By James Yelen ust what exactly is “community ownership”? Depending on who you ask, the answer may differ, with some emphasizing how an asset or entity is controlled through decision-making and governance structures, others focusing on the proposed goal or benefit (such as permanent affordability), and still others interested in the degree to which community […]

By Sean Campbell The current financial system rewards the well-resourced and fails most BIPOC and low-income Americans. It simultaneously throws billions of dollars at unprofitable Silicon Valley companies while making capital inaccessible for small businesses and Main Street entrepreneurs. It has also done nothing to close our shameful racial wealth gap–indeed, it has made it […]

SPARCC was built on the foundation of bringing community autonomy to health, climate change, and racial equity. This approach is deliberate given the three are inextricably linked in shaping inclusive cities and successful outcomes.

Even with the best intentions, disinvested communities–most especially communities of color–may be harmed by commonplace procedures established by institutions like banks and municipalities. Often, this is because these procedures are created to benefit institutions and not the communities that need assistance.

The “Second City” has always been a place of change and renewal. Chicago, a city that was devastated by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, has proved its resiliency time and time again by continuing to reinvent itself.  Chicago is home to 77 community areas including Bronzeville and La Villita (Little Village), Chinatown and Uptown, […]

By Devin Culbertson and Sondra Ford In 2019 the SPARCC initiative was making plans for a second phase, but capital deployment was slower than we had hoped for. More importantly, our local partners were frustrated by our inability to lend to projects in their communities—which was the initial promise of SPARCC: changing the way we […]

Last week Congress passed a $1.5 trillion spending bill that was signed into law by President Biden this week. This comes on the heels of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill signed into law last November. While these bills contain funding for very worthwhile programming and resources, these funds often don’t make it to the organizations […]

At this point in time, it feels like it takes a lot of energy to just breathe. We might be—hopefully—stumbling out of an exhausting two-year pandemic, only to find the world in a tense situation. It’s a somber reminder that the fight for justice is not confined to the United States; it is a global […]

In 2020, SPARCC began its second three-year phase, just prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This new report highlights key findings and reflections from 2020-2021. The report by the Center for Community Health and Evaluation shares how SPARCC’s collective work in the first three years laid the foundation for systems change that is […]

Over the last 5 years, we’ve been working closely with our site partners to fund projects that center communities–from transit stop adjacent soccer fields to community owned housing, how we allocate money has evolved. As part of that evolution, we work closely with community leaders in identifying opportunities, helping develop them further, and structuring flexible […]