$1 Million Grant to Help Scale Nonprofit’s Work in Chicago

The inaugural Northern Trust Anchor Award—a grant from Northern Trust of up to $1 million to boost the impact of innovative nonprofit organizations with strong growth potential—will go to Chicago-based Nourishing Hope.

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The Northern Trust Anchor Award (Photo: Business Wire)

The Anchor Award aims to build the capacity of highly effective nonprofit organizations with a grant designed to strengthen infrastructure, systems, skills and resources. The Award is a new facet to Northern Trust’s nearly 135-year history of philanthropic support, including nearly $170 million over the past decade.

Northern Trust’s global philanthropic strategy focuses on broadening opportunities for financial success with support in four areas of fundamental need: accessible healthcare, affordable housing, quality education and food security. In Chicago, the strategy aims to support youth on the South and West sides at a pivotal stage of life — 16 to 24 years old.

“Nourishing Hope has a compelling model of ‘Food for today. Hope for tomorrow,’ and it provides food, mental health counseling and social services to tens of thousands of Chicagoans every year,” Northern Trust Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Grady said. “We are pleased to play a role in expanding the scope and scale of a compassionate, results-based nonprofit organization addressing fundamental human needs.”

Chicago-based Nourishing Hope, formerly known as Lakeview Pantry, was founded in 1970. Its mission is to eliminate hunger and poverty in its communities, empower clients to gain independence through innovative social service programs, and raise awareness of hunger and poverty while working towards solutions.

“We’re deeply honored to receive the first-ever Anchor Award from Northern Trust, a transformative investment in our work and impact,” Nourishing Hope CEO Kellie O’Connell said. “It’s a true testament to the hard work of our staff, volunteers and partners. This award will serve as a catalyst for our growth to serve more young people on Chicago’s South and West Sides.”

Currently, Nourishing Hope provides approximately 5 million pounds of food per year to more than 50,000 households in Chicago. The one-time award will allow Nourishing Hope to scale up and build capacity in a variety of ways to serve unmet needs of young people in underserved communities in Chicago.

Specifically, the improvements made possible by the award will include hiring additional staff, adding a vehicle to increase food deliveries, improving software and systems that build capacity, growing new partnerships through Nourishing Hope’s innovative online market program, and exploring the feasibility of opening a new food pantry location on the South Side.

“In the process leading up to this grant, we reviewed many high-quality nonprofits leading to four top-notch finalists fitting our philanthropic goals,” Northern Trust Director of Corporate Philanthropy Shana Hayes said. “Ultimately, our leaders were impressed by Nourishing Hope’s thoughtful plan to scale operations and partnerships for our young people in underserved communities in Chicago—including items such as expanding its geographic coverage to reduce ‘food deserts,’ increasing the number of meals served, and making their website available in Spanish.”

Northern Trust has a long history of groundbreaking philanthropic support. In 1893, Northern Trust founder Byron L. Smith seeded a relief fund for victims of a devastating fire that broke out at the World’s Fair. Since then, Northern Trust’s charitable footprint has helped establish Chicago’s nonprofit pillars such as The Art Institute, Field Museum, United Way of Metro Chicago, Metropolitan Family Services, Noble Schools and Braven.

Northern Trust invited select past or current Northern Trust Foundation grantees to participate in the Anchor Awards process. The Anchor Award aims to provide support to highly effective nonprofit organizations by granting up to $1 million to build their capacity by strengthening infrastructure, systems, skills and resources.

Three organizations received honorable mentions

• Chicago Furniture Bank is the largest furniture bank in the country. It is growing rapidly and has quickly become a critical resource in procuring and providing furniture to support a network of 400+ community-based organizations and thousands of clients each year.
• Chicago Scholars works with academically ambitious, first-generation college-going students who live and attend high school in Chicago. When these students persist through a seven-year program, they not only get through college — they build futures where they can truly thrive.
• Genesys Works' provides pathways to career success for high school students in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships.

“We congratulate all the Anchor Award finalists,” Hayes said. “They all are exemplary organizations that further advance our mission to serve young people from Chicago’s South and West sides by supporting their needs and putting them on to the path of long-term financial well-being.”

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has a global presence with offices in 25 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 22 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of September 30, 2023, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$14.2 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.3 trillion. For more than 130 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Visit us on northerntrust.com. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @NorthernTrust or Northern Trust Corporation on LinkedIn.

Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Global legal and regulatory information can be found at https://www.northerntrust.com/terms-and-conditions.

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