Skokie Community Foundation Announces 2024 Grants

Skokie Community Foundation (SCF) is proud to announce the recipients of its 2024 grants. SCF is awarding $27,500, with an additional $17,000 coming from the Education Foundation Supporting the Students of Niles Township (EF). Special thanks to First Bank Chicago and Haben Funeral Home & Crematory, which each donated $5,000 to support the grants.

The grants are:

  • $10,000 to the ELL Parent Center, partnering with the Skokie public school districts, to expand the services it offers to English language learners. Some examples of these services: workforce training; child care assistance for adult students; transportation to and from ELL center classes; healthcare-related needs; and scholarships for workforce certification classes. ($5,000 from SCF and $5,000 from EF)
  • $10,000 to Connections for the Homeless, working with the Village of Skokie Department of Health & Human Services, to provide flexible funding to help Skokie residents maintain their housing and avoid homelessness. ($5,000 each from SCF and EF)
  • $7,500 to Turning Point Behavioral Health Care Center, working with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Cook County North Suburban, to design and host a new and inclusive support group in Skokie for adults who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. (Funded by SCF) 
  • $7,000 to the Early Childhood Alliance (ECA), working with the Infant Welfare Society of Evanston, to expand services offered by its Parent Support Groups. Focusing on families with young children up to age 5, ECA family liaisons help refugee and immigrant families in Skokie access services and resources, enroll in programs and build relationships and community. ($5,000 from SCF and $2,000 from EF) 
  • $5,000 to The Talking Farm, partnering with The Douglas Center and District 219’s Bridges Program, to create a project called Flowers from the Heart, which will provide opportunities for people with developmental, physical and intellectual disabilities to develop life and vocational skills related to sustainability and horticulture. Participants will learn how to plant, care for and harvest flowers and other plants that they will bundle into bouquets to give back to the community. ($2,500 each from SCF and EF)
  • $5,000 to District 73.5’s McCracken Middle School, working with District 73’s East Prairie School, District 68’s Old Orchard Middle School, the Skokie ELL Parent Center, and Skokie Public Library, to provide core sets of multilingual reading materials in diverse languages. Texts in these languages are difficult to source and often cost more than those in more commonly spoken languages. ($2,500 each from SCF and EF)

Congratulations to these worthy organizations on the life-changing difference they make in the lives of Skokie families!