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The Eleanor Foundation, Chicago’s only public fund dedicated to helping working women achieve economic security, announced $729,000 in grants to local nonprofits. These awards go to organizations whose work in 2010 expands the Eleanor Network—a citywide system of services the Foundation is building to help Chicago’s single working women become economically independent.

“In these challenging economic times, single working women feel a tightening squeeze on their limited household incomes and so we grew our investments in the Eleanor Network to help them get ahead,” said Rosanna A. Márquez, Eleanor Foundation President and CEO. “With support from our donors and partners, we focused our investments on market-driven programs that prepare women for career-track jobs that pay livable wages for their families.”

These grants represent a 6% increase over the prior year’s Eleanor Foundation awards at a time when many foundations have had to reduce funding. Investments in the Eleanor Network since its launch in 2006 now total $3.9 million.

New Grants

Chicago Women in Trades: A $40,000 one-year grant to prepare working women with limited incomes for work in the building trades through skills training, apprenticeship placement and mentorship.

Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC): A $50,000 one-year job training grant to advance women from “back-of-the-house” to front-of-house jobs at higher-end restaurants with higher wages.

Youth Job Center of Evanston: A $42,000 one-year grant to pilot a new career development program for young working mothers interested in the healthcare and manufacturing industries.

Renewed Grants

Heartland Human Care Services: A $250,000 18-month renewal for the IDEA Initiative, launched in 2006 as an employer-centered hub of the Eleanor Network. The program will diversify its reach through new employer partnerships that support workshops in English, Spanish and Korean.

Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC): A $55,000 one-year renewal grant for the Women in Manufacturing program launched with the Eleanor Foundation’s 2008 funding. In addition to skills training for employer-driven jobs, JARC’s program helps women apply for public benefits and provides financial coaching.

Lawyers Committee for Better Housing (LCBH): A $6,000 one-year grant to augment American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds focused on counseling women affected by foreclosure.

St. Anthony Hospital: A $36,000 one-year collaborative renewal grant alongside support from the Steans Family Foundation and the St. Anthony Hospital Foundation, to continue the hospital’s School at Work (SAW) program that educates and promotes employees into advanced-skilled, higher-paying jobs and address community healthcare needs. The City of Chicago recently replicated this SAW pilot to create a new 13-hospital initiative. St. Anthony will play a lead role, mentoring 12 hospitals.

The Cara Program: A $250,000 two-year renewal grant to continue The Cara Program’s Self-Sufficiency Initiative, launched in 2006 as a hub of the Eleanor Network to advance women in entry-level jobs. The program’s post-employment support will emphasize career advancement planning and asset building.

About the Eleanor Network

The Eleanor Network fills a long-standing gap in services for single working women’s economic success. The Network provides Chicago’s working women and mothers access to an array of programs that are fine-tuned to address their needs and demanding schedules. Women address their career education, childcare, housing or money management issues through one of five “hubs” that serve as single-points-of-access located strategically throughout Chicago. Through nine “resource” partners, working women have access to specialized services especially market-driven programs that help women learn new skills that help them compete for career-track jobs in growing industries.

About the Eleanor Foundation

The Eleanor Foundation is a premier grantmaking fund that uniquely focuses its investments on programs for working-class women who head Chicago households and are determined to achieve sustainable economic independence. It provides funding, research, and institutional expertise to organizations that create and track innovative programs that address the core barriers faced by working women seeking economic security.