The DuPage Community Transformation Partnership (DCTP) is awarding a fifth, and final, round of grants totaling $3.37 million in a collaborative effort forged nearly three years ago between the DuPage County Board and the DuPage Foundation.
In early 2022, the County Board linked arms with the DuPage Foundation and created DCTP as a mechanism for distributing federal COVID-19 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to nonprofits and programs centered around mental health, substance use disorder, food insecurity and housing instability. A total of $10.6 million was appropriated for the assorted grants.
15 grant recipients named in final round
Fifteen new grant disbursements were announced at a County Board meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8, as the remaining pool of money was allocated.
“These transformational grants are intended to, very simply, be life-changing,” County Board Chair Deborah Conroy said at the meeting. “They support evidence-based programs focused on solutions to build capacity, improve efficiency, and ensure programs make measurable impact.”
Recipients for the final round are as follows:
Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Grants: $2,761,315
- Alive Center: $98,000
- Easterseals DuPage and Fox Valley: $322,200
- Glen Ellyn Children’s Resource Center: $100,000
- KidsMatter: $270,000
- Little Friends Inc.: $241,000
- Metropolitan Family Services DuPage: $550,000
- Northeast DuPage Family and Youth Services: $398,500
- Outreach: $175,000
- Ray Graham Association: $223,615
- Serenity House Counseling Services Inc.: $200,000
- Tri-Town YMCA: $183,000
Food Insecurity Grants: $155,410
- Neighborhood Food Pantries: $110,000
- People’s Resource Center: $45,410
Housing Instability Grants: $454,233
- Bridge Communities Inc.: $223,620
- DuPagePads: $230,613
A big-picture look at the DCTP grant awards
With the final round of funds in place, representatives from the County Board and the DuPage Foundation used the milestone as an opportunity to reflect on the DCTP and its impact throughout the region in recent years.
A total of 84 individual grants were named throughout the DCTP program, either under the rubric of programs and services geared toward short-term immediate intervention or longer-range transformational efforts.
A majority of the grants — 52 total — fell within the immediate intervention category, though the $3.4 million in funding toward this rubric was smaller. The remaining 32 grants, totaling $7 million, went toward the transformational programs and services.
DuPage Foundation President and CEO Mike Sitrick credited a volunteer committee tasked with sorting through grant applications for playing a pivotal role in making the funding recommendations.
“They’ve been exceedingly thoughtful and strategic in their work to ensure that these dollars are allocated prudently on behalf of our community,” Sitrick said.
District 6 Commissioner Greg Schwarze served as a County Board liaison with the DCTP allocations.
“Many dedicated volunteers serve on the grant committee, asking important questions and really drilling down on the long-term impact applicants are seeking to make in our communities,” Schwarze said. “That dedication and collaboration led to today’s grant awards.”
As evidenced by the latest round of disbursements, mental health was one of the prevailing needs pinpointed across DuPage County as grant requests under the parameters of the ARPA funds were considered.
“As I reviewed the grant recipients, and their transformational program descriptions, I was struck — particularly in the mental health area — how many of these programs are aimed at children, and their families, hoping to address mental health struggles early,” Conroy said.
What’s ahead for DCTP grant recipients
While the ARPA money has been exhausted through the final round of funding allocations, officials have indicated the headway gained in recent years through the programs and services is designed to continue into the years ahead.
“I want to emphasize that sustainability was always a factor when our committee was making decisions,” Barb Szczepaniak, vice president for programs with the DuPage Foundation, said. “When we were selecting the recipients, we wanted to make sure these programs would continue on when the grant funding is no longer there.”
Sitrick said the collaborative efforts borne out of the ARPA funds will continue in the years ahead. At the recent County Board meeting, Sitrick touched on the DuPage Foundation’s three-point strategic plan that carries the spirit and resources of the DCTP efforts of the past three years.
The plan includes the creation of a DuPage Funders’ Collaborative, mobilizing local and regional funders to engage with the foundation in transformative grantmaking; as well as the Community Impact Investors’ Circle, which is designed to connect local businesses, government officials and community leaders in grantmaking efforts.
The third component of the DuPage Foundation’s strategic plan is an All in DuPage Campaign, which is intended to grow the unrestricted, permanently endowed funds for future impact and sustainability. This piece of the plan focuses on raising $35 million to double the foundation’s annual discretionary grantmaking.
Photo courtesy: DuPage Community Transformation Partnership
If you have a story idea, we want to hear from you!
