Promise Grants

The Promise Grant program, funded by the DeKalb County Community Foundation, supports charitable organizations serving underserved populations in DeKalb County. It aims to empower individuals facing challenges related to ethnicity, immigration status, and abilities. Priorities include increasing participation in community life, developing leadership skills, and improving educational levels. The program seeks to inspire hope and opportunity, addressing the needs of marginalized communities through effective project funding.

Background
Promise Grants support charitable community organizations that provide services to underserved and often dismissed populations in DeKalb County. The purpose of the Promise Grant program is to inspire, educate, and empower individuals who may experience extraordinary challenges due to their ethnicity, immigration status, and abilities.
Support for this grant program comes from two Funds at the DeKalb County Community Foundation. The Promise Fund-El Fondo de la Promesa and the Howard and Mildred Eychaner Fund.
Eloise and Jack Kaeck created The Promise Fund-El Fondo de la Promesa in 2001 to help people succeed and feel that they belong. Their vision was to inspire the community to provide hope and opportunity, to understand and experience the true needs of the underserved neighborhoods, and work to address them.
In 2021, the Promise Grant program received an extra boost in available dollars thanks to the Howard and Mildred Eychaner Fund, established years ago as a charitable remainder trust for the Foundation. The Eychaners grew up in the great depression and worked alongside many other poor people struggling to make ends meet. Over the years, they saw groups of dismissed people working extra hard to survive. Their vision was to help people who are making an effort to help themselves.
Grantmaking Priorities
Proposed projects will be reviewed on the basis of the following priorities:

• Increase participation (empowerment) of underserved populations in the center of community life.
• Develop leadership skills in marginalized populations.
• Increase understanding and tolerance.
• Raise educational levels and enhance the quality of life.
• Strengthen organizations with the capacity to transform community perspectives.
• Projects related to healthcare and affordable housing within DeKalb Township.

Eligibility

Organizations eligible to apply for a Promise Grant are:Agencies operating as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organizationsin DeKalb County, Illinois specifically those agencies working to empower underserved people with specific or one-time needsSchool districts, schools, or education facilitiesChurches and church related groups if proposed program is not religious in nature and does not require a religious commitment to participateMunicipal or governmental entities