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2007 Grantees
Crossroads Fund is proud to announce that in 2007 we
gave out $421,266.85 in grants, to 63 groups working for social change
across a spectrum of issues. We are particularly interested in groups
with a racial justice and anti-oppression analysis. In the following
list, grantees are categorized based on one primary focus of their work.
The listed grantees received funding from any
of our six grantmaking programs. A notation next to their name indicates
from which program(s) they received funding. The programs include the Seed
Fund (Seed), Donor Advised (DA), Emergency Fund (EF), Technical Assistance
Fund (TA), Media Justice Fund (MJF) or the Fire This Time Fund (FTT).
Unless noted, grants were used for general operating support.
ARTS & CULTURE
AREA Chicago
Art/Research/Education/Activism works to build bridges between
movements and communities working for social justice across Chicago, while
creating and preserving a grassroots history of Chicago activism.
$4,000 (FTT, Seed)
Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts is a youth
focused organization that uses art to organize various immigrant
communities across social, economic, and political issues. $4,000 (Seed)
Proletariat
Productions specializes in music recording, production, and
artist promotion. The grant supported a workshop that explored social
consciousness and political movement building through music performance,
art exhibition, and panel discussion. $1,000 (FTT)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Ad Hoc Committee on Chicago Police Torture
is a coalition of civil rights attorneys, activists and organizations
seeking justice for two decades of torture by former police commander Jon
Burge and officers under his direction. $500 (EF)
Citizens Alert holds
Chicago metropolitan police accountable and works for systemic change in
law enforcement agencies while advocating for victims of police brutality
and misconduct. $7,000 (Seed, DA)
First Defense Legal Aid
provides legal advice/aid in Chicago Police Department stations to low
income individuals who cannot afford attorneys, documents police
brutality, and provides workshops to at-risk communities on their
constitutional rights and responsibilities when dealing with law
enforcement personnel. $4,000 (Seed)
Long Term
Prisoner Policy Project (“Warehoused Prisoners”) investigates
the problems faced by prisoners serving virtual to actual life sentences
in Illinois prisons, and pushes for changes in law, policies, and practice
to promote offender rehabilitation and public safety. $5,000 (Seed)
Prison Reform, Inc.
is made up of ex-offenders who organize for increased opportunities for
ex-prisoners in Illinois and for change in legislation and public policy
in order to reduce recidivism. $3,000 (Seed)
DISABILITY RIGHTS
Chicago ADAPT
engages in direct action and grassroots organizing to advocate for the
independence of people with disabilities from institutional and cultural
barriers in everyday life. $500 (DA)
Feminist Response in
Disability Activism (FRIDA) is a grassroots non-violent direct
action organization led by and for women with disabilities that works on
issues of reproductive rights and healthcare. $3,500 (Seed, DA, TA)
ENVIRONMENT & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Center for Labor and
Community Research works with labor, communities, and
businesses to pursue high road economic development practices that ensure
wealth creation while advocating for wealth redistribution. $1,000 (TA)
Climate
Chicago is a multi-issue coalition working to reframe global
warming as a grassroots issue connected not only to the environment but
also to jobs, human rights, and social justice. $2,000 (Seed)
Coalition
to Protect Public Housing is part of the Northeast Illinois
Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, a national campaign aimed at
securing poor people’s fundamental right to reside in urban America.
$3,000 (TA)
Community Media Workshop
offered a daylong training in media justice and new forms of media and
their relevance to community organizing as part of the Crossroads Fund
Media Justice Initiative. $5,000 (MJF)
Developing Government Accountability to the People is a
network of 30 community groups addressing corruption and advocating
increased transparency and accountability from Chicago’s local government.
$9,000 (Seed, TA)
Rogers Park Section 8
Tenants Council is an organization of Section 8 voucher
holders who work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development,
landlords, and community members to maintain and increase housing
available to Section 8 voucher holders. $3,000 (Seed)
Grassroots Collaborative is a
collaboration of diverse groups who campaigned and won a “Living Wage”
ordinance. Later vetoed by Mayor Richard M. Daley, the ordinance was a
defining issue for city residents and leadership. Grant is for an analysis
of campaign coverage by mainstream media. $5,000 (MJF)
Lakeview Action Coalition,
a multi-issue coalition of individuals and organizations in the Lakeview
neighborhood, organizes around affordable housing, healthcare, sustainable
development, and police repression of homeless youth. $4,000 (Seed, DA)
Logan Square
Community Technology Center provides basic computer literacy
to grassroots organizations and individuals with limited access to
technology. $1,000 (DA)
Pilsen Alliance
organizes community residents on issues relating to public transport,
housing, and education. $3,000 (TA)
Puerto
Rican Cultural Center is comprised of an alternative high
school, childcare center, literacy program for women and children, a
museum of Puerto Rican culture, Batey Urbano café and cultural space for
youth, and the Vida/SIDA HIV/STD prevention project.
$3,000 (DA)
Senn Referendum Follow
up Group requires the Chicago Board of Education to establish a
formal process to receive community input regarding Rickover Military
Academy at Senn High School. $500 (EM)
HUMAN & WORKER RIGHTS
Chicago Area Friends of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee aims to preserve the
1960 to 1966 student movement history through archiving material at the
Woodson Regional Library and an oral history project featuring the
original members. $3,000 (Seed)
Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill
of Rights provides education, advocacy, and coalition building
in defense of the Bill of Rights. Their recent focus is on
unconstitutional police infiltration and surveillance. $1,000 (DA)
Chicago Jobs With Justice works to improve working people’s
standard of living, fight for job security, and stand up for workers’
right to organize. $1,000 (EM) Chicago Workers’ Collaborative, a coalition
of workers and groups, organizes for day laborers and immigrant rights
through public education, worker trainings, and litigation on behalf of
adversely affected workers. $10,500 (Seed, DA)
Hands Off Assata
Campaign brings together organizations and individuals
concerned with Assata Shakur’s situation and use her case in discussions/
education on issues ranging from the prison industrial complex to current
U.S. foreign policy. $710 (TA)
National Boricua Human Rights Network works to raise
awareness of human rights issues facing the Puerto Rican community,
including the situation of political prisoners, and emphasizes building
youth leadership. $5,500 (Seed, DA)
No More Deaths is a humanitarian organization comprised of
individuals, faith communities, human rights advocates, and grassroots
organizations working for social justice in the borderlands. $4,000
(DA)
IMMIGRANT ISSUES
Chicago Metropolitan
Sanctuary Alliance is inspired by the 1980’s Sanctuary
Movement, which offered shelter to Central American refugees. It brings
together a diverse group of religious leaders and congregations to create
a network of support for immigrant families facing deportation and to
raise awareness of mmigrant issues in different communities. $2,000
(DA)
Korean American Resource and
Cultural Center challenges Koreans in the greater Chicago area
to engage in meaningful civic participation to solve community issues,
with a particular emphasis placed on youth programs and intergenerational
activities. $5,000 (DA)
La Familia Latina Unida
is composed of and serves families facing separation due to current
immigration laws. $500 (EM)
Southeast
Chicago Community for Immigrant Rights organizes the immigrant
community of Southeast Chicago and parts of Indiana to push for
comprehensive immigration reform, respond to immigration raids and
deportation, and protect the human rights of immigrants. $4,000 (Seed,
DA)
United African
Organization, a coalition of African organizations in Chicago,
works on social justice, civil rights, civic participation, and
empowerment of African immigrants and refugees. $3,000 (Seed)
INTERNATIONAL POLICY &
ADVOCACY
Chicago Palestine Film
Festival exhibits and promotes films about Palestine or by
Palestinian directors to encourage objective public dialogue. $2,500
(DA)
Committee
for a Just Peace in Israel & Palestine works toward a better
understanding of and resolution to the continued Israeli-Palestinian
conflict through public education forums, an annual walk for justice, and
a Community Friendship project. $4,000 (Seed)
8th
Day Center for Justice is part of the Encuentro project, an
annual gathering of North and Latin American peace and human rights
activists working on issues of environmental degradation and the illegal
seizure/use of land. $1,000 (TA)
LESBIAN/GAY/BISEXUAL/TRANSGENDERED ISSUES
Affinity Community
Services serves African American lesbian and bisexual women
and youth in Chicago by providing a safe space while addressing issues
related to race, health, poverty, and education. $7,000 (Seed)
Amigas Latinas advocates and provides services for the Latina
lesbian, bisexual, and questioning (LBQ) community of metropolitan
Chicago. $3,000 (Seed)
Illinois Safe Schools Alliance (Formerly Coalition for
Education on Sexual Orientation and GLSEN Chicago) have merged to further
their shared mission of training school personnel, social service
providers, government employees, youth, and community members to address
anti-gay violence in Illinois schools. $9,500 (Seed, DA, TA)
None on Record,
an audio documentary oral history project, gathers histories and stories
told by and about LBGTQ Africans all over the world – from neighborhoods
within large cities like Chicago to smaller towns and villages of African
countries. $1,000 (FTT)
Yellow
Armbands organizes in solidarity with transwomen by educating
attendees of the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival on the benefits of
inclusion, and encourages their participation and comfort at what is
thought to be the pinnacle of women’s free space in the U.S. $1,000 (FTT)
WOMEN & GIRLS
All Hail Project engages African
American women in a broad spectrum of issues that affect them and their
well being. $1,000 (TA)
Beyondmedia Education
partners with under-represented women, youth, and communities to create
and distribute alternative media and arts. $10,000 (MJF, DA)
Chicago Abortion Fund
provides low-income women of color access to safe, affordable abortion
services while advocating for reproductive and social justice. $3,000 (TA)
Chicago
Friends of WE-ACTx - Rwanda is a pooled fund to benefit the
WE-ACTx HIV/AIDS clinics in Rwanda. WE-ACTx serves HIV positive genocide
widows, rape survivors, and orphans and is a model of care and of
international/local collaboration. $211,000 (DA)
Chicago Women’s AIDS
Project — through the “Give a Day to World AIDS” Campaign,
Crossroads Fund partnered with Chicago Women’s AIDS Project and WE-ACTx —
Rwanda to raise money for women living with AIDS in Chicago and Rwanda.
$19,000 (DA)
Chicago Women’s
Health Center is a collective of health workers who provide
health education, advocacy, and affordable, accessible gynecological and
mental health care to women in the Chicago area. $2,500 (Ron Sable
Award)
Female Storytellers
Igniting Revolution to End Violence is a multiracial and
intergenerational grassroots anti-violence organization working with women
and girls. $1,000 (FTT)
Global Girls, Inc. uses performing arts as a medium to develop
strong communication, leadership, and life skills for girls between the
ages of 8–18. $2,500 (DA)
Women & Girls
Collective Action Network raises awareness of images in the
media that promote violence against women and encourages young people to
hold corporate media responsible for negative representations of women and
minorities. $6,000 (TA, MJF)
Women’s Voices Fund provides programs that promote feminist
dialogue through book discussions, author readings, and community events.
$3,056.85 (DA)
Young Women’s Empowerment Project is run by and for women and
girls with life experience in the sex trade and street economies.
$1,000 (FTT)
YOUTH
Chicago Freedom School
was founded to develop and support a new generation of critical and
independent youth activists through an annual summer freedom school,
mentorship, and youth-focused social justice activities. $3,000 (Seed)
Cooperative Image Group creates public art education for youth
while connecting them to local groups who support youth media. Grant
supports their mobile media lab, an after-school program in which youth
use portable audio equipment to create sound projects about their lives. $1,000 (FTT)
Crib Collective brings together Latino youth from Little
Village and African American youth from North Lawndale, a geographic area
that is divided by race. Youth are involved in performance art,
philanthropy, and program development. $2,000 (FTT, TA)
CURE Foundation, a hip-hop music
program in three Chicago Public Schools, allows students to create a
positive alternative to what mainstream music offers to define their life
and culture. $2,000 (Seed)
Education for Liberation Conference brought together
students, educators, parents, and community members from across the
country to share strategies for connecting education, social justice, and
activism. $2,000 (TA)
Kuumba Lynx is a
youth development program that preserves, promotes, and presents urban
(hip- op) culture as an art and a social justice movement. Grant supported
their Arts Explosion Day, which used activism workshops and civic
engagement discussions to focus on immigrant rights for youth. $1,000
(FTT)
Rogers Park Young
Women’s Action Team is a youth-led, adult-supported social
change organization involved in leadership development and youth
organizing around street harassment and violence against women and girls.
$4,500 (Seed, DA)
Southwest
Youth Collaborative, a network of youth and community
development organizations, works in five diverse neighborhoods on the
southwest side of Chicago to provide opportunities for youth to be
activists. $2,500 (DA)
Teen Living
Program partnered with the Chicago Park District to hold
workshops and distribute message oriented CDs by youth to youth. The
project was geared towards encouraging youth to avoid dropping out of
school, expressing themselves, and building healthier relationships.
$1,000 (FTT)
Young Chicago Authors
encourages self-expression and literacy through creative writing,
performance, and publication. Grant supports the Kings of Poetry workshop
series in which young men explore gender sensitivity and write essays and
poems commemorating the lives of women for web and print publication. $1,000 (FTT)
2006 Grantees
In 2006, Crossroads Fund gave out $361,526
in grants, to 45 groups working for social change across a spectrum of
issues. We are particularly interested in groups with a racial justice
and anti-oppression analysis.
In the following list, grantees are categorized based on one primary
focus of their work. The listed grantees received funding from any of
our four grantmaking programs, or the Chicago Community Organizing
Capacity Building Initiative, a funders’ collaborative of which we
were a member. A notation to their name indicates from which program(s)
they received funding. The programs include the Seed Fund (Seed), Donor
Advised (DA), Emergency Fund (EF), Technical Assistance Fund (TA) or the
Chicago Community Organizing Capacity Building Initiative (CCBI).
Unless noted, grants were used for general operating support.
ARTS & CULTURE
Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts (CIRCA)
$4,000 (Seed)
CIRCA develops and popularizes community arts programs that speak
to the immigrant experience within the changing multicultural landscape of
America and that are produced and performed by youth.
Chicago Palestine Film Festival $6,500 (Seed, DA)
Chicago Palestinian Film Festival exhibits and promotes films about
Palestine or by Palestinian directors to promote objective public
dialogue. Grants will support interracial dialogue through hip-hop by
bringing together local and Middle Eastern hip-hop artists at a screening
of the documentary SlingShot Hip-Hop.
HotHouse Center for Performance & Exhibition $15,000 (DA)
HotHouse provides a venue and support for local and international
art forms, artists and progressive social movements whose work would
otherwise remain under-recognized and isolated.
Neighborhood Writing Alliance $500 (DA)
The Neighborhood Writing Alliance encourages adults to write,
publish and perform works about their lives, to identify issues facing
them as individuals and their community which then leads to collective
social action and community involvement.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Ad Hoc Committee on Chicago Police Torture $400 (EF)
The Ad Hoc Committee on Chicago Police Torture works in coalition
to bring justice to the cases involving use of torture by former Chicago
Police Commander John Burge and his officers. The grant assisted the
committee in presenting their case to the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights.
Citizens Alert $7,500 (Seed, DA)
Citizens Alert holds Chicago metropolitan police accountable and
works for systemic change in law enforcement agencies while advocating for
victims of police brutality and misconduct.
Long Term Prisoner Policy Project (“Warehoused Prisoners”)
$5,000 (Seed)
Long Term Prisoner Policy Project investigates the problems faced
by prisoners serving virtual to actual life sentences in Illinois prisons,
and pushes for changes in law, policies, and practice to promote offender
rehabilitation and public safety.
DISABILITY RIGHTS
Chicago ADAPT $2,000 (TA)
ADAPT engages in direct action and grassroots organizing to
advocate for the independence of people with disabilities from
institutional and cultural barriers in everyday life. Grant will be used
to provide website maintenance training in an effort to better utilize
their website in campaigns.
Next Steps, NFP $2,000 (TA)
Next Steps organizes homeless and/or mentally ill individuals to be
advocates in public programs designed to serve them. Grant will assist in
strategic planning efforts.
ENVIRONMENT & COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
Chicago Community Organizing Capacity Building Initiative (CCBI) $5,000
(Seed)
The CCBI initiative supports community organizing groups in the
Chicago Metro area through convening, information sharing, collaboration
and capacity building. CCBI is a funders’ collaborative which
includes support from Ford Foundation and local foundation
partners.
Digital Development Corporation & Oversight Committee $2,500 (Seed)
Digital Development works with Chicago’s west side community
residents, technology providers, and school personnel to demand community
access and training in digital technology.
Fund for Southern Communities $7,000 (Seed, DA)
The grant supports an initiative of the Funding Exchange network
for Hurricane Katrina relief. The initiative will re-grant to grassroots
groups in the hurricane-affected Gulf Coast region to support relief
efforts and social change organizing.
Grassroots Collaborative $500 (EF)
Grassroots Collaborative works in a coalition of ten community
organizing groups and unions. The grant supported their efforts to convene
a city-wide meeting to establish an agenda for all of Chicago’s residents
and increase electoral engagement for the 2007 municipal elections.
Imagine Englewood if…NFP $3,000 (Seed)
Imagine Englewood if…organizes residents around issues related to
finding a long-term solution to address lead contamination in the
Englewood area.
Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), $4,250 (CCBI)
KOCO provides community development programs in the Kenwood/Oakland
neighborhoods of Chicago. Grant will be used to study the impact felt when
neighborhood schools are closed.
Organization of the NorthEast (ONE), $11,750 (CCBI)
ONE endeavors to build and sustain a successful mixed economic,
multi-ethnic community on the north lakefront of Chicago. Grant will
support the Balanced Development Coalition in their campaign
for affordable housing.
People for Community Recovery, Inc. $6,000 (Seed)
People for Community Recovery engages community members in public
housing (Altgeld Gardens) on tenant rights as well as on environmental
justice.
Rogers Park Community Action Network (RPCAN), $3,000 (TA)
RPCAN organizes residents of Rogers Park on multiple fronts ranging
from community control on Tax Increment Financing, affordable/accessible
housing and tenants’ rights to ensuring the lakefront is saved for public
use. Grant will be used for strategic planning.
Student/Tenant Organizing Project (STOP) $3,000 (Seed)
STOP confronts gentrification/displacement in Kenwood/Oakland
through tenant organizing, action research, and alliance-building between
tenants, homeowners and students.
Tax Reform Action Coalition (TRAC) $3,000 (Seed)
TRAC is a coalition of community groups, institutions and
individuals organizing for fundamental changes in Illinois’ property tax
system.
HUMAN & WORKER RIGHTS
Applied Research Center (ARC) $1,000 (TA)
ARC provides training to advance racial justice through research
and advocacy. The grant provided scholarships for Crossroads Fund grantees
to attend a two-day national conference on race, equity and policy.
Chicago Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
$11,750 (CCBI)
ACORN organizes communities in Chicago neighborhoods around a
number of social and economic issues. Grant will support the Living
Wage Coalition, a coalition of organizations working on living
wage as it relates to large retailers.
Chicago Area Friends of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
$1,000 (TA)
Grant supported a conference commemorating the history of the civil rights
movement and its connection to Chicago with an emphasis on bringing elders
and students together for dialogue.
Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights (CCDBR) $500 (DA)
CCDBR provides educational, advocacy and coalition building in
defense of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. Recently,
they have focused on unconstitutional police infiltration and
surveillance.
Chicago Worker’s Collaborative $9,500 (Seed, DA, EM)
Chicago Worker’s Collaborative trains workers and develops worker
leadership, while organizing for comprehensive changes in the day labor
industry to end illegal and exploitative practices.
Interfaith Federation $5,250 (CCBI)
Interfaith brings different churches and races to address issues
affecting the Northwestern Indiana region. Their current campaign involves
increasing and improving public transit to allow access to better jobs for
people in low income and minority neighborhoods.
Jane Addams Senior Caucus $7,250 (TA, CCBI)
Jane Addams Senior Caucus organizes low-income northside seniors to
improve their quality of life and build a strong community voice. Grants
will be used to upgrade their computer equipment and to advocate for
increased homecare for seniors and people with disabilities.
National Boricua Human Rights Network $5,500 (DA, TA)
Grants support the overall work of a campaign to raise awareness of human
rights issues facing the community with particular emphasis on building
the leadership of youth.
San Lucas Workers Center $4,000 (Seed)
San Lucas Workers Center organizes U.S. born and immigrant day
laborers around their rights in the workplace and access to permanent and
regular work.
TARGET Area Development Corporation $8,250 (CCBI)
TARGET works on economic and public safety issues in the Auburn
Gresham and Englewood neighborhoods of Chicago. Grant issued is for the
Developing Justice Coalition, a coalition of social change and
faith based organizations working on policies related to the
administration of justice in Illinois.
IMMIGRANT ISSUES
Coalition for African, Arab, Asian, European & Latino Immigrants of
Illinois (CAAAELII) $15,750 (DA, TA, CCBI)
CAAAELII is comprised of 20 agencies serving immigrants and
refugees in the Chicago Metropolitan area. CAAAELII organizes
immigrants around issues that affect them locally and nationally. Funding
provided is for dialogues between immigrant communities and
African-American communities, and to support an apprenticeship program.
Korean American Resource and Cultural Center $6,000 (Ron Sable, DA)
KRCC challenges Koreans in the greater Chicago area to engage in
meaningful civic participation to solve community issues, with a
particular emphasis placed on youth programs and intergenerational
activities.
INTERNATIONAL POLICY & ADVOCACY
Chicago Friends of WE-ACTx – Rwanda $151,161 (DA)
This is a pooled fund to benefit the WE-ACTx HIV/AIDS clinics in Rwanda.
WE-ACTx serves HIV+ genocide widows, rape survivors and orphans and is a
model of care and of international/local collaboration.
Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine (CJPIP)
$4,000 (Seed)
CJPIP works toward a better understanding of and resolution to the
continued Israeli-Palestinian conflict through public education forums, an
annual walk for justice and a Community Friendship project.
LESBIAN/GAY/BISEXUAL/TRANSGENDERED ISSUES
Affinity Community Services $7,000 (Seed)
Affinity serves lesbians and bisexual African American women by
providing a safe space while addressing issues related to health, poverty
and education.
Amigas Latinas $3,000 (TA)
Amigas Latinas serves the Latina lesbian, bisexual and questioning
(LBQ) community of Chicago and suburbs. The grant will be used to conduct
a Latina community profile survey to gather more information and assess
community needs around which to organize and advocate.
Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation (CESO) $2,500 (DA)
CESO works in a statewide in a coalition of 41 organizations to
train school personnel, social service providers, government employees,
youth and community members to address anti-gay violence in Illinois
schools.
WOMEN & GIRLS
Beyondmedia Education $5,000 (DA)
Beyondmedia Education partners with under-represented women, youth
and communities to create and distribute alternative media and arts,
including videos and websites, performances and exhibitions.
Chicago Abortion Fund $3,000 (TA)
Chicago Abortion Fund provides low-income women of color access to
safe, affordable abortion services. Grant will be used to stregthen the
internal structure of the organization.
Global Girls, Inc $2,500 (DA)
Global Girls uses performing arts as a medium to develop strong
communication, leadership and life skills for girls between the ages of
8-18.
Women’s Voices Fund $4,215 (DA)
The Women’s Voices Fund provides programs that promote feminist
dialogue through book discussions and author readings.
YOUTH
Metropolitan Area Group for Igniting Civilization, Inc. (MAGIC)
$3,500 (Seed)
MAGIC organizes residents of Woodlawn and the surrounding areas to
fight gentrification and racism while addressing the impact of the same on
youth. Funding will be used in a youth led initiative that seeks to
identify needs and resources available to youth in the community
Southwest Youth Collaborative $2,500 (DA)
Southwest Youth Collaborative challenges youth from five diverse
neighborhoods on the southwest side of Chicago to be activists and take up
issues that affect their communities.
Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team (Y-WAT) $2,500 (DA)
Y-WAT is a youth-led, adult-supported social change project. It
empowers young women to take action on issues with particular interest in
addressing violence against women and girls.
Young Asians with Power! (YAWP!) $3,000 (TA)
YAWP! cultivates a new generation of Asian/Pacific Islander
American (APIA) leaders, activists and artists. Grant will be used to
develop curriculum.
2005 Seed Fund Grants
Affinity Community Services
Serving lesbian & bisexual women of African descent in the Chicago area,
focusing on the intersection of race, class, gender and sexual orientation.
Current work is on developing an advocacy agenda, which includes organizing
for domestic partner insurance for IL and access to healthcare for uninsured
workers. $6,000
www.affinity95.org
Beyondmedia Education
Beyondmedia collaborates with under-represented women, youth and communities
to create alternative media and arts, from video and websites, to
performances and exhibitions. Current collaborations include work work with
girls with disabilities and women & prisons. $8,000
www.beyondmedia.org
Chicago ADAPT
Chicago ADAPT uses direct-action and grassroots organizing to advocate for
the independence of people with disabilities. Their current campaign aims to
change Illinois’ policies of institutionalizing people with disabilities
rather than supporting cheaper and more humane home or community care.
$3,000
www.geocities.com/chicagoadapt/
Chicago Palestine Film Festival
The
Chicago Palestine Film Festival counters mainstream media by giving voice to
Palestinians and the Palestinian story. The Festival hosts filmmakers and
scholars at its annual event, has screenings throughout the year, and is
creating an online database and an archive to further promote Palestinian
work. $3,000
www.palestinefilmfest.com
Citizens Alert
Organizes Chicago-area residents for progressive, systemic change in law
enforcement. Citizens Alert is currently leading a city-wide effort to
document and track incidents of police brutality and to strategize for
bringing change in police practice. $5,000
www.citizensalert.org
Committee for a Just Peace in
Israel & Palestine
Organizes public forums to educate and promote dialogue around the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. CJPIP also advocates for change in US
foreign policy in Israel and Palestine through meetings with legislators and
community education. $2,000
www.geocities.com/cjpipwebsite/
Community Film Workshop of
Chicago
A
media arts group focusing on African American youth, Community Film Workshop
offers programs in computer and digital technology, media production,
community services projects, and individual media and multi-media
productions. $4,000
www.cfwchicago.org
Day Laborer Collaboration
Trains workers and develops worker leadership, while organizing for
comprehensive changes in the day labor industry to end illegal and
exploitative practices. This year, they are focusing on building a legal
services program and a worker cooperative, as well as participating in
Governor’s panel to legislate safety regulations for day laborers. $5,000
GLSEN Chicago (Gay, Lesbian,
Straight Educator’s Network)
Works
with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender & questioning students across the
Chicago area through support of student-led gay-straight alliances and
semi-annual youth summits. $3,000
www.glsenchicago.org
Jane Addams Senior Caucus
Organizes the Northside senior community to advocate for their rights to
affordable housing, affordable and just home health care, and increased
access to social services. $8,000 773/404-6429
Korean American Resource &
Cultural Center
Nurtures Korean American community leadership and activism to solve critical
problems the community faces such as poverty, language barriers,
socio-political discrimination, and under representation. $6,000
www.krccweb.org
Latino Union of Chicago
Organizes workers to improve working conditions of low-income and immigrant
workers and day laborers, and to address systemic injustices in the day
labor industry. Latino Union recently opened a workers’ center in Albany
Park, a landmark victory. $5,000 773/588-2641
Metropolitan Area Group for
Igniting Civilization (MAGIC)
A
Woodlawn community-based organization that works to fight gentrification and
racism and their impact on youth. Current work involves training youth on
web design, community organizing and political analysis. $4,000
National Boricua Human Rights
Network
Works
in the Puerto Rican community on human rights issues, ranging from
de-militarization of Vieques, and work on civil liberties in Chicago, to
building a local political agenda for the Chicago Puerto Rican community.
$5,000
www.boricuahumanrights.org
People for Community Recovery
An
environmental justice organization located in the Southeast Chicago public
housing community of Altgeld Gardens/Murray Homes. PCR targets economic
development, housing advocacy, resident education, pollution prevention and
resident organizing and empowerment. $5,000 773/468-1645
Pilsen Alliance
Organizes grassroots campaigns in the Pilsen community to fight
gentrification and bring a community voice to development issues. Pilsen
Alliance is currently conducting an independent zoning survey of the area to
prevent future gentrification. $5,000 312/243-5440
Warehoused Prisoners: Long Term
Prisoner Policy Project
Investigates and highlights the problems faced by the growing number of
prisoners serving life sentences in IL prisons, and pushes for changes in
laws, policies and practices to promote offender rehabilitation and public
safety. $3,000
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