Drumroll please…our 2026 Grant Announcement is here!
Skokie Community Foundation (SCF) is awarding grants to five programs that will meet pressing needs in the community. Each project is being carried out by partnerships between at least two nonprofits and/or agencies.
The 2026 grant awards total $35,000. The grants are supported in part by two major business sponsors, First Bank Chicago and Haben Funeral Home & Crematory, each of which contributed $5,000 to this year’s pool of available dollars.
“In addition to First Bank Chicago and the Haben family, we want to thank all of the people and businesses who contributed to Skokie Community Foundation this past year,” said Una McGeough, SCF Chair.
The 2026 recipients are:
— Skokie-Morton Grove School District 69, working in partnership with Preferred Dentistry, Metropolitan Family Services, and Skokie Eye Group. The $10,000 grant will allow D69 to enhance its Health Services Voucher Program, which provides access to no-cost dental, vision and mental health services to uninsured or underinsured students.
— Connections for the Homeless, working with Village of Skokie social workers. The $10,000 grant provides emergency funding for Skokie residents in danger of losing their housing. “With many more Skokie families struggling to maintain housing amid a rapidly rising cost of living, even a single unexpected expense can result in the loss of a home,” said Elena Larson, Associate Director of Development, Institutional Giving. “Disbursing relatively small amounts of flexible funding can help families pay for such things as car repairs, medical bills, groceries, and moving costs — and therefore avoid entering homelessness.”
— Rebuilding Together North Suburban Chicago, working with the Village of Skokie Health and Human Services Department. The grant provides $7,500 to provide home repairs free of charge to Skokie residents in need. Rebuilding Together works with Village social workers to identify clients who include elderly people, disabled residents, veterans and families with children, so they can continue to live in safe and secure homes.
— Turning Point Behavioral Health Care Center, partnering with Skokie Public Library. This $5,000 grant will help those agencies enhance its successful “Asking for a Friend” program, which offers monthly after-school programs to teens who welcome a safe space to learn and share concerns about mental health challenges. The sessions are facilitated by a licensed Turning Point clinician along with the library’s Teen Services staff.
— Shore Community Services working in partnership with the Maine-Niles Association of Special Recreation (M-NASR). The $2,500 grant supports the “Sports Explorer” program, which provides health and fitness classes for participants in two community day programs; most of these clients are non-verbal and will now be able to participate in a different sport each week.
Congratulations to all of the grant recipients! We can’t wait to see the impact these programs will have on our Skokie neighbors in need
