The Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities
The Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a coalition of philanthropic organizations, launched the Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities in 2016.
The Fund exists to create the conditions for violence prevention and reduction during the summer months, and supports activities by nonprofit organizations that build community cohesion and promote safety and peace.
The Partnership is the administrator of the Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities, which is supported by institutional and individual donors whose contributions make it possible to award thousands of dollars in grants.
The Fund offers rapid-response grant opportunities designed to support community-based actions and activities that make neighborhoods safer. It was created in direct response to the many people and grassroots organizations that are already taking powerful, on-the-ground action in their neighborhoods. For more information on the Fund and its grants, read the full Request for Proposals here.
Donors to this Fund also are engaged in larger, long-term efforts to help address the problem of violence prevention and community safety. What makes this Fund different from those efforts is that its intended purpose is to provide highly-targeted, immediate support to smaller, neighborhood-based groups over the summer of 2018. To be clear, the Fund is not meant to be a quick fix to the broad and complex problem of violence nor is it a substitute for the intensive and wide-ranging efforts already underway (or being planned) to develop responses to the many root causes of the challenge.
Supporters to Date
Anonymous
Bank of America
bankofamerica.com
The Chicago Community Trust
cct.org
Field Foundation of Illinois
fieldfoundation.org
Joyce Foundation
joycefdn.org
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
macfound.org/programs/chicago
Lefkofsky Family Foundation
lefkofskyfoundation.com
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
mccormickfoundation.org
Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation
pritzkerpuckerfamilyfoundation.org
Polk Bros. Foundation
polkbrosfdn.org
Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation
ptffoundation.org
Woods Fund of Chicago
woodsfund.org
The rapid-response grants application period has closed for 2018. We appreciate those who applied, or who encouraged others to apply.
Proposal deadline was April 17, 2018
Past Activities
Here are some of the types of activities that have been supported by the Fund and held in communities across Chicago.
Art activities
Block party and block decorating
March and rally emphasizing education
Financial literacy classes
Mentoring by police officers and/or firefighters
Provision of non-confrontational, safe space for families to build partnerships and connection in non-crisis
Outdoor festival
Food and music with spoken word
Magazine launch
Talent show
Art-making in response to violence
Boxing club
Film review and group discussion
Youth parades
Bicycle workshops
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