-midwives (CNM) fosters trust and communication; 2) Group prenatal care sessions with women who share a high-risk diagnosis (i.e., hypertension, diabetes, risk of pre-term birth) tailored to address health literacy, self-advocacy, and peer support reduces power hierarchies; 3) Complex care coordination, including nurse navigation and social work, minimizes the burden of multiple appointments and also facilitates access to mental health and other supportive services; 4) Provider training for all OBGYN physicians, nurses and midwives ensures patient interactions across the healthcare system are patient-centered and supports shared decision making; and 5) Community-based doula support throughout pregnancy, birth and postpartum improves birth outcomes and experiences, as well as increases breastfeeding and decreases postpartum depression. Integrative and concordant obstetric care for Chicago’s Black birthing community is an innovative concept whose time has come. We are currently in our fourth year of successfully implementing MGMC for low-risk Black mothers at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Based on our implementation data, we realize there is much need to adapt this model to high-risk pregnancy as well as to train providers to function as part of a multidisciplinary team to deliver evidence based respectful care. Funding from the Chicago Community Trust will allow us to adapt our highly successful low risk model to meet the needs of a growing population of Black mothers with high-risk pregnancies.

Grant Recipient

Chicago Community Foundation

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $50,000

Grant Recipient

Latino Policy Forum

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $300,000

Within the ecosystem of Latino- and immigrant-serving organizations in the Chicagoland area, the Latino Policy Forum is uniquely qualified to provide essential services and support for responding to the plans, policies, actions, and rhetoric of the incoming federal administration. The Forum would apply its distinctive capabilities and experience to (1) monitor and analyze current information as it emerges; (2) serve as an information hub for immigrant-serving organizations, including regularly convening a coalition of more than 200 member organizations where information will be shared, activities coordinated, and advocacy planned; (3) share information and advice with other groups with which the Forum has strong existing relationships, often in hard-to-reach locations or with hard-to-reach populations; (4) produce and disseminate digital and print bilingual materials and information relevant to immigrants and immigrant-serving organizations; (5) make in-person and online presentations to affected groups; and (6) lead and participate in advocacy activities. These services provided by the Forum are not only vital in themselves; they will also make the participating organizations more efficient and effective, by among other things, providing a regular forum for sharing information and coordinating activities, avoiding duplication of effort in creating and disseminating informational materials, and reducing the time that those organizations’ staffs might use to track and analyze the policies and practices of the new administration.

Grant Recipient

Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $75,000

The ILBCF is seeking general operating funding to support its overarching operations and programmatic efforts for this fiscal year. The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation (ILBCF) established in 2002 has been at the forefront of addressing the needs of the Illinois' African American population. The mission of the I LBCF is to provide a forum for non-partisan educational research, public policy development, and analysis of various issues of social and economic importance for Illinois African-American communities. and to provide students throughout Illinois with scholarships and internship opportunities to advance their educational goals. Please note that in 2024 the ILBCF reached a goal of giving away 1.5 million dollars in scholarship with doubling its recipients of the scholarships to 150 deserving scholars from across the state of Illinois. Funding is necessary to ensure the sustainability of the ILBCF's mission via general operations. programming. events. and tangible services for the community. Serving as 1 of 20 Black Caucus foundations throughout the United States of America; the ILBCF functions as the advocacy, research. and philanthropic nonprofit 501 (c )3 arm of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus established in 1967 is one of the oldest and largest standing black caucuses in the United States even predating the foundation of the Congressional Black Caucus. The primary mission of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is "to assure that the interests of African American citizens are given equitable representation in the General Assembly and that legislative action is directed to address those interests." The ILBCF seeks to continue with the current annual activities while strengthening its programmatic initiatives and projects: • Annual Black History Month Soiree • Education & Advocacy Town Halls • Annual Scholarship Golf Outing & Banquet (Awards $100,000 Annually) • Civic Youth Engagement Day • Internship & Fellowship Program • ILBCF Annual Legislative Conference/Policy Summit • Restoration. Revitalization. & Representation Matters (Medical Field and more) • Pandemic Recovery & Equity Response • Education & Literacy • Social Justice & Public Policy Institute • Africa Programming • Juneteenth Freedom Brunch/Economic Parity • Food Access Disparities/Insecurities/Black Farmers' Project • HBCU Fellowship Program The above initiatives and programmatic objectives assist the ILBCF in achieving the mission.

Grant Recipient

The Chicago Community Trust

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $65,000

Grant Recipient

University of Chicago

Awarded: February 2025 Awarded Amount: $201,221

Successfully transferring property to an heir is an essential step in creating and maintaining generational wealth. This research projects seeks to measure intergenerational wealth transfer, specifically residential property, in Chicago. We will measure the variation in intergenerational wealth transfer across neighborhoods, identify barriers to successful transmission, suggest potential policy reforms, and design interventions to promote successful transfer of homes across generations. Our analysis will cover all Chicago neighborhoods, and we will pay special attention to low-income owners and communities of color.