Philanthropic fund awards nearly $8 million to South and West side development projects

Nine community organizations working on the South and West sides will receive a total of nearly $8 million from the Neighborhood Capital Fund, the Chicago Community Trust announced Thursday.

The funding is to help the organizations fill financing gaps for development projects spanning from health care facilities and an outdoor pavilion to work spaces. It will also help some organizations add more amenities to their projects, Christen Wiggins, senior director of community development at the Chicago Community Trust, said in a news release.

The winning projects include:

• Blue Azul Center, an Auburn Gresham facility that will offer mental health services, educational programming and fitness resources. The organization Think Blue received $1 million.
• Chicago South Side Birth Center, a South Chicago site for midwifery, birthing and reproductive health. The birthing center team received $500,000 toward its project.
• The Firehouse, a Back of the Yards community programming space for activities such as youth STEM programs and indoor farming. Nonprofit Plant Chicago received $290,000.
• IMAN Health Center, a Chicago Lawn facility to expand critical care services in the area. The Inner-City Muslim Action Network received $1.5 million.
• Imani Village Empowerment Zone, a Pullman health care center that will include features such as a renovated gymnasium, food market and teaching kitchen. Community development group Imani Village received $1.5 million.
• Silver Fox Café and Kenwood Oakland Community Organization offices in Grand Boulevard. KOCO received $820,000.
• MAAFA Center for Arts & Activism, a West Garfield Park outdoor pavilion. Nonprofit MAAFA Redemption Project received $750,000.
• Urban Market Exchange, a Woodlawn artist workspace and business center. The group received $700,000 toward their project.
• Yollocalli Fire Station, a Little Village space for the National Museum of Mexican Art’s Yollocalli youth program’s headquarters. The museum received $800,000.

The Neighborhood Capital Fund launched in 2025 and expects to grant $20 million to eligible organizations through 2027. The fund is supported by a number of organizations such as the Chicago Community Trust, Target Foundation, Chicago DNC 2024 and Schreiber Philanthropy.

It builds upon a previous fund, We Rise Together, that had similar goals and invested nearly $50 million from 2021 to 2025, including grants for 40 real estate projects, in underinvested neighborhoods, the news release said.

“Development momentum has been building in a number of underinvested communities, driven by dedicated local organizations and entrepreneurs with strong community visions,” Wiggins said in a news release. “Neighborhood Capital Fund's support is intended to fuel this momentum by helping community-based project leaders complete financing and overcome development hurdles to layer in more much needed opportunities for residents and visitors for the kinds of things all communities want and need—quality healthcare and childcare, shopping and recreation.”

In order to be eligible for the grants, organizations must have secured at least 75% of their financing; be located within a half-mile radius of “economic assets generating positive economic activity;” have site control; and be within Cook County’s underinvested neighborhoods, which the fund said is primarily on the South or West sides.

KOCO said its grant money will allow the group to make their pop-up events — which drew 150 to 200 older adults — permanent by building their cafe. It also enables the organization to expand its offices to include a food pantry, library, community rooms and business incubation spaces.

The project has been in the works since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and expects to open the Silver Fox Cafe early next year.

Shannon Bennett, executive director of KOCO, said the organization plans to hire youth, seniors and people who may have a criminal history for the development.

“This particular initiative grew out of the dreams and the visions of our seniors,” Bennett said. “We have a partner that understands how to support the vision of people … who often have to scramble for resources, who often don’t see themselves in gentrifying communities.”

The Chicago Community Trust plans to open another call for projects to receive grant funding in the fall.

The group’s work strikes similar chords to former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s signature Invest South/West initiative, which aimed to spur economic development in historically neglected communities. Mayor Brandon Johnson has continued those efforts through projects such as the Missing Middle Infill Housing initiative.