We are working toward a day when every Chicagoan has the assets to care for their family and invest in their future. To achieve this, the Trust works to increase equitable access to wealth-building tools for Chicagoans who have otherwise lacked it.
The Chicago region’s household wealth gap is stark, stifling the entire region’s economic potential. Research shows that historically underinvested communities suffering from a lack of wealth equity are primarily home to Chicago’s Black and Latine residents.
According to the Color of Wealth in Chicago, the median net worth of Chicago-area households ranges from $210,000 for whites, $40,500 for U.S.-born Mexicans, $24,000 for Puerto Ricans, $6,000 for foreign-born Mexicans, to $0 for Blacks.
The gap can remain even when people buy homes or complete college. Home values and home equity in underinvested communities lag white homeowners while higher-earning Black and Latine households are less likely to be financially secure than white households.
A wide range of interventions can be pursued to grow the household wealth of the Chicago area’s Black and Latine residents, who predominantly live in underinvested and gentrifying communities. The Trust has identified two areas where we believe we can have the greatest impact: increasing homeownership and home equity and boosting income and assets.
Our Homeownership & Home Equity focus area supports:
Programs that help residents to stay in their neighborhoods of choice and build generational wealth.
Flexible capital that does two things: enables Black and Latine residents to either become or remain homeowners and facilitates the creation of more affordable housing stock.
Our Income & Assets focus area supports:
Postsecondary education initiatives that create pathways for Black and Latine Chicagoans to complete higher education and degree certification with limited debt.
Work with employers to increase access to quality jobs with employee protections, wealth-building wages, and asset-building benefits such as retirement accounts.
Programs that support shared back-office functions and employee benefits for small businesses.
We are working toward a day when every Chicagoan has the assets to care for their family and invest in their future. To achieve this, the Trust works to increase equitable access to wealth-building tools for Chicagoans who have otherwise lacked it.
As we move forward, we are committed to learning together, adjusting, and being responsive. We will use insights from our grantmaking and input from our partners to shape our learning journey and approach.
The Trust collaborates with a wide range of external partners, including community organizations, local government, and civic and corporate leaders, on ways we can work together or alongside one another to help increase wealth, opportunities and well-being for every Chicagoan.
We also contribute to the following funder collaboratives housed at or co-led by The Chicago Community Trust:
Whether you are a donor, a community leader, work for a nonprofit, lead a company, or serve as a local government representative, we invite you to join us in increasing opportunities for Chicagoans to build wealth to create a stronger Chicago region.
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Please contact Shandra Richardson, Senior Director of Household Wealth, at srichardson@cct.org, or Adele Nandan, Director of Donor Engagement, at anandan@cct.org.
