Watch a slideshow of some of our 2011 grantees!

2011 Grantees

Crossroads Fund is proud to announce that in FY2011 we gave out more than $245,000 to 56 groups working for social change across a spectrum of issues. Although the following list categorizes grantees based on one primary focus of their work, grantees’ work is rarely limited to a single issue area. Most work across issues and prioritize the multiple needs of their diverse constituencies. The listed grantees received funding within five grantmaking programs. A notation after the grantee description indicates from which program(s) they received funding. These programs include the Seed Fund (Seed), Partner Funds (PF), Technical Assistance Fund (TA), Emergency Fund (EF) and Youth Fund for Social Change (YF). Our largest Donor Advised Fund, the GRAM Fund, supports women and girls, rights for Arab Americans, and innovative youth projects. Unless otherwise noted, the grants were used for general operating support. Click to see past grantee lists.

Economic Justice and Community Development

Biblioteca Popular is a community space that creates culturally-affirming workshops and arts programming for and by people of color, specifically youth, LGBTQ folks, documented and undocumented immigrants, and people experiencing homelessness in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. $2,500 (GRAM)

Blocks Together is a grassroots, multi-issue social justice organization on the West Side of Chicago addressing affordable housing, public education and other issues. These grants include support for Blocks Together’s youth-led restorative justice campaign, and to take constituents to Springfield for a legislative hearing. $9,500 (Seed, TA, YF)

Chicago Honey Co-op is a member-owned beekeeping cooperative that provides economic development opportunities for the underemployed while promoting sustainable urban agricultural practices. $5,850 (PF)

Chicago Law and Education Foundation provides Chicago Public School students and their families access to legal services, training and education on issues like record expungement, domestic violence, immigration, and tenants’ rights. $3,000 (TA)

Jane Addams Senior Caucus organizes low-income seniors to improve their quality of life and build a strong community voice to address issues like healthcare and housing. These grants include support for a process to become a more antiracist organization. $8,000 (Seed, TA)

Lakeview Action Coalition, a multi-issue coalition of individuals and organizations in the Lakeview neighborhood, organizes around affordable housing, healthcare, sustainable development, environmental justice and police abuse of homeless youth. These grants include support for the implementation of an individual fundraising plan. $7,500 (Seed, TA)

Next Steps organizes people with mental disabilities and homeless individuals to be active in the systems that affect them, particularly major boards, institutions and decision-making bodies addressing homelessness and mental health. $3,000 (Seed)

Southside Together Organizing for Power organizes primarily African American tenants, youth, consumers of mental health services and others in the Hyde Park-Woodlawn neighborhood to address housing, gentrification, healthcare and criminalization of youth. These grants include support for a youth-led campaign to reopen the trauma center at University of Chicago hospital, and consulting to develop an individual fundraising plan. $10,000 (Seed, TA, GRAM, YF)

The Whittier Parent Committee organized a sit-in to prevent the demolition of a field house at Whittier Elementary School in Pilsen. They continue to advocate for the facility’s conversion into a library and community center, and to hold Chicago Public Schools accountable for their promises and decision-making regarding the distribution of funds. Grants include support for consulting in organizational development. $3,500 (TA, EF, Ron Sable Award)

Immigrant Issues

The Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition organizes congregations and people of faith to respond to injustice experienced by undocumented immigrants. Its strategies include public witness, political advocacy and support for immigrants at risk of deportation. $5,000 (TA)

Immigrant Youth Justice League is a network of undocumented youth and their allies working for justice for immigrants. They have played a prominent role in organizing around the DREAM Act, which would provide undocumented youth a path to citizenship. Their strategies include undocumented youth “coming out” and sharing their stories publicly, to put a more human face on the immigration debate and counteract racist stereotypes. $3,500 (GRAM, Donald F. Erickson Synapses Award)

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 on youth programs and intergenerational activities. These grants include support for fundraising trainings for staff and youth, and a speaker series to introduce youth to community organizers working on a range of issues throughout Chicago. $4,500 (TA, YF)

United African Organization, a coalition of African organizations in Chicago, works for social justice, civil rights, civic participation and empowerment of African immigrants and refugees. $4,000 (Seed)

Human Rights, International Policy & Government Accountability

Applied Research Center is a public policy institute that advances racial justice through research, advocacy and journalism. This grant supported the participation of Crossroads Fund grantees in Facing Race, a national convening of organizers and intellectuals addressing racial justice politics and activism. $3,000 (TA)

Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights educates the public and organizes to support legislation that will protect First Amendment and due process rights. This grant supported the redevelopment of their website to better provide communities with information about issues related to civil liberties. $2,000 (TA)

Chicago Palestine Film Festival exhibits and promotes films about Palestine or by Palestinian directors that address current issues in the region and portray the daily lives of Palestinians. Over the years, they have established themselves as a critical educational resource for various communities, institutions and the general public. $4,500 (Seed, GRAM)

Christian Peacemaker Teams trains and places violence-reduction teams in crisis situations and militarized areas around the world and reports to the larger world community on these atrocities. These teams also support local nonviolence efforts through nonviolent direct action and public witness. $7,496.25 (Seed)

Citizen Advocacy Center works in DuPage County to increase the capacity and skills of individuals and organizations, particularly those most excluded from civic participation, to participate effectively in community life while advocating for policies that protect public participation. $5,000 (TA)

Committee for a Just Peace in Israel & Palestine works toward a just and peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through public education forums, civic participation and an annual walk for justice. $3,000 (Seed)

National Boricua Human Rights Network works to raise awareness of human rights issues facing the Puerto Rican community, including political prisoners and the preservation of civil liberties. These grants include support for consulting to develop their grantwriting capacity. $5,500 (Seed, TA)

Nuclear Energy Information Service provides information about the safety hazards and environmentally and economically harmful effects of nuclear energy, and advocates for safer and more sustainable alternatives. This grant supported two actions in response to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. $500 (EF)

Tamms Year Ten is a coalition of prisoners, ex-prisoners, families, artists, activists, organizations and concerned citizens protesting inhumane policies at Tamms C-MAX prison and calling for an end to the abusive conditions that are known to provoke mental illness and physical breakdown. $3,500 (SF) 

Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender 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, immigration and education. These grants include support for a community forum organized by Affinity’s youth leadership cohort, and a consultant to improve their bookkeeping systems. $12,500 (Seed, TA, YF)

Illinois Safe Schools Alliance prevents violence against LGBT students in Illinois public schools through policy advocacy, youth organizing and public education both within and outside of school systems. $5,000 (GRAM)

Women and Girls

Beyondmedia Education partners with under-represented women, youth and communities to create and distribute alternative media and arts addressing the issues and systems that affect them. $5,000 (GRAM)

Chicago Abortion Fund works to address economic barriers to reproductive choice by connecting young women with free or low cost reproductive health services, and organizes young women who access their services to become advocates for reproductive justice. These grants include support for consulting for their board in financial management practices. $5,500 (Seed, TA)

Chicago Books to Women in Prison fulfills incarcerated women’s direct requests for books, reducing incarcerated women’s isolation and providing them with valuable resources. $2,500 (GRAM)

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 survivor and orphans and is a model of care and international/local collaboration. $21,989 (PF)

Global Girls, Inc. uses performing arts as a medium to develop strong communication, leadership and life skills amongst a group of youth that consists primarily of girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. $2,500 (GRAM)

Women’s Voices Fund provides programs that promote feminist dialogue through book discussions, author readings and community events at Women and Children First bookstore. $15,858.70 (PF)

Worker Rights

Arise Chicago builds partnerships between low-income, primarily immigrant workers and faith communities through education, by organizing workers and congregations and by advocating for policies to protect workers. These grants include support for consulting in fundraising. $7,000 (Seed, TA)

Associacion de Vendedores Ambulantes organizes low-income, primarily Latino street vendors to advocate on their own behalf, with the goal of passing a comprehensive ordinance to protect vendors’ right to earn an income. $3,000 (Seed)

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos: Immigrant Workers Project is an immigrant-run workers’ center on Chicago’s Southeast side that protects immigrant workers from violations and exploitation by area employers. These grants include support for consulting to continue implementing the organization’s fundraising plan. $5,500 (Seed, TA)

Chicago Community and Worker Rights educates and organizes Latino workers to fight against exploitation in their jobs and for jobs that are safe and dignified. $3,000 (Seed)

Chicago Workers’ Collaborative, a coalition of workers and groups, organizes for day laborer and immigrant rights through public education, worker trainings and litigation on behalf of primarily immigrant workers who have experienced exploitation in their workplace. $9,000 (Seed)

Restaurant Opportunities Center of Chicago uses a range of workplace campaigns and education strategies to improve the working conditions of low-wage restaurant employees and shift the imbalance of power within the restaurant industry. These grants include support for consulting in board development and financial management. $6,000 (SF, TA)

Warehouse Workers for Justice organizes warehouse workers to challenge abuses and to build the power and influence of workers within Chicago’s warehouse industry, one of the nation’s most significant ports in the transport of goods across the country. $3,000 (SF)

Youth

Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE)’s Filipino American Leadership Identity Program strengthens Filipino American young people’s relationship to their cultural identity and their analysis of issues affecting their community, like racism, colonialism and violence. $1,500 (YF)

Arab American Action Network’s Alliance of Young Women Activists is using documentary filmmaking as a teaching tool to address domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence within their communities. $2,000 (YF)

Broadway Youth Center’s Peer Advocates program facilitates leadership development for LGBT youth of color, many of whom are without stable housing. The Peer Advocates provide workshops for other youth at Broadway Youth Center on issues like sexual health, systems of oppression and harm reduction practices. $1,500 (YF)

Chicago Freedom School works to build youth-led social change movements and educate youth and community members in social movement history. This grant supported the participation of young black activists in Rev Up, a comprehensive training program for youth organizers. $1,000 (Cathy Cohen Black Youth Fund)

The Chicago Wisdom Project works with students to create projects that contribute to a more just world through the arts, while mentoring youth in skills like hip hop music production, video/film, community activism and others. $1,500 (YF)

Chicago Youth Initiating Change is a citywide group of students and teachers working to build a youth-led movement for education justice and student rights, including developing a national bill of rights for high school students. $2,000 (YF)

Cicero Area Project is working to address issues affecting immigrant youth, many undocumented, in Cicero, including community violence and immigrant rights. $2,000 (YF)

Free Street Theater produced “Behind These Walls,” a play written and directed by youth to address the social and psychological root causes of youth violence. $1,500 (YF)

Gender Just is a direct action organizing project led by queer, transgender and gender non-conforming young people. This grant supported their Safe and Affirming Education campaign, which addressed violence and harassment within the school system. $1,000 (YF)

Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health’s Sisters Empowering Sisters program is a girl-led social justice group addressing issues of reproductive and sexual health. This grant supported an anti-oppression training series for the girls, and the development of a participatory action research project. $1,000 (YF)

Imagine Englewood If… is initiating a youth-led campaign to get a family community center in Englewood, so that community members of different ages will be able to come together in a single safe space. $2,000 (YF)

Iraq Veterans Against the War is organizing youth to counteract the JROTC at two Chicago high schools by providing social justice-oriented alternatives to military programming. Their local work is connected with a broader citywide and national movement against militarization in schools through their relationship with the American Friends Service Committee. $1,500 (YF)

Little Village Environmental Justice Organization’s youth program organizes young people to address public transportation, land contamination and urban agriculture in the Pilsen and Little Village communities. This grant supported youth-led after school programs to teach environmental justice at two neighborhood schools. $2,500 (YF)

Pilsen Youth Equalizer Corps is a youth program at Centro Sin Fronteras that organizes to address healthcare disparities, immigration reform and gang violence in Pilsen. $2,000 (YF)

Telpochcalli Community Education Project works to address issues like education and community violence in the Little Village neighborhood. For four years, their youth group Ollin has organized the Little Village Youth Forum, which brings youth together across neighborhoods to address violence and its relationship to racism, sexism and economic oppression. These grants include support to improve their financial management systems. $5,000 (YF, TA)

The Trauma Stewardship Conference helped activists develop and implement concrete practices to address the different forms of trauma they experience within the context of social justice work. This grant supported the participation of Crossroads Fund’s youth organizing grantees in the conference. $500 (TA)

Young Chicago Authors organizes a monthly workshop and open mic series where youth develop their voices and leadership as activists by exploring issues related to violence through writing and performance. $1,500 (YF)

Young Women’s Empowerment Project is run by and for women, girls and youth with life experiences in the sex trade and street economies. They use social justice, transformative justice and harm-reduction strategies to address issues affecting them. This grant supported a campaign to address institutional violence and denial of services experienced by street youth. $3,000 (YF)

Youth Outlook provides social space, leadership development and education opportunities for LGBT youth in DuPage County. This grant supported youth-led community education projects to combat homophobia. $2,000 (YF)