Unity Fund: A Look at Impact in 2023

The Chicago Community Trust’s Unity Fund is a testament to the community spirit of the Chicago region and the power of collective giving.

Since its founding in 2008 at the height of the Great Recession, the fund has made more than $19 million in grants to hundreds of nonprofits that provide Chicagoans with emergency food, clothing, legal aid, homelessness services, and more.   

Contributions from donors like you enable Unity Fund to pool resources and support frontline organizations that are meeting the most critical needs. The fund is strategically directed to maximize impact across metropolitan Chicago. 

In fiscal year 2023, Unity Fund granted $1 million to 20 organizations with a focus on preventing and ending homelessness for particularly vulnerable groups including youth, survivors of gender-based violence, and people staying in shelters and other temporary living arrangements. The grants also supported organizations providing access to mental and behavioral health services, food and nutrition, workforce development, and other services.

We are grateful to our donors who entrust us to support organizations meeting the greatest needs. With your generosity we can do even more. Visit cct.org/give. 

“Unity Fund is designed to be able to pivot and meet the greatest needs as they arise. An unprecedented number of Chicago residents are facing homelessness and housing insecurity—including thousands of individuals who have arrived here seeking safety and asylum in the U.S. We expect that service providers will continue to need support in meeting these challenges.”

Sendy Soto
Senior Director of Community Impact
The Chicago Community Trust

Grant recipients note that Unity Fund support has bolstered their capacity to serve new arrivals while continuing to support existing residents’ ongoing needs.

Resettlement Services  

New Life Centers of Chicagoland was founded in 2005 to address the needs of communities surrounding New Life Community Church locations. Since spring 2023, in partnership with the Illinois Department of Human Services and Catholic Charities, the organization has been focusing on resettlement services for families. As of late 2023, the organization has helped 1,200 families find housing, assisting with transportation, furniture acquisition, and connecting them with community agencies after placement.  

According to Executive Director Matt DeMateo, support from Unity Fund has helped New Life’s ability to play a pivotal role in serving new arrivals and community members. “Emergency services to feed families, get them cared for, and get them settled takes a lot of resources. Our partnership with the Trust is important to what we do,” he said.  

DeMateo also noted that working with asylum seekers creates a learning opportunity for organizations on the ground. Specifically, he believes the crosscutting approach being developed to help new arrivals can be replicated and built upon to serve other populations in need of support.  

“The situation is not an either-or – it’s a both and,” he said. “I tell my team that our resettlement system can become a model for caring for our unhoused here in Chicago as well.”

Matt DeMateo
Executive Director
New Life Centers of Chicagoland

Youth Homelessness & Housing: LYTE Collective

Young people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity are especially vulnerable to physical and mental health issues, obstacles to completing their education, and an increased risk of getting caught up in the criminal legal system, among other challenges. Further, traditional service models aimed at helping them are often time-limited and crisis-focused, overlooking their longer-term, complex needs.

To address these gaps, LYTE Collective was founded in 2016 by a group of social workers seeking to reform how youth facing poverty, homelessness, and housing instability receive social services. The organization works with young people between 16 to 30 to help them secure housing and meet basic needs such as access to food, health care, clothing, personal care supplies, and transportation. Among its many services, LYTE also provides enrollment support and advocacy within high schools and colleges; support in gaining employment and increasing income; help with obtaining legal services, assistance with accessing public benefits; and even recreation and arts programming.

According to Executive Director Casey Holtschneider, the organization employs a model that is intensive, holistic, and determined to help every young person who walks through their doors, regardless of their circumstances or history. And she credits grant funding from Trust for bolstering LYTE’s ability to help them in an ongoing, longer-term capacity.

“Support from Unity Fund is truly a lifeline for our young people, allowing us to respond to their immediate needs flexibly and quickly, and then to remain by their side for as long as they would like us to,” said Holtschneider.

Casey Holtschneider
Executive Director
LYTE Collective

Thank you for your commitment to supporting our community.