The Chicago Community Trust

09/04/2026

The Chicago Community Trust brought together 20 Chicago residents from all walks of life to distribute $1.6 million in grants from the Together Fund.

Of those 20 people, none was a grantmaker. Get the full story. https://bit.ly/4xBedH9

09/03/2026

Even credit-ready renters often can’t afford what’s for sale. Fewer than 1 in 7 credit-ready renters across the city can afford a home priced above $200,000.

In a new research brief, “Credit Ready But Priced Out: Chicago’s Homeownership Affordability Gap by Neighborhood,” the Financial Health Network explores some of the financial reasons why more renters are not becoming homeowners.

For example, Chicago’s citywide median home price climbed to nearly $400,000 in 2026, meaning the true affordability gap is even wider today than the 2025 data show. (Credit readiness means having a strong credit history, manageable debt relative to your income, a track record of paying bills on time, and no recent bankruptcies or foreclosures. Meeting these criteria makes it easier for prospective borrowers to qualify for credit on affordable terms.)

More from the Trust's Liza Youngling: https://www.cct.org/stories/what-new-research-reveals-about-chicagos-homeownership-gap/

09/02/2026

Across the city of Chicago, less than a third of credit-ready renters made a mortgage inquiry between 2022 and 2025. In a new research brief, “Credit Ready But Priced Out: Chicago’s Homeownership Affordability Gap by Neighborhood,” the Financial Health Network explores some of the financial reasons why more renters are not becoming homeowners.

For example, of those who made a mortgage inquiry, between 35% and 62% went on to purchase a home—with those in the North and Central areas of the city being significantly more likely to obtain a mortgage loan.

But these numbers only tell part of the story. We know that other factors, such as income to cover rising costs and savings for a down payment, as well as inflated home prices, play important roles in whether someone is successful in obtaining a mortgage loan.

The Trust's Liza Youngling analyzes the research: https://www.cct.org/stories/what-new-research-reveals-about-chicagos-homeownership-gap/

09/01/2026

More than two-thirds of Chicago renters want to become homeowners, but many face barriers before they ever apply for a mortgage. In a new research brief, “Credit Ready But Priced Out: Chicago’s Homeownership Affordability Gap by Neighborhood,” the Financial Health Network explores some of the financial reasons why more renters are not becoming homeowners.

For example in 2022, credit-readiness varied widely by region, from about 1 in 4 renters on the South and Far South sides to more than half of renters on the North Side. (Credit readiness means having a strong credit history, manageable debt relative to your income, a track record of paying bills on time, and no recent bankruptcies or foreclosures. Meeting these criteria makes it easier for prospective borrowers to qualify for credit on affordable terms.)

The gap is likely widening. After the pandemic-era pause on federal student loan payments ended in 2023, more than a third of credit-ready renters with open student loans lost their credit-ready status by 2025, a sign that rising costs and education debt may be pulling renters further from ownership.

Learn more from the Trust's Liza Youngling: https://www.cct.org/stories/what-new-research-reveals-about-chicagos-homeownership-gap/

08/27/2026

"Chicago has always helped shape the national conversation about work. From the labor movement to today’s minimum wage increase, this city has repeatedly asked what workers deserve. I believe the next chapter of that conversation asks an equally important question: once someone has the job, how do we design work so that employment becomes the foundation for lasting stability?"

More in Crain's Chicago Business from Julian Posada of LiftUp Enterprises:

Workers deserve wages that better reflect the cost of living, and employers have a responsibility to make those wages work.

08/26/2026

The Center for Better Aging, a Trust grant recipient, works to improve the health and wellness of Chicago's aging adults on the South Side. The organization's executive director Estrellita Harmon shares more in this WGN feature:

The Center for Better Aging is a local nonprofit working to improve the health and wellness of the city’s aging adults on the greater south side helping them live healthier, more independent …

08/25/2026

Through the Together Fund, a participatory grantmaking pilot from The Chicago Community Trust, 20 Chicago residents ("community advisors") spent nearly a year together designing an RFP and building the scoring rubric.

The result? The distribution of $1.6 million across 12 grant recipients from 200 applicants to help West Side and South Side neighborhoods recover from the pandemic—most of whom had never sought funding from the Trust before.

Learn how experiences like this one are reshaping how philanthropy gets done, via Council on Foundations:

Of the 20 Chicago residents deciding the grant awards, none was a grantmaker. One owned a coffee-roasting business; another a dessert and sweets company. A student intern deliberated alongside veterans of community development and organizing. A few had Ivy League degrees. One had spent time in priso...

08/21/2026

Fame Center, a Trust grant recipient, is a Chicago nonprofit that provides arts education for young children. This summer, they are hosting camp in the South Loop that aims to make the arts accessible to all youth.

Take a look at their feature in CBS News:

Chicago nonprofit, "Fame Center" is hosting a summer camp that aims to make the arts accessible to all kids.

08/20/2026

Missed the info session? View the presentation deck and video recording on our website: https://www.cct.org/grants/opportunities/rfp-coalitions-advancing-economic-mobility-policy-change/

OPPORTUNITY: The Chicago Community Trust is now accepting applications for our Coalitions Advancing Economic Mobility RFP. By supporting policy and system change efforts, the Trust seeks to create lasting benefits for individuals, families and communities throughout the Chicago region.

Learn more and attend the info session on August 19: https://www.cct.org/grants/opportunities/rfp-coalitions-advancing-economic-mobility-policy-change/

08/19/2026

"Until now, all of E.G. Woode’s work has been fueled by sweat equity, social capital, and the shared vision to do development differently where traditional models have fallen short. Meanwhile, Chicago has spent years trying to concentrate new housing and commercial space around its transit stations, and Englewood, with its abundance of vacant lots near transit, is an obvious place to do it. Now, E.G. Woode is using its collective approach to test whether the buildout around a station like 63rd and Ashland can be led by the people who already live there..."

Read:

As transit investment reaches Chicago’s disinvested neighborhoods, who captures the value? These Black entrepreneurs have spent years buying up property on 63rd Street so that Englewood residents get to answer that themselves.