Nuestro Futuro Awards $370,000 in 2024 Grants to Chicago Nonprofits Focused on Immigration and Early Childhood

Nuestro Futuro (NF), an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust, is the largest affinity fund in the nation dedicated to Latine philanthropy. Since its founding in 2003, it has awarded more than $4 million in grant support to nonprofits throughout the Chicago region focused on Latine communities. 

In 2024, NF granted $370,000 to 34 organizations working in the Chicago region in immigration and early childhood. The 2024 grants were awarded in August to the following organizations:  

Early Childhood Portfolio  

18^th Street Casa de Cultura NFP: Located in Pilsen, 18^th Street Casa de Cultura supports early childhood education through their Son Chiquitos program, which provides cultural arts and music classes for bilingual children.   

Educare of West DuPage: Located in the western suburbs, Educare of West DuPage’s model provides a stable and supportive environment through high-quality early education programming.  

El Valor Corp: Located in Pilsen, El Valor supports the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children ages 0 to 5 in both English and Spanish. 

Erie Neighborhood House: Erie Neighborhood House is building staff capacity to provide specialized training in topics such as bilingual education, child development, curriculum design, trauma-informed practices, and culturally responsive teaching strategies.  

Expanded Mental Health Services of Chicago NFP: Serving many diverse neighborhoods on the Northwest Side of Chicago, EMHS (Kedzie Center) provides a full range of services aimed at supporting the social and emotional development of young children and their caregivers.  

Fox Valley United Way: Serving Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois, FVUW’s SPARK program helps parents and caregivers gain access to programs and resources built to help children succeed.  

Gads Hill Center: Gads Hill Center is a social service organization that provides opportunities for children and their families to build a better life through education, access to resources, and community engagement.  

Instituto del Progreso Latino: Located on the Lower West Side of Chicago, IDPL’s mission is to contribute to the fullest development of Latino immigrants and their families through education, training, and employment. 

Mano a Mano Family Resource Center: Located in Round Lake Park, Mano a Mano provides cultural and bilingual services needed to residents in Lake County, including assisting parents with health care services and benefits.  

National Museum of Mexican Art: NMMA’s Listo Para el Museo program usesMexican culture and artmaking to support cognitive development in young children.  

Immigration Portfolio

Arise Chicago: Arise Chicago leads the nation in securing immigration protection for workers defending their rights via the U.S. DALE policy.  

Brighton Park Neighborhood Council: Located on the city’s Southwest Side, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council provides case management, welcoming services, and stability to incoming immigrant populations.  

Centro De Trabajadores Unidos/United Workers Center: CTU delivers immigration services to Chicago’s Southeast and southern suburban communities via workshops, citizenship classes, legal assistance, deportation defense referrals, policy advocacy, and worker cooperative programs.  

Centro Romero: Centro Romero hosts a Community Navigator program that trains and empowers members of all ages to be pillars of their own immigrant communities through education and outreach.  

Enlace Chicago: Enlace Chicago hosts many immigration services for community members such as legal aid, housing, employment, and family services.  

Family Service and Mental Health Center of Cicero: Family Service and Mental Health Center of Cicero provides supportive, affordable, and accesible services to its primarily Spanish-speaking clients in western Cook County.  

Farm Worker Advocacy Project: FLAP works to support Latine immigrant workers and their families through community legal education and outreach efforts.  

GAP Community Center: Partnering with other community organizations, GAP Community Center seeks to preserve dignity and healthy eating options to members in the community by providing nutritious options and a food store to meet the needs of a growing community of new arrivals.  

Healing to Action: Healing to Action’s mission is to end gender-based violence by building leadership and collective power of the communities most impacted, including new arrivals, low-income, disability, LGBTQ, and communities of color.  

Home of the Child/El Hogar Del Nino: Located in Pilsen, El Hogar Del Nino serves as a community connector by providing mental health support, helping families with access to public benefits, and providing food assistance.  

Immigrant Solidarity DuPage: Located in DuPage County, Immigrant Solidarity DuPage serves as a much-needed resource for immigrants throughout the county, providing support via education, mutual aid, and programming.  

Latino Policy Forum: Latino Policy Forum has been at the forefront of the “Welcome to Illinois” Coalition, a coalition aimed at serving the needs of new arrivals through advocacy and services to welcome them to the area.  

Latinos Progresando: Latinos Progresando provides a full spectrum of family based legal services to newly arrived immigrants and remains the only free resource for new arrivals on the Southwest Side of the city.  

Logan Square Neighborhood Association: Since 2005, Logan Square Neighborhood Association has aided thousands of Spanish-speaking immigrants in applying for citizenship, green cards, and DACA status.  

Mujeres Latinas En Accion: Mujeres Latinas En Accion supports community outreach and civic engagement with Latine and immigrant community members via immigrant justice, economic justice, women’s health, and gender-based violence.  

North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic: Located in the northern suburbs, NSLAC’s mission is to provide accessible, quality, equitable, free legal services in domestic violence, housing, and immigration.  

Northern Illinois Justice for Our Neighbors: NIJFON provides free immigration legal services to low-income immigrants throughout northern Illinois.  

Onward Neighborhood House: Onward Neighborhood House provides access to comprehensive settlement services, ranging from health care to legal services to education resources.  

Partners for our Communities (POC): POC provides culturally competent services for immigration relief and wrap-around services for immigrant individuals and families.  

PASO: PASO (West Suburban Action Project) serves the western suburban area of the Chicago region, providing immigration and health care access and resources to those in need.  

PODER: Located on the Southwest Side of Chicago, PODER serves as an immigrant integration center, providing workforce training, digital skills, civic engagement, and connections to critical services.  

Spanish Community Center: Located in Joliet, Spanish Community Center provides legal services and immigration programming for newly arrived asylum seekers.  

Taller de Jose: For more than 15 years, Taller de Jose (TDJ) has served Chicago’s Latine communities through unique programs and services that connect, accompany, and advocate for people in need of help with issues ranging from immigration to legal, financial, medical, and others. 

Youth and Family Center of McHenry County: Serving McHenry County, YFC provides vital services to marginalized Latine communities in this underserved area of the region.