Land, Health, Community-Chicago Program

Land, Health, Community-Chicago Program is sponsored by Lumpkin Family Foundation. Supports holistically healthy communities in the Chicagoland area, focusing on access to life-sustaining resources without undue burden or inequitable opportunity.

Land, Health, Community-Chicago Program | Lumpkin Family Foundation Land, Health, Community-Chicago Program The Land, Health, Community-Chicago (LHC-C) program supports holistically healthy communities in the Chicagoland area. We believe that a community’s health is rooted in its ability to access and obtain life sustaining resources for all its residents without undue burden, systemic barriers, and inequitable opportunity.

LHC-C invites public applications during its fall grantmaking cycle . An additional grant cycle focused on building new and maintaining existing community gardens will launch in late 2026/early 2027. If you would like to discuss your organization’s alignment with this grant program and/or have questions about the application process or other program details, please join a virtual office hour with Emily Wisniewski.

Virtual office hours will be held on Zoom on Tuesdays from 1:00-2:00 PM CT and Thursdays from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM CT during the LOI submission period: Tues. , August 18-Thurs. , September 17.

Please use this link to join any of the sessions. Below is the recorded information session about the 2026 program. Watch more videos on the LFF YouTube page .

Foundation Universal Letter of Inquiry Foundation Universal Application Letters of Inquiry Accepted: Applications and Renewals Invited: Applications and Post Grant Reports for Renewals Due: We support organizations that create interactive experiences for young people to connect with nature , eat well, and cultivate their innate sense of justice and caring for others and the planet .

We prioritize support for organizations advancing this work with communities that have faced and continue to face systemic inequity and chronic underinvestment . Opportunities for children in/out of school to learn about the natural world, engage in outdoor physical activity, and develop leadership skills.

Programs that support the development of a healthy, local food system, including community-led initiatives that engage communities in growing, harvesting, and/or distributing sustainably produced, culturally relevant food. Activities that connect young people to fresh, healthy food and build lifelong habits around nutrition, cooking, and healthy eating.

Multigenerational activities that position young people as drivers of nature-based learning and well-being in their own communities. To be eligible for funding consideration, applicants must: Be a 501c3 nonprofit public charity or a fiscally sponsored project. Operate within the boundaries of the City of Chicago or Chicago’s South and West Suburbs.

We prioritize support for organizations that are embedded within and work with communities that have experienced sustained disinvestment and continue to face systemic inequity. Demonstrate strong, community-based leadership and demand for programming. Grant Size: While we do not set limits on grant requests, the typical grant awarded will range from $10,000 – $30,000.

Grant Type: We award both general operating and project-based funding. We typically award general operating funding only to well-aligned organizations with operating budgets of $1MM or less. We encourage organizations with operating budgets of more than $1MM to apply for project-based funding.

Grant Term: This grant program typically provides one-year grants. We will consider multi-year requests on a case-by-case basis. We do not sponsor events or provide funding to individuals.

Letter of Inquiry: Interested nonprofits and fiscally sponsored projects a re invited to submit a short Letter of Inquiry (LOI) to tell us a little about your program/project. You can review the LOI questions here . Renewals: Those looking to renew an existing grant will also fill out an LOI during the submission period.

Organizations approved for possible renewal will complete and submit their prior year’s post grant report early, in alignment with the due date for the application. This will be communicated by email when the LOI is accepted. Applications Invited: If your program/project aligns with our goals, we may invite you to share more details through a full application.

Invited programs will have about one month to complete this step. You can review the application questions here . Site Visits: If your organization is invited to submit an application, you may be contacted by Foundation staff to arrange a virtual or in-person site visit to share more information as needed.

Not all applicants will receive a site visit during the application process. We may also request a site visit at a later date for grant recipients, which will be determined in partnership with each organization. Depending on the size of the award, we ask that grantees provide a short, written report at the end of the funding year.

A post grant report is an opportunity to share what worked well, and what did not, and to what degree the project accomplished its goals. The date will vary, but the majority of reports are due 11 or 12 months from approval. This will be communicated to you when your grant is awarded.

We recognize that the measurement of success (and failure) is only valuable when it is done based on the specific and context-based parameters established by our grantees. We work in tandem with them to ensure that what is measured has meaning to both their work and our overall goals as a Foundation. Your report template will be accessible through our Apply Here portal.

Most post grant reports are similar to the following example for the Land, Health, Community program: Please feel free to contact Foundation staff with any questions about your reporting date or details.

Please Direct Inquiries To: Program Officer - Chicago Land, Health, Community-Chicago 2026 Information Session Grantee News: Academy for Global Citizenship Receives 7-Year Charter Renewal LFF Holds Grantee Listening Session Land, Health, Community-Chicago Awards 2024 Grantees Land, Health, Community-Chicago Fall Updates LFF Releases Community Landscape Scan Water People Theater Group NFP To launch the expanded version of the Noticias KIDS program: STUDIO Kids, a track for 20 Latinx immigrant children ages 6–11 using dialogue and theater to explore mental health, food justice, and cultural identity, culminating in a community play that sparks critical conversations.

Continued support for Growing Solutions Farm (GSF): providing fresh vegetables for their farm stand, participant families, and local food pantries, while also serving as a work-readiness training site specifically designed for young adults with autism and related neurodiverse conditions.

Refugee Education and Adventure Challenge (REACH) To deepen its Peer Mentor Leadership Project (PMLP), offering a vital pathway to connection, leadership, and belonging for refugee youth (ages 12–18) through mentoring, outdoor skills, and environmental learning.

To improve health outcomes for youth ages 3-21 by introducing basic concepts in nutrition, cooking, and gardening and connecting their dietary choices to the earth through Grow Getters Club activities. To support their Online Market and Home Delivery Programs’ innovative food, mental health, and social services hub and growing their partnership network, expanding their impact on the South and West Sides of Chicago.

To install new infrastructure at 5 garden sites in the NBSP network of 140+ community gardens and neighborhood farms in consultation with NBSP stewardship staff, who will assist with installation at the sites on Chicago’s South and West Sides. 1632 Broadway Avenue, Suite 201