INVESTING IN BOLD ACTIONS FOR BLACK AND BROWN LIVES
Chicago Beyond launches the Backing the Fight Fund to stand in solidarity with organizations working on the front lines of Chicago’s communities. The Backing the Fight Fund is designed to quickly deploy resources to hyperlocal community organizations taking action and fighting for a more equitable future for Chicago’s youth and communities.
The Fund is a direct response to the current crises that are having a disproportionate impact on Chicago’s Black and Brown communities.
Key characteristics of the Backing the Fight Fund include:
- Supporting smaller and emerging community-based organizations led by People of Color, with the relevant lived experiences to shape and design innovative approaches to support their own communities
- Providing unrestricted funding, allowing community leaders who best know how to respond in this moment to move freely to do their critical work
- Focusing on organizations that are serving communities in the City of Chicago that are hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic
The initial 12 organizations supported by the Backing the Fight Fund are taking a variety of creative approaches to meet the needs of the communities they serve – including reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago through journalism, increasing neighborhood safety, youth-led organizing, distributing necessities and resources to thousands of immigrants, seniors, young people, and those undocumented, and racial healing circles amongst Black and Brown communities on the South and West Sides. Approximately 75% of the organizations operate with a budget under $250,000 annually.
Read our full page dedicated to the Backing The Fight Fund here.
