Creating a Resilient Community Together

COMMUNITY BUILDING

We understand the power of unity in driving significant social change. Collaborating with leading organizations, we embark on large-scale projects aimed at enhancing the well-being of our community. Our partnerships are grounded in the belief that together, we can create a more inclusive and just Evanston.

Community Listening

ECF engages deeply with the community through dynamic nonprofit roundtables, regular surveys, and dedicated task forces, fostering collective action and informed responses. These initiatives shape ECF’s strategic investments, focusing on key areas like immigrant support, early childhood development, and senior care.

Community Coalitions

We stand at the forefront of multiple impactful coalitions in Evanston designed to make our community more just, inclusive, and vibrant. Read on to see how we are standing in community with our partner organizations to invigorate change around education and housing in Evanston.

Fostering Resilience Through Social Impact Initiatives

Investing in our community with a long-term and sustainable perspective, we empower leaders and foster innovation and collaboration. The Community Foundation creates programming and actively seeks partnership that drives systemic social change in Evanston.

Our role as a stable fixture of support has not only helped us navigate challenges like the Covid-19 pandemic but has also strengthened the fabric of our community, making Evanston a model of resilience and thriving community spirit.

Our Initiatives

The Evanston gun buyback program utilizes resources from the Foundation's Evanston Gun Buyback Fund to remove guns from our community. Established in 2012, generous contributions from Evanston residents, the Cherry Family Foundation, Evanston Northshore Hospital, ECF, and Northwestern University added more than $20,000 to the fund. The Evanston Police Department’s Gun Buyback Program now operates on a daily basis in order to gain control of unwanted guns as quickly as possible. Citizens can call 3-1-1 to arrange for a member of the Problem Solving Team to finalize arrangements for transfer of a weapon to the department.
The Community Foundation proudly holds the Evanston Reparations Community Fund which will benefit Evanston’s Black community, to heal racism and address harm caused by discriminatory practices. It will be administered by the Reparations Stakeholders Authority, as it raises funds, develops grant processes, and administers grants to advance Evanston Reparations. A key objective is to ensure funding is available for reparations when the City of Evanston's tax revenues, held in a separate fund administered by the City, are no longer available.
The Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) Working Group was formed in late 2017, and part of the planning process was for City Sustainability Coordinator Kumar Jensen to share information on climate change and its likely impact on Evanston with the community and solicit feedback, concerns, and ideas to be used in the planning process. ECF hosted a community session for Leadership Evanston alumni, as well as inviting Jensen to a Leadership Evanston session, and also convened a meeting for nonprofits to think about how climate change is likely to impact their constituents. The final draft of the Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) was made public in November 2018.
To ensure all students in Evanston/Skokie District 65 have equitable access to the important supports and enrichments many PTAs provide, D65 PTAs are now collectively pooling all funds raised throughout the district to be equitably distributed to all schools each year. D65 PTAs have joined forces to create the One Fund Initiative to capitalize on the potential of our broader community and collectively meet the needs of all our schools together.
Founded in 2024, Ubuntu Leadership Institute (ULI) is a resource for impactful talent development and leadership training, focused on nurturing socially conscious leaders in Evanston. Our goal is to diversify and expand the leadership model through the institute's programming.