Rapid Response and Recovery Fund Impact

From childcare to educational support to positive youth development and mentoring, these organizations specialize in addressing the needs of our community's children.

Access to mental health care, primary health care, and physical safety are paramount needs during the COVID pandemic. Many grantees help specific vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the virus, such as seniors, infants, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, and racial and ethnic minorities.

Grants supported agencies that provide our most essential human needs, working hard for food security and housing stability in our area. Local food pantries and ministries saw a tripling in need, mostly due to the unprecedented spike in unemployment. Grants also supported transitioning homeless families and individuals from shelter model to establishing safe spaces in hotel housing and other interim housing.

To offset job losses and uncertain economic futures, grants provided direct rental and utility assistance, job and workforce development for young adults, and legal aid for our most vulnerable neighbors, including our immigrant populations and people with disabilities.

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation understands the interconnectedness of our social needs – the importance of a thriving economy as well as an active arts & culture scene – to our general collective wellness. With this view, we supported a variety of agencies that are integral to fulfilled and purposeful lives, from supporting employment of local artists and the ways our community gets public information, to ensuring our cultural institutions survive until they can be open again.