The Lake County Community Foundation, an affiliate of The Chicago Community Trust, announced $159,500 in grants to local nonprofit organizations addressing the urgent needs of the most vulnerable individuals and families in the county.
The following grant recipients have demonstrated exceptional commitment to making Lake County a better place to live, work and raise a family in the areas designated to have the most impact on the county’s current needs.
2015 Grant Recipients:
• Affordable Housing Corporation of Lake County – $15,000 to support its expansion of the Owner Occupied Rehabilitation Program to North Chicago and targeted low income neighborhoods in Lake County.
• A Safe Place – $18,000 to formally establish the Partnership for a Safer Lake County.
• Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP)- $20,000in seed money to increase the organization’s capacity through the establishment of an Outreach Coordinatorposition dedicated to serving Lake County workers.
• Liberty Prairie Foundation- $25,000to support the establishment of a streamlined countywide local food system.
• Mano a Mano Family Resource Center – $25,000 to increase the organization’s capacity to meet significant and increasing demand for comprehensive immigration services in Lake County.
• Noah’s Rest Inc. – $4,500 to support the creation of a targeted comprehensive marketing strategy and implementation plan.
• Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science – $18,000 to support the integration of physical health services into the Healthy Families Program.
• Waukegan to College – $22,000 to collaboratively pilot a healthcare STEM pathway at Waukegan High School.
• Boys & Girls Club of Lake County – $10,000 to cover expenses incurred during the Waukegan School District 60 strike in October 2014.
• YWCA Lake County – $6,000 to cover expenses incurred through the School-Age program during the Waukegan School District 60 strike in October 2014.
• Ounce of Prevention Fund – $10,000 to develop a North Chicago Community early learning plan for North Chicago Community Unit School District 187.
• UChicago Impact – $12,000 to implement the 5Essentials Professional Learning Series in Zion Elementary School District 6.
Additionally, six organizations, Antioch Area Healthcare Accessibility Alliance, Beacon Place, Community Youth Network, ElderCARE Lake County, UMMA Center and Waukegan to Collegewere selectedto participate inthe inaugural Capacity Building Series. This
$17,500 initiative is funded in partnership with Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County.“We are very excited about this new program and have been intentional about identifying a cohort of participants that can collectively address issues that each of them are working through at their respective agencies,” said Maggie Morales, the Foundation’s Manager of Community Engagement.The series provides intensive education and customized coaching to Foundation grant recipients in order to strengthen board governance knowledge and skills and to develop strong leaders throughout the entire participant organization.
“In addition to grant making and offering technical assistance for Lake County nonprofits addressing urgent needs, a major focus of the Foundation has been to develop coalitions for the benefit of collective impact, greater efficiencies and the elimination of redundancies,” said Jon H. Teeuwissen, the Foundation’s Executive Director. The Foundation has invested
$372,000 in The Alliance for Human Services, a coalition of health and human service providers whose mission is to continuously improve the delivery of health and human services in Lake County. Newer initiatives include the formal establishment of a human abuse network for Lake County, with $38,000 invested in the Partnership for a Safer Lake County, a $20,000 investment in ongoing planning to develop a pilot bridge training program for youth in manufacturing and a pending $10,000 grant to the Immigrant Integration Networkto support efforts to coordinate comprehensive immigration relief initiatives throughout Lake County.
Leaders from the organizations gathered at Tempel Farms in Old Mill Creek to network and forge stronger relationships among nonprofit human services providers in Lake County.
For information about the Foundation’s funding priorities, visit lakecountycf.org/apply/home.
Since 2003, The Lake County Community Foundation, an affiliate of The Chicago Community Trust, has partnered with donors to leverage and guide their philanthropy to help transform the lives of the most vulnerable individuals across our county. Together, we have contributed over $2 million to 175 nonprofit organizations that support basic human needs, community development, education and health throughout Lake County. By connecting the generosity of donors across Lake County with the most pressing needs of the community, we ensure that our county thrives today and for generations to come.
GROWING PHILANTHROPY, BUILDING COMMUNITY