By Doug Dixon, OPRF Community Foundation Board Chair
Over the past year, threats to our community, and especially to marginalized groups in our community have been increasing. Specifically, the federal level funding cuts to social services, arts, and humanities and immigration enforcement targeting brown people in West Cook and beyond have exacerbated the struggles and experiences of people who live on the margins and the organizations that serve them. While many in our region are thriving, too many are not. Even those who are relatively well off are feeling uncertain about the environment and the economy. It is easy to be disheartened, to not know what to do or how to help.
The Community Foundation has never been better positioned to answer the call. We have historically often been thought of as a philanthropic bank — that our role is to accumulate financial resources from donors and institutions and distribute them to local nonprofits. That’s a very noble, charitable service. However, I think the best value of the Foundation is our social capital, not our financial capital.
For nearly 70 years, the Foundation has been working with donors, nonprofits, civic and grassroots leaders, and the public at large, addressing the issues facing our community. We know the who, the when, the where, and the how things happen, and we have been a connector and catalyst bringing together resources to address the most pressing issues facing our marginalized communities, and our community as a whole. We work to create a web of care and develop solutions that go beyond the donation dollar and result in robust, resilient aid.
The challenge facing us today is, how do we extend the flow of social capital throughout greater West Cook and enable all of our communities to thrive? One of the ways we are choosing to do that is by implementing something called trust-based philanthropy. This approach has guided our community grantmaking over the past two years. It takes time to see the impact, which brings me to my excitement for the upcoming year. We have a new CEO, Carrie Summy, who is committed to the process, and we have a diverse and potent board that represents most of our regional area and serves as ambassadors for our mission. My intent in the coming year is for the Foundation to leverage its social capital to focus on building and strengthening relationships and to provide a voice for people as we help craft solutions. I hope you will join us in working to achieve these vital goals.