We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery is making $500,000 in grants to support Black and Latinx-owned businesses opening and growing in Chicago. The funding will go to a partnership between two nonprofit organizations—Allies for Community Business (A4CB) and Small Business Advisory Council (SBAC). They will provide coaching and assistance to Black and Latinx business owners in the 10 communities where We Rise Together has supported two or more community-led real estate developments.
These grants are intended to help close gaps such as access to financial capital between Black and Latinx-owned businesses and white-owned businesses. Strengthening small businesses, along with investing in brick-and-mortar development and improving employment, are the core strategies We Rise Together utilizes to stabilize and strengthen local economies and, in turn, the region’s economy.
A4CB and SBAC also will pass through a portion of the funding to local chambers of commerce to strengthen the overall economic ecosystem in Black and Latinx neighborhoods. The focus communities are Auburn Gresham, Austin, Back of the Yards, Englewood, Gage Park, North Lawndale, South Lawndale, South Shore, Washington Park, and West Lawn.
