Building Wealth and Well-Being for All Chicagoans

Taking on Our Region’s Greatest Challenge

The Trust was created over a century ago to bring our community together to face our most pressing challenges and seize our greatest opportunities. Today, that means confronting the racial and ethnic wealth gap that keeps Chicago from thriving.

We work toward a day when everyone in the Chicago region* has enough wealth to care for their family and invest in the future. Today, far too many do not, contributing to issues such as housing insecurity, unacceptable health disparities, and gun violence.

Policies and practices — fueled by the misconception that poverty is due solely to individual choices — have prevented Black and Latine Chicagoans from building wealth on par with white Chicagoans. At the Trust, we believe people are our region’s greatest asset. When everyone is contributing to and benefiting from our economy, our region will thrive.

Building wealth is building well-being.

While income is important because it helps people meet their daily needs, wealth allows them to invest and plan for their future. It’s about options and opportunities — or lack thereof — that can make a huge impact on the trajectory of a person’s life, future generations, and the larger community.

For example, a person with a savings cushion can weather a job loss without going into debt. They can afford a down payment on a median-priced home and hopefully build equity for themselves and future generations. They can afford to dream, for instance pursuing higher education or opening their own business.

It’s not just about money in the bank. It’s about improving peace of mind and banking on a better future.

Our response to wealth inequities is vital to our region’s future. 

Since 2019, the Trust has been focused on narrowing the Chicago region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap. At this point, we and our community partners have gained knowledge and collected data pointing ever more clearly toward both the ramifications of and reasons for the gap. We are prioritizing three focus areas where we have expertise and can move the needle: (1) increasing income and financial assets, (2) homeownership and home equity, and (3) neighborhood investment.

Through partnerships, we can go even further. 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 assets.