Deadline: 8 June 2020
Robert R. Mccormick Foundation is currently accepting applications for the 2020 Communities Grant.
Focus Areas
- Education
- The Foundation invests in strategies that promote equitable access to high-quality education so that young people are prepared to succeed in school, career, and life. Priority is on young people of color from low-income backgrounds, Black and Latino males in particular.
- They support initiatives that:
- Develop and equip diverse educators to provide effective, high-quality instruction to racially and economically diverse students.
- Promote positive, safe, and supportive schools where social-emotional learning, restorative practice, and trauma-informed approaches enable students and staff to achieve academic success and thrive.
- Support of these activities are limited to focused work in Little Village and Englewood, as well as adjacent neighborhoods with community-driven plans.
- Provide instruction and experiential learning opportunities for students facing wide achievement gaps to help them reach important academic milestones across key transition points: elementary to middle school, middle school to high school, and high school to postsecondary education or training.
- Health and Wellness
- The Foundation helps Chicagoans access the high-quality care and resources they need to lead healthy lives. They prioritize serving people of color from low-income backgrounds who face the most disparate health outcomes in Chicagoland.
- They support initiatives that:
- Provide access to primary, preventative, and mental health care services and supports for populations who experience the most barriers to care; including: access to primary and preventive care for women of color and undocumented individuals, and mental health care and support for communities of color.
- Improve quality of care by increasing the diversity of the healthcare workforce and service providers to deliver culturally competent services.
- Promote community-based strategies for healthy eating and active living to provide access to healthy, affordable food and safe places to play and be active.
- Support of these activities are limited to focused work in Little Village and Englewood, as well as adjacent neighborhoods with community-driven plans
- Jobs and Economic Opportunity
- The Foundation supports adult education and workforce development programs working together to provide training and wrap-around services that promote living-wage careers for low income individuals. priority populations include workers making low wages, youth not in school or working (“Opportunity Youth”), people with criminal records (“Returning Citizens”), immigrants and refugees, and individuals currently or at risk of experiencing homelessness.
- They support the following strategies:
- Career Pathways
- Building a stronger sequence of services from beginning literacy to more advanced adult education skills-building programming, such as ESL, Bridge to job training, and high school equivalency programs.
- Developing and promoting living wage careers by investing in hard-skills workforce training and transitional jobs for populations faced with the greatest disparities.
- Economics and Social Support Services
- Asset building services including financial education, homelessness prevention, and access to income supports for eligible clients.
- Support of these activities are limited to focused work in Little Village and Englewood, as well as adjacent neighborhoods with community-driven plans.
- Affordable housing services, including costs for project management, architectural plans and designs. They also fund supportive housing programs for formerly homeless individuals and families.
- Support of these activities are limited to focused work in Little Village and Englewood, as well as adjacent neighborhoods with community-driven plans.
- Legal services focused on affordable housing and immigration issues including housing access and eviction prevention, tenant/landlord rights and agreements, Department of Justice-accredited legal screenings on DACA eligibility renewals, and hardship deportation cases.
- Career Pathways
The Foundation does not make grants to:
- Capital campaigns or endowments
- Public, private, or charter schools
- Government agencies
- Individuals
Eligibility Criteria
- The Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that meet the following criteria:
- Have 501(c)3 federal tax-exempt status, or use a fiscal sponsor for that purpose
- Serve residents of the Greater Chicago metropolitan region with a priority on Chicago’s south and west sides
- Demonstrate a strong financial position
- Use data to inform practice and track impact
- Address at least one of the focus areas: Education, Health and Wellness, or Jobs and Economic Opportunity.
- Additionally, nonprofit organizations must follow one of these approaches:
- Networks
- They support community-driven plans in which organizations work together to help improve services and outcomes across Focus Areas.
- Community-wide Level: Supporting organizations leading and/or participating in community-informed initiatives addressing one or more focus areas. Priority is given to initiatives in areas showing the highest economic and racial disparities in Chicago and Suburban communities.
- Citywide/Regional Level: Supporting networks of organizations or coalitions providing services that impact the well-being of a particular population. Priority is given to networks focusing on populations showing the highest economic, racial, and gender disparities in comparison to the general population. (Example, Opportunity Youth, Returning Citizens)
- Place-Based
- They currently support Quality of Life Plans, designed and led by community residents and stakeholders, in Chicago’s Little Village and Englewood neighborhoods. To date, the Communities Program has supported training efforts to increase local capacity and funded direct services that are aligned with each plan’s goals and strategies.
- Grant consideration is given to those programs and initiatives that are supported by the local committees of residents and stakeholders aligned with each community’s Quality of Life Plan.
- Systems-Building
- They support the following initiatives that address economic and racial disparities aligned with Focus Areas:
- Public policy and advocacy efforts increasing resources and removing disparities.
- Community leadership training, engagement, and mobilization.
- Support of these activities is limited to focused work in Little Village and Englewood, as well as adjacent neighborhoods with community-driven plans.
- Related research and evaluation of practices.
- They support the following initiatives that address economic and racial disparities aligned with Focus Areas:
- Networks
For more information, visit https://donate.mccormickfoundation.org/communities/apply-for-a-grant#guidelines
