Hearth is a neighborhood foundation that turns grief into grant money — funding block-by-block violence intervention in the six zip codes where bullet casings outnumber streetlights.
Interventions Funded
ZIP Codes Served
Granted Since 2019
Reduction in Repeat Incidents
The people already doing the work — the mothers running Saturday circles, the formerly incarcerated men mediating on corners, the pastors organizing safe passage routes — they don't need a consultant. They need a budget.
Hearth exists to close that gap. We identify credible, block-level programs, fund them directly, and track outcomes with the same rigor we ask of any grantee. No overhead skimmed. No branding required. Just the work.
Funding goes to the people who live on the block, not organizations three zip codes away.
Every grant requires measurable outcomes. We publish the data, good and bad.
We prioritize programs led by people with lived experience of violence.
Sustained change requires sustained investment. We fund programs, not projects.
Interventions funded since 2019
Across 6 zip codes where community-led programs have documented, measurable impact on violence rates.
I buried Marcus on a Tuesday. By Saturday I was back in that church basement because what else do you do with grief? You turn it into something. Hearth gave us the money to make it official — folding chairs became a program.
87 young men enrolled in 12-month mentorship cycles. 94% completed without justice system contact. Now in its 4th year.
3 trained credible messengers deployed across 8 blocks. 31 active mediations in 18 months. 0 retaliatory incidents in the grant period.
I've done this work for 11 years on no budget. When Hearth came through, they didn't ask me to change what I was doing. They asked how much it cost to keep doing it right.
Granted to neighborhood programs
100% of Hearth grants go directly to community-led organizations. Zero administrative overhead deducted from program funds.
The alderman's office kept telling us to write grants. We didn't have a grant writer. We had a garden, two rakes, and fifteen kids every Saturday. Hearth funded the garden. We kept the kids.
3,400 sq ft of vacant land converted. 22 youth participants. 40% reduction in loitering-related calls on that block in 12 months.
64 participants in 24-month cohorts. 78% sustained employment at 12 months. 3 program graduates hired as staff.
I was on the other side of this once. The man who talked me down — he was funded by Hearth. Now I work for the program. That's how this works. You invest in the block and the block invests back.
Average reduction in repeat incidents
Measured across all active grant programs over 24-month periods. Independently verified by the Chicago Violence Research Collaborative.
We don't have a PR department. We have a phone tree and a group chat. When we got the Hearth grant, I told my council member: this is what it looks like when you fund people who already live here.
11 faith communities coordinating 6-block safe passage routes. 180 school days covered. Zero reported incidents on covered corridors.
Whether you're a corporation looking for hyper-local CSR impact, a municipal agency building community partnerships, or a faith community already doing the work — we want to hear from you.
2 courts retrofitted with LED lighting. 340 youth enrolled across 4 sports leagues. Late-evening incident rate down 52% year-over-year.
My son was shot three blocks from this court. I could have left. Instead I called every parent I knew and said: we're taking this court back. Hearth helped us pay for the lights so we could stay until dark.
Our institutional partners provide funding, policy access, and infrastructure — while keeping the community at the center of every decision.
Municipal Partner
Lead Funder
Program Funder
Collaborative Partner
Corporate Sponsor
214 interventions. 6 zip codes. 7 years of block-by-block data. Download our 2025 Annual Impact Report and see where every dollar went.
Corporate sponsors, city council offices, faith communities, and individual advocates — every type of partnership makes the next grant possible.