On the recordMay 4, 2015
For 100 years, the Chicago Community Trust has connected the generosity of Chicagoans with the needs of the community. In 1915, 6 years after Daniel Burnham unveiled his visionary plan for the city of Chicago, Norman Harris and his son Albert recognized how much could be achieved by combining the philanthropy of business and community leaders who cared deeply about the future of Chicago. They founded The Chicago Community Trust. As brilliant as Burnham's plan was, Norman and Albert Harris understood that it takes more than steel, glass, and concrete to make a great city. A great city needs healthy, hopeful people, good schools, culture, and arts--all things that the trust has helped nurture for 100 years. Whether its economic opportunity, education, housing, conservation, or health care--the list of important causes in which the Chicago Community Trust is involved is remarkable. Since its founding, the trust has granted more than $2 billion to nonprofit organizations working to improve the quality of life in the community. The trust has helped develop new audiences to sustain arts organizations, protected the human services safety net for those hardest hit by economic challenges, eased the devastating effects of foreclosures in Chicago neighborhoods, and elevated teaching to meet world-class standards.…
