The Albert Pick Jr. Fund
/OVERVIEW: The Albert Pick Jr. Fund supports small community nonprofits that serve underserved areas of Chicago. Its funding areas include civic and community, culture, education and health and human services.
IP TAKE: The majority of grants have been going to health and human service causes that affect children and youth. Grants are awarded in amounts between $15,000 and $35,000. This funder accepts grant applications on a quarterly basis.
PROFILE: Established in 1947, the Albert Pick Jr. Fund is the Chicago-based foundation of Corinne and Albert Pick, Jr. Albert Pick was a business man and the owner of the Pick Hotels Corporation. The foundation aims to “identify and define” problems faced by economically disadvantaged populations and to work toward solutions to these problems. The foundation’s areas of grantmaking are civic and community, culture, education, health, and human services.
All of Pick’s funding is focused on improving the lives of the residents of Chicago’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods. The fund’s civic and community grantmaking aims to increase participation in and support for civic processes that have direct effects on communities. Areas of specific interest include parent involvement in school reform, violence prevention and the improvement of basic community services. Pick’s culture funding aims to bring arts programs to organizations that are not traditionally involved with arts programming. Grantees include schools, after-school programs as well as community centers serving veterans, the elderly and others. In education, the fund takes a broad approach, aiming to improve educational experiences in schools, homes and other places where children learn. STEM has been a major area of focus for this program. The fund’s health and human services funding has also recently supported youth causes, focusing on violence prevention and children’s access to health services in greater Chicago.
The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund also maintains a special initiatives funding line for projects and needs that do not fall within its named funding area. The fund was one of the first Chicago philanthropies to join the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund.
In general, grants are awarded in amounts between $15,000 and $35,000. Grantmaking is limited to the city of Chicago. Almost all Pick grantees are small, neighborhood organizations that work with underserved and low-income populations. Grantseekers can view a list of past grants in each funding category on the foundation website.
This fund accepts unsolicited grant applications from local nonprofits on a quarterly basis, with deadlines in January, March, June and September. The fund’s board meets four times per year to review grant requests and reviews applications in all program categories at each meeting. Grantseekers should direct general questions about Albert Pick Jr. Fund grantmaking to Betty Jo Joy at bettyjo@albertpickjrfund.org. For questions related to health and human services or civic and community grants, contact Iris Krieg at iris@albertpickjrfund.org. For culture and education grants, contact Lauren Krieg at lauren@albertpickjrfund.org.
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