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The Field
Foundation makes grants in six program areas: Community Welfare, Culture,
Education, Environment, Health and Urban & Community Affairs. Please review
the Foundation's
guidelines for additional information.
Community Welfare
The Foundation's grantmaking in Community Welfare supports a broad range of
community-based social service programs addressing the needs of disadvantaged
populations. Community Welfare Grants
Culture
As a general rule, grants in Culture focus on two areas: 1). Community-based
outreach programs targeting economically disadvantaged individuals who would
not otherwise have access to cultural programs and institutions, and 2).
Limited capital and programmatic support of major cultural institutions,
particularly where small grants can significantly address critical physical
infrastructure needs or can play an important role in the development of
creative, new programs whose efforts focus on economically disadvantaged
individuals who otherwise would not have financial means to participate.
Requests for in-school arts education programming should be made in
partnership with a Chicago public school.
Culture
Grants
Education
The Field Foundation's program for primary and secondary school education is
designed to encourage and support the efforts of individual public schools,
clusters of schools or initiatives that promote collaboration amongst
stakeholders within the Chicago Public School System to improve education and
help educationally or economically disadvantaged children achieve academic
success.
The Foundation is interested in supporting educational best practices that
creatively address pressing issues of a particular school, be it the increasing
rates of asthma among the student body, a change in the neighborhood
demographics or providing cultural and/or arts activities where there are none.
To this end, grant dollars will be awarded for a variety of purposes including,
but not limited to, convening internal stakeholders, working in collaboration
with other schools, programming with external partners, hiring a facilitator,
consultant or other service contractor so as to advance or implement the work
on an identified issue, concern or program.
The Foundation seeks to have its grant dollars foster the creation of
communities of learning which may be sustained beyond the life of the grant.
Therefore, the Foundation will give preference to those projects that:
- Focus on a specific school or clusters of schools which
have the full involvement and commitment of school leadership including
staff, parents and students;
- Include an evaluative component or dissemination
strategy which illustrates how programmatic learning will be shared; and,
- Demonstrates how the proposed program will positively
impact students.
Generally, grants
will not be awarded for citywide advocacy efforts, or efforts to assist the
overall administration of the Board of Education. Grants will not be made to
support the general on-going operating needs of schools or local school
councils, scholarships, new building construction, repairs or improvements to
public schools, endowment campaigns, or degree granting programs for teachers,
or on-going teacher training.
From time
to time, when the health and safety of children are jeopardized and when a
grant from the Foundation would have an immediate impact on the problem, grants
will be considered to private schools for capital improvements.
Note: The Local School Council is
considered the same as the school's board of directors. Information (names,
affiliations, ethnic and gender breakdown) about its members must be included.
A specific project budget is required.
Education
Grants
Environment
The Field Foundation will consider proposals from new and emerging environment
organizations for general operating and organizational capacity-building
support. Established organizations (those in existence longer than five years)
will be considered for program support in public policy, advocacy, site-based
projects and public engagement that:
- prevent and reduce pollution of the natural
environment;
- protect, preserve and restore the natural environment;
and,
- promote growth management strategies to reduce or
address urban sprawl.
Priority is
placed on projects that:
- address geographic areas with highly concentrated
environment hazards;
- extend work into communities historically neglected due
to race and class;
- employ a multi-disciplinary approach that recognizes
the connection between environmental health, public health and economic
health;
- pursue long-term results; and,
- involve collaboration and partnerships.
Environment
Grants
Health
The Field Foundation of Illinois defines health broadly, recognizing the
multiple factors (socio-economic, racial/ethnic, environmental, biological, and
behavioral) that determine the health of individuals and communities. The
Foundation also recognizes the diversity of organizations that provide health
care and health-related services. The Foundation's health program focuses on
three areas:
I. Strengthening primary care
providers to the poor. In recognition of the severe impact of political and
funding shifts in health care on community-based health services for vulnerable
populations, funding priority is given to efforts to improve the organizational
capacity of community-based health care providers. Support is intended to equip
providers to make necessary changes that will ensure long-term sustainability.
Such changes may include (but are not limited to): development of more
efficient practice operations; diversification of revenue streams; navigation
of complex funding and policy issues; stronger measurement and evaluation of
outcomes; and improved organizational and business development strategies.
Applicants must demonstrate that the proposed activity is essential to help the
organization achieve (and maintain) sustainable financial and programmatic
performance.
II. Developing a systemic approach
to health care. In recognition of the dynamic inter-relationships among
health, environment, employment, housing, behavior and other socio-economic
factors, support is intended to help providers align services across multiple
disciplines. Such projects may include collaboration among providers, service
integration and/or co-location, or comprehensive case management strategies.
Activities that promote shared knowledge and resources across sectors, identify
strategic interventions in the complex system of causes and effects for health
status, and establish appropriate linkages among inter-dependent services will
be considered. Applicants must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the
various systems at work in the community and describe how the proposed activity
will improve health outcomes.
III. Supporting development and
dissemination of new and creative best practices in service delivery. In
recognition that availability of and access to care alone cannot ensure health,
the Foundation limits support of direct services to the following: development
of service innovations for hard-to-reach populations; and projects with
demonstrated potential to act as an imprimatur for public policy and future
funding. In rare cases, other direct services (including start-up and capital
support for new primary care clinics) will be supported only in areas with
documented, acute service deficiencies in access to care. Applicants must
demonstrate a specific, measurable plan to evaluate the innovation and
disseminate the results.
Within the three priorities, the Foundation is particularly interested in
supporting the efforts of providers to address changing demographic trends. The
aging of the population and the growing proportion of racial/ethnic communities
of color will create new demands on services for the elderly and for culturally
appropriate health care. The Foundation believes these two trends necessitate
the development of providers and policies that meet the needs of these groups.
Applicants must demonstrate an ability to measure the outcomes and
effectiveness of the proposed activity. The Foundation encourages applicants to
consider quantitative and qualitative evaluation plans.
Support for hospitals and other large health institutions will be considered
only for community- based activities that fall within the priorities stated
above.
All other general requirements for prospective grantees also apply.
Health
Grants
Urban & Community Affairs
Grantmaking in Urban & Community Affairs supports a variety of policy,
advocacy, planning and research efforts that attempt to foster systemic changes
in the Chicago metropolitan region. Issues of particular interest to the
Foundation include but are not limited to fair and affordable housing,
community organizing, community and economic development, employment, race
relations and immigrant and refugee rights. Urban & Community Affairs Grants
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