I Grow Chicago

How Women Unite! Got Connected

Women Unite! Executive Director Liz Jansen attended an event that I Grow Chicago (IGC) hosted in partnership with the Chicago Impact Network at the end of June 2019. The event was called Stories of Englewood from Past to Present and included stories from IGC staff/community members as well as a tour of their campus. At the event, Liz connected with Erin Vogel, current Director of Programs at IGC, and through that connection was introduced to Zelda Mayer, Director of Development at IGC. Zelda mentioned that IGC was seeking to hire a part-time grant writer, and WU! was ready to jump in! WU! has been meeting IGC’s grant needs since July 2019.

About I Grow Chicago

The mission of I Grow Chicago (IGC) is to grow Englewood from surviving to thriving through community connection, skill building, and opportunity. In the 10 miles between the Englewood and River North neighborhoods in Chicago, there is a 30 year gap in life expectancy, the largest gap between any two neighborhoods in any American city. IGC believes that we must come together in love and solidarity to honestly confront the disparities in our city. The organization’s Healing Justice model empowers individuals with systems of kinship, invests in the infrastructure for neighborhood sustainability, and creates new ways of being in and relating to the world. IGC’s 15 programs and services lift barriers to success.

By engaging Englewood residents in the cultivation of their own community, IGC creates a new model for sustainable community building. One of their core programs, Survive to Thrive, provides job training, computer and financial literacy, and resource access support to community members within the community. The program engages more than 600 community residents per year in needed social services, such as transportation and state ID applications.

Who They Serve

IGC serves the hardest-to-reach, most vulnerable populations in the Englewood and West Englewood community areas, neighborhoods that have suffered from years of disinvestment. The area has high rates of gun violence, poverty, and mass incarceration, and disturbingly low health outcomes. 95% of the individuals they serve are African-American, and 100% are low-income. Each year, IGC serves approximately 3,000 community members through its 15 programs.

The Organization’s Need

As the scope of IGC’s work has expanded, they sought new sources of funding to support their organizational growth. In addition to the grant work they were already doing, they needed assistance increasing their funding pipeline, sustaining existing relationships, cultivating new ones, and applying to foundations and corporations whose missions aligned with their critical work. After connecting at a community event, WU! got to work immediately, researching potential funders, developing a pipeline, and writing grants so the folks at IGC could focus on their critical work of transforming their community.

Women Unite!’s Impact

Through a close, collaborative relationship with Women Unite!, IGC now has a continuous slate of 30-45 potential grants to approach for support. In addition to managing current demands, we've grown what they've been able to accomplish, applying to 37 new corporate and foundation prospects in 11 months. Overall, Women Unite! worked with IGC to apply to 47 different foundations and corporations for a combined total of just over $1.4 million. Women Unite! has helped IGC secure nearly $350,000 in funding, including a new, $100,000 award from Impact Grants Chicago.

In addition to providing grant management support, Women Unite! helped conceptualize and implement IGC’s Fund the Frontlines giving campaign to raise money for their COVID-19 response efforts. Together, Women Unite! and I Grow Chicago raised just over $145,000 in a single month.

With new funding on the horizon and a staff that has been able to shift their attention away from fundraising and onto direct service, IGC has been able to impact more underserved individuals than ever. In FY19, the organization served 3,000 individuals—providing training and employment opportunities, facilitating wraparound services for children, and addressing the deeply-rooted inequities and trauma that exist in the community. In March 2020, the organization shifted focus to support their community through the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of three months, IGC provided life-saving support to hundreds of people through prepared meals, medical and cleaning supplies, food and household staples, and mental and physical health check-ins.

Women Unite!’s services and partnership have proven to be integral to IGC’s financial and organizational stability and sustainability.

Mission Alignment

With I Grow Chicago’s focus on harm-reduction, empowering neighborhood residents to address root causes to systemic inequities, and developing solutions from within the community, the partnership with Women Unite! was a match-made in Englewood. WU! strives to uplift the voices of those who have been marginalized, while simultaneously trusting in the true experts: the community members who know their community the best. And that is a cornerstone to IGC’s work.