RDLF News: Issue 8

It's been an exciting end of the year. In this issue, we're happy to report on our 2023 Winter Wear Program and some achievements from our grantees. Also, read on for opportunities like free stuff, grants, job openings, and more.

Winter Wear Program 2023

Each year, The Reva and David Logan Foundation aims to help our elders, families, neighbors facing unstable housing, students in temporary living situations, refugees, and other vulnerable folks to survive the cold of the Chicago winter with dignity with our Winter Wear program. Through the program, we provide nonprofit organizations throughout Chicagoland with winter gear to distribute to their communities. This year, the total request from partnering organizations was double our allotted budget, demonstrating an overwhelming need for this program.

Spearheaded by Senior Program Officer Jessie Mott, the RDLF staff remains passionately committed to this program each year, devoting significant time to organizing orders and shipments with our wholesale vendor partner Dollar Days as well as volunteering at distribution events. The true stars of the show are our many partners, who cumulatively reach thousands of people in need in the Chicagoland area through their distributions.?

From the events that our staff were able to attend this year, it was clear that our partners deeply love and respect the communities they serve.?To read more about the depth and breadth of impact this year, the program's history, an interview with Jessie, and words from our 2023 partners, click here.

Free for Grabs!

Thanks to a generous redistribution partner, we have a large quantity of the following items: chopsticks, small porcelain dishes, tea cup saucer plates, stainless steel serving trays and bowls, hot plate holders, and 13"x8" cardboard sheets. We have had a few partners find innovative uses for them in pantries and art workshops, but we have plenty more items to offload. Please reach out via DM or email if you can think of a possible home for these!?

Grantee Highlights

Albany Park Theater Project's "Port of Entry"

This month, the RDLF team saw a performance of Albany Park Theater Project‘s “Port of Entry.” This immersive theater performance, shown to only 28 audience members at a time, takes guests through a three-story apartment building in Albany Park to experience the joys and struggles of one of the world’s most diverse immigrant communities. So far, the performance has received rave reviews from the Chicago Tribune, No Proscenium, and the?Chicago Reader, as well as profiles in American Theatre, New City Stage, and the Chicago Sun-Times.

In addition to this being a very special show, it was an especially anticipated event for our team who have been engaged with this project since it was in its early planning stages. Preeti Veerlapati, Operations Manager, attended a work-in-progress performance in 2019 which began our discussions to help find and purchase a building for Port of Entry (the Fernstrom Fireproof Storage Building on Montrose). Foundation staff and board walked through the building in May while it was still under construction, with papers taped to the walls detailing their vision to come. It was exciting and emotional to see the dream become reality.

Port of Entry rightfully earned sold-out summer and fall seasons, and will take a winter break before coming back for a new season in 2024. Tickets sell out quickly, so we recommend following them on social media to stay up to date on the next opportunity to attend one of their performances.

Our Partners in the News

• Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre's?Artistic Director Nicole Clark-Springer writes this poignant commentary on Crain's Chicago Business: "Funding arts organizations means trusting artists to know what they need"
• The Bristol Cable demonstrates the power of community by raising ￡10,000, 1200% more than they requested, for Barton House residents in 48hrs
• Chicago Lawyers' Committee?represented Diamond Jones in a lawsuit against the Richton Park crime-free ordinance, which alleged Richton Park violated her constitutional right to due process and violated her First Amendment rights
• Onward Neighborhood House?is in the spotlight on CBS News Chicago for being on the front lines of the migrant crisis
• The Honeycomb Project's?Co-Founder Kristina Lowenstein chats with WGN News about their season of service

Upcoming Opportunities

Open Applications

• National Endowment For The Arts Big Read:?The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read is a program that awards grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to organizations. These grants support community reading programs designed around a single NEA Big Read book. Intent to apply must be submitted by January 10th, and applications must be submitted by January 24th.
• Chicago Art Department Collective Learning Program: Recentering the Image-Making Process is the third iteration of Chicago Art Department’s paid and in-person Collective Learning Programs—a skill share learning initiative. Photographers, editors, journalists, community organizers, ethnographers, and harm-reduction practitioners are strongly encouraged to apply. Priority will be given to individuals working in and representing backgrounds that are misrepresented and poorly represented in the media. The submission deadline is 11:59 PM on December 31st.
• DCASE Individual Artists Program: The Individual Artists Program (IAP) aims to assist Chicago's practicing artists in creating work that develops their craft and elevates their careers, while adding to the cultural vitality of the city of Chicago. IAP grants support artists across all artistic disciplines including Film & Media Arts, Literary Arts, Music, Performing Arts (Theater/Dance), and Visual Arts/Design. There are information webinars throughout December. The application deadline is 5 PM on January 15th.
• Illinois Local Food Infrastructure Grant: Funded by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, this new grant will invest in critical infrastructure to scale up the processing, aggregation, and distribution of local food to meet the needs of Illinois communities. Farms, businesses, institutions, cooperatives, local governments, nonprofits and other entities working with local food have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $150,000 for infrastructure. The application deadline is January 31st.

Job Openings

• inewsource: Documenters Program Assistant
• Threewalls: Program Fellow, Spring Intern
• Communities in Schools of Chicago: Behavioral and Mental Health Partnership Specialist
• Franciscan Outreach:?Case Manager
• Journalismfund Europe:?Project Coordinator
• Latitude:?Deputy Director
• Illinois Prison Project:?Several opportunities
• Healing to Action: Operations Director

Other Resources

• Lawyers for the Creative Arts?has four free seminars coming up in December and January: "Immigration Law for Artists," "Sexual Harassment Prevention & Bystander Intervention Training." "Administrative Partnership Models for Arts Nonprofits," and "Demystifying Contracts for Independent Creatives."
• AMPT Chicago has free Capacity Building resources available on their website, and you can request other materials based on your organization's needs.
• Illinois Prison Project?has free resources for incarcerated people and their families regarding topics such as shortening a prison sentence, voiding a conviction, and navigating re-entry. ?

What We're Reading

Stamping out hate speech or stifling free speech?

• Coda Story: "Since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, German officials have made it clear that they support Israel whatever its response. With Germany’s desire to atone for its history, it is understandable that it feels a special duty towards Israel. But the German response has lacked nuance."

Behind every swipe: the workers toiling to keep dating apps safe

• The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “'I wasn’t able to go outside, anywhere alone … I had so much anxiety that when I went outside to do errands, I lost consciousness twice. That’s when I realised I was very sick.'”

European universities accept €260 million in fossil fuel money

• Investigate Europe: "Universities across Europe have accepted millions in funding from oil, gas and mining companies since 2016, despite many having pledged to reach net zero targets or even publicly committed to divest from fossil fuel investments.

A New Law Regulating the Cosmetics Industry Expands the FDA’s Power But Fails to Ban Toxic Chemicals in Beauty Products

• Inside Climate News: "The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act empowers the FDA to recall harmful cosmetics. Advocates want to know why manufacturers still don’t have to prove their products are safe before they’re sold to millions of consumers."

Working With Hackers: Where — and How — Journalists Should Use These Sources

• Global Investigative Journalism Network: "Is the story sufficiently important, and difficult to prove, to justify the use of hacked data — and how much detail about its origins should reporters disclose to their audiences?"

We'd like to hear from you!?

Thanks for reading! We have an open call for content from our partners to highlight the brilliant work they're doing in the community. If you are a current grantee or partner with The Reva and David Logan Foundation and you would like to contribute to our next newsletter, please reach out to Sabrina Boggs, Communications Coordinator at sabrina(at)loganfdn(dot)org. Please note that we will not share fundraising campaigns.

In addition, we are frequently reposting our grantees on our social media, so make sure to follow us and tag us in your posts! Links to our socials are below.?

See you next time!

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