The Program on Human and Community Development supports efforts to strengthen communities for the benefit of individuals and families and for the positive contribution that healthy communities make to their cities and regions. The Foundation hopes that this support will also generate new knowledge about community change and the economic interdependence of neighborhoods, cities, and regions, and that such knowledge will lead to improved public policies.

Purpose
The Foundation's grantmaking to strengthen communities supports organizations in Chicago in their efforts to make neighborhoods healthy and sustainable places for family life and economic success. It also seeks to learn from these activities, and to communicate lessons learned through practical experience to multiple audiences, including policymakers, practitioners, and other funders.

Strategies
With Foundation funding and other grant and financing resources, the Chicago office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is implementing a comprehensive initiative called the New Communities Program in the following Chicago communities:

• Auburn Gresham
• Chicago Lawn
• Douglas
• East Garfield Park
• Englewood
• Grand Boulevard
• West Humboldt Park
• South Lawndale (Little Village)
• Logan Square
• Near West Side
• North Kenwood-Oakland
• North Lawndale
• Lower West Side (Pilsen)
• South Chicago
• Washington Park
• Woodlawn

LISC/Chicago uses Foundation and other funds to provide long-term, general operating, organizational development, and project support to local organizations to develop and carry out plans for improving the quality of life in neighborhoods.

The Foundation also supports a small number of organizations to work across these neighborhoods in three initiatives: community safety, economic security, and economic development.

In addition, through the Foundation's participation in Living Cities, a collaboration of major financial institutions, foundations, and agencies of the Federal government that supports community development in 23 cities, lessons learned in other cities will be brought to bear in Chicago and findings from Chicago work will reach a national audience.

The Foundation supports efforts to increase the understanding of how communities grow stronger and more sustainable. Grants fund policy research on community processes, including the rate and precipitants of community change, the relationship between community characteristics and outcomes for residents, and the economic and social interdependence of neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Grants also are awarded for documentation, evaluation, and communications activities specific to the New Communities Program.

Funding
Letters of inquiry concerning projects in the 16 neighborhoods in which the Foundation is focusing its community development efforts should be directed to the New Communities Program at LISC/Chicago. Grants for work across neighborhoods or for evaluation and communications are made directly by the Foundation.  In general, projects are identified through staff deliberation and consultation with community development practitioners and other experts in the community development field. Those interested in suggesting a project in these areas should send a letter of inquiry to the Foundation. The format for such letters can be found in How to Apply for Grants.

Questions about this grantmaking area can be e-mailed to neighborhoods at the MacArthur Foundation.