Chicago is fortunate to see the birth of a new chamber ensemble, Corde Volanti, which made its debut on June 26, 2022. [Read more…]

 

The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation is delighted to welcome Mark Anthony Florido as the Program Officer for Social Impact. Mark Anthony will provide support and guidance to applicants and grantee partners within the Social Impact program area with a focus on Education.

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The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation has been a proud supporter of BUILD Chicago since 2015. BUILD (Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development) is a comprehensive youth services organization that engages young people where they are – in schools, the courts, or the streets – providing the mentoring and support they need to persist through the systemic obstacles around them.  Founded in 1969 on Chicago’s West Side, BUILD has always focused on the hardest-to-reach youth – youth facing violence, mental health trauma, imbalanced policing, disinvested schools, and countless other intersectional challenges. By building trust and creating safe spaces, BUILD helps young people heal, develop resilience, discover talents, engage with school and work, realize their potential, and achieve positive futures. “BUILD is honestly about teaching you how to make your dreams happen,” says Cortez Dean, a former BUILD youth himself, who now works as a full-time mentor.

 

 

Each of BUILD’s programs addresses a different set of needs, and is designed to be combined with others as each youth requires. The Intervention program helps gang- and justice- involved youths step away from violence through intensive mentoring, violence interruption, resources, school re-engagement and gang detachment. Prevention focuses on younger, elementary and middle-school aged youths in schools, helping them avoid violence and gang involvement by fostering the skills, attitudes, and habits of success. Enrichment provides a variety of creative activities from art and music to sports and gardening, helping youths discover their creativity, positively express themselves, explore new talents, and gain leadership and work experience. Education/BUILDing Futures helps youth prepare for post-secondary education, teaching skills to succeed in school and prepare for college and careers. The Clinical and Community Wellness team wraps mental health care around all other services, providing therapy, on-call crisis response, case management, and court advocacy to youth and families impacted by community violence and trauma. Through all these programs, BUILD connects with over 5,000 youth and family members each year.

 

 

It’s a lot of services, but as any BUILD mentor will tell you, the common thread is making young people feel safe and cared for. “We make sure that kids don’t just feel like they’re part of just a program,” says Jeremy Mercado, an Intervention Specialist in middle schools. “It’s a family, it’s a brother and sisterhood.”

 

Potential doesn’t discriminate – only opportunity does, and BUILD believes that, with the care they need and deserve, every young person has potential to bloom into something beautiful and strong. “I feel loved when I come to BUILD,” says 15-year old Lanita. And that’s the most powerful service of all.

 

To learn more about BUILD Chicago, please visit their website.

Since its founding in 1995, About Face has been dedicated to developing new work in Chicago and supporting LGBTQ+ artists at different stages in their process and careers. To date, About Face has presented 48 world-premiere plays, which have won critical acclaim and major recognitions including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and 16 Joseph Jefferson Awards.

The cast of About Face Youth Theatre’s production of 20/20. Photo by Michael Brosilow

About Face educational programs combine learning techniques of theatre as a means of activism with a brave space for LGBTQ+ community building. About Face Youth Theatre, now in its 22nd year, provides free theatre training, leadership development, and opportunities for developing and performing in new plays for public audiences.

About Face recently took its commitment to education and the community even further when it announced its new Green Room Collective, which is a paid mentorship program for early-career LGBTQ+ arts leaders. And in June 2021, AFT awarded grants to two local LGBTQ+ playwrights to support their creative work. The playwrights each received $2,000 grant awards for use in their art-making processes.

Scott Bradley in Packing. Photo by Nathanael Filbert

All AFT programs are designed to empower people of all generations within the LGBTQ+ community and its Equity mainstage productions speak to the political urgency of this moment by addressing challenging social problems. The work onstage as well as auxiliary programs reveal community strategies for persistence and joy, acknowledge specific ways that social inequalities impact LGBTQ+ people, and strengthen networks of support.

The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation (PMAFF) has been a proud supporter of About Face Theatre (AFT) since 2015. AFT currently receives general operating support from PMAFF. Past support has included production-specific funding so AFT could share LGBTQ+ stories such as Audrey Cefaly’s THE GULF and R. Eric Thomas’ TIME IS ON OUR SIDE.

Kelli Simpkins and Deanna Myers in The Gulf. Photo by Michael Brosilow

For more information, visit aboutfacetheatre.com

The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation is pleased to have provided funding to Growing Home over the last six years.

 

 

Growing Home believes that everyone deserves a good job, to eat well, and to live in a vibrant, supportive community. The organization proudly runs three of Chicago’s first high-production, USDA-certified organic urban farms in the Englewood community of Chicago. Their mission is to operate, promote, and demonstrate the use of organic urban agriculture as a powerful and therapeutic vehicle for job training, employment, food access and community development. Through this innovative workforce development program, Growing Home helps individuals overcome the barriers created by criminal records, homelessness, or lack of job histories to become successful members of Chicago’s workforce. Growing Home also partners with local community organizations to offer workshops on gardening, nutrition, and cooking with produce.

 

 

 

Despite the global pandemic, Growing Home continues to grow to meet community needs. In April, the organization opened a new Honore Street South farm for more growing and training space. Growing Home was able to train over 50 people in the workforce development program by transitioning the classroom portion to a virtual format, including virtual elevator pitch workshops. Additionally, staff made wellness check calls to over 500 past participants to ensure they could meet basic needs and connect them to emergency assistance when necessary. Growing Home also partnered with local organizations to offer CSA’s in Englewood at no cost to residents as well as engage in door-to-door delivery and food drives.

 

 

 

For more information on Growing Home, visit https://growinghomeinc.org

 

 

An internship can be one of the most valuable experiences for an aspiring young arts professional. It provides valuable training within a working organization. It serves as a base for networking with other colleagues from throughout their field. [Read more…]

The LOI process for our Spring 2021 grant cycle is now closed. Thanks to all who submitted. We are currently reviewing them and will be returning decisions in the coming weeks.

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The Foundation is pleased to announce the grant cycle calendars for 2021. Please note, all LOIs are due on the deadline date on or before 11:59 PM, Central Time, unless otherwise noted.

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Thanks to all who submitted LOIs for our Fall 2020 Cycle. Decisions have been sent to applicants and the LOI process is now closed. For those who have been invited to complete full applications or who are renewal applicants, applications are due August 10th.

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