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Jun 2011  |  By Olivia Murawski  |  Comments

Chicago Lights Wins Grant at Impact 100 Chicago Event

Imagine being given the chance to receive a $100,000 grant for a work project that’s near and dear to your heart – and having it hinge on one final presentation, with the results announced on the spot.

Impact 100 Chicago gave its first $100,000 grant to Chicago Lights at an event held at Arlington Park, with a crowd of over 170 guests. Five non-profit organizations presented a pitch as to why their project most deserved the first annual $100,000 Chicago grant.

To create this generous award, the 126 all-female members of Impact 100 Chicago each contributed $1,000. (The remaining $26,000 was divided equally among the four runners-up, meaning no one went home empty-handed).

The process began in 2010, when Impact 100 Chicago divided letters of inquiry from local non-profits into five categories: Health and Wellness, Environmental, Arts and Culture, Family, and Education. Each committee narrowed the group down to about three organizations. Those nonprofits wrote a grant, assessed by Impact 100 Chicago’s financial review board. Then, Impact 100 Chicago members made site visits. In the end, each committee chose one non-profit to present at the first annual grant award celebration held on June 14.

The 5 finalists were:

• Almost Home Kids- expansion to its Naperville home for medically fragile children
• Chicago Lights- taking an abandoned basketball court in Cabrini Green and building a Greenhouse Learning Lab
• St. Martin de Porres House of Hope- Genesis Project which would help the recovery process for families of homeless, addicted women who reside in the group’s shelter
• Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra- creation of a Steel Drum Ensemble for underprivileged youth
• Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund- funding 20 members of its class of 2015 for one year at boarding school

Chicago Lights left with the $100,000 grant, and plans to install the greenhouse this summer.

The Greenhouse Learning Lab “will provide a voice for youth in violent communities,” said Natasha Holbert, Urban Farm Program Director from Chicago Lights.

With a successful first year, Impact 100 Chicago now has an even bigger vision. “The goal of 2011 is to have 200 members to give two $100,000 grants next year,” said Marybeth Lernihan, President of Impact 100 Chicago.