Healthy Communities Foundation Invests $6.98 Million to Strengthen Health Equity in Chicago and the Western Suburbs
Healthy Communities Foundation Invests $6.98 Million to Strengthen Health Equity in Chicago and the Western Suburbs
Unrestricted grants awarded to 78 nonprofits addressing critical initiatives in mental health, housing stability, food security, and health equity advocacy
RIVERSIDE, IL (OCTOBER 29, 2024) – Healthy Communities Foundation (HCF) has announced a $6.98 million investment in unrestricted grants to 78 nonprofit organizations serving Chicago’s South and West sides and the western suburbs of Cook County. These organizations are leading efforts to address health needs for local communities while advancing systemic solutions to reduce significant health inequities across the Foundation’s service area.
In 2024, the Foundation increased its general operating support funding by 12% compared to 2023, allocating $5.15 million (75%) to organizations addressing the social and structural determinants of health in areas facing the most significant health inequities, particularly among predominately Black, Indigenous, Latinx/e, People of Color communities. This demonstrates the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to health equity and investment in immediate and long-term community-led solutions that foster opportunities for all community members to lead healthy lives.
“General operating support is essential for strengthening organizations’ efforts to address the root causes of health inequities,” said Maria Pesqueira, President of HCF. “Using a trust-based grantmaking approach, we help our grantee partners build their resilience and promote meaningful systems change, ensuring that our funding can lead to sustainable improvements in community health.”
2024 General Operating Support Overview
- Total Grants: $6.98 million
- One-Year Grants: A total of $2,525,000 awarded to 46 local organizations, including seven first-time grantee partners. The average grant award was $54,891.
- Multi-Year Grants: A total of $4,450,000 in first-year grants awarded to 32 local organizations—the Foundation’s second multi-year partner cohort—as part of a five-year renewable grant commitment. This cohort is expected to receive up to $22.3 million in total grants over the 2024-2029 funding period.
Expanded Commitment to Health Equity
This year, HCF has deepened its commitment to strengthening the local health ecosystem by supporting sustainable community-led work that promotes health and racial equity. As a core component of the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy, unrestricted funding allows recipient organizations to direct resources where they are most needed, giving them flexibility to adapt and respond to evolving challenges.
One-Year Grants: Supporting Emerging Health Equity Strategies
The Foundation’s one-year unrestricted grants, totaling $2,525,000, support organizations implementing innovative health equity strategies and community-led health initiatives. This funding also enhances the Foundation’s understanding of the local health landscape, which informs its grantmaking strategies.
2024 One-Year Grants by HCF Grantmaking Priority:
- “Access to Quality Healthcare”: $505,000 invested in nine organizations working to eliminate barriers to healthcare access and emphasizing community leadership. Partners include CommunityHealth, Lawndale Christian Health Center, and New Moms.
- “Addressing Social Determinants of Health”: $1,085,000 invested in 21 organizations addressing social and structural determinants of health through a racial equity lens and in innovative ways. Partners include A House in Austin, Chicago Community and Workers’ Rights, and Real Foods Collective.
- “Advocate for Health Policies and Systems Change”: $330,000 invested in six organizations engaged in policy advocacy and upstream solutions to address health inequities. Partners include Arise Chicago, Equiticity, and Illinois Partners for Human Service.
- “Augment Local Health Knowledge”: $605,000 invested in 10 organizations focused on community-led research, narrative change, and hyper-local public health data collection. Partners include Borderless Magazine, Healing to Action, and Ujimaa Medics.
Multi-Year Grants: Long-Term Investment in Health Equity
The Foundation awarded $4,450,000 to 32 organizations for the first year of a five-year grant commitment. This represents a 60% increase in funded organizations compared to the first cohort (2021-2023). Based on insights from the previous cohort, the Foundation also extended its multi-year funding commitment from three to five years to reinforce its systems change strategy, which focuses on sustained and flexible funding to enhance organizational resilience and adaptability and to catalyze movement for health equity.
2024 Multi-Year Grant Highlights:
- Cohort partners include Arab American Family Services, Austin Coming Together, and Equal Hope, as well as former one-year HCF grantees, such as Corazon Community Services, EverThrive Illinois, and Taskforce Prevention and Community Services.
- 78% of multi-year partners serve HCF communities that have historically experienced significant health inequities.
- 54% have actively addressed the needs of recent migrant arrivals and have used unrestricted funding to stay responsive to evolving community needs.
“Annual and multi-year partners are central to HCF’s dynamic grantmaking strategy, responding to emerging initiatives and crises while advancing systems change to achieve health equity,” said Nora Garcia, Director of Programs. “This approach was critical during the pandemic and the arrival of thousands of new community members to our region, and it will help strengthen the health ecosystem before the next public health emergency.”
Regarding the Foundation’s shift in its multi-year grantmaking approach, Nora added: “Expanding our multi-year commitments is rooted in lessons from the past three years, underscoring that structural change toward health justice requires long-term vision, planning, and partnership.”
