Blog

Dear Grantees and Applicants,

The Christopher Family Foundation sends you virtual greetings in these strange times, and wishes for your good health.

We also wanted to reach out to all our existing grantees and current applicants with a little information about things we are putting into place to alleviate some anxiety, while we all get from here to wherever the other side of this is.

First of all, if you were invited to submit a proposal in our current round, we are extending the application deadline from March 17 to March 24. If you’re ready to go, please feel free, but we want to be flexible. And be in touch with us if you’re having any difficulty with our system or the new deadline. We’re working remotely, but we are definitely working.

Next, if you currently have a grant from us that was for a specific programmatic purpose, we understand that you are probably not going to be able to deliver what you contemplated just a few short months ago, and we are not concerned by that. We will convert existing grants to general operating support, and provide you with documentation to that effect if you need us to. We want you to get through this. If you do manage, superheroes that you are, to deliver a program but outcomes are impacted, we understand that too. We know you’ll figure out how to come roaring back once we’re on the other side of this.

There are some emergency funds shaping up, with the participation of the Chicago Community Trust and The United Way. Applications to the fund are not yet available, but we hear they will be soon. You can add your organization to get information once those applications are available. What we’ve heard to date is that they will prioritize health and safety service providers, but will also consider organizations facing hardship because of the impacts of closure.

Finally, we do want to know how this situation is affecting your organization. If you have time, please let us know how you’re faring. Given that we’re all going to be a little starved for human connection in the next few weeks, we’re very glad to hear from you, by email, phone, or video conference. We are here on this Earth to help each other.

We look forward to seeing you again in person before too long, to shaking your hands, to giving you a hug, to the business as usual of making the world better. We will get through this, together.