Northwestern funds support 11 community programs dedicated to health, opportunity and resilience

Northwestern will provide funding to support a program that cultivates peace, builds strong relationships and enhances peer accountability in Evanston school districts.

The Embedding Restorative Practices in Evanston Schools — Year 2 is one of 11 community-focused projects awarded funding from the ANCHOR program — Advancing Neighborhood & Community Health, Opportunity & Resilience — which is led by the University’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations.

Now in its sixth year, the ANCHOR program has awarded more than $2.5 million to partner organizations that address longstanding social, economic, health and educational inequities throughout Evanston and neighboring communities.

“We are excited to continue building alongside our incredible partners and investing in initiatives that expand opportunity, empower residents and create lasting community impact,” said EL Da’ Sheon Nix, director of Evanston Community Relations. “The future of the ANCHOR program is incredibly bright, and we are honored to continue this meaningful work together.”

The additional funding will enable the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy to build on the success of its first year — convening circles and holding restorative justice trainings to strengthen student- and peer-led restorative initiatives at Evanston Township High School and Oakton Elementary School.

This year, 11 organizations received nearly $600,000 in funding to pursue a range of projects. They include:

• The American Indian Center is working on a project using bison and Indigenous land stewardship to deliver iSTEAM education, serving Native youth from Chicago and Evanston.
• Books & Breakfast is partnering with Northwestern’s Latina & Latino Studies Program to strengthen family and community support in Evanston regarding immigration policy and school stability.
• Brave Space Alliance will partner with the Impact Institute’s Evaluation, Data Integration and Technical Assistance program to develop provider trainings to improve healthcare for Black, Brown, trans and LGB+ Chicagoans.
• Chicago Commons will partner with the Feinberg School of Medicine’s Center for Child Trauma Assessment, Services and Systems Integrations on “Circle of Hope: A Peer Support Space for Parents” to help parents heal from adverse experiences and strengthen community.
• The Chicago Worker’s Collaborative will partner with Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research and the Workplace Justice Lab to survey temporary workers in Cook County to expose exploitation and enforce workplace rights for the most vulnerable.
• The Childcare Network of Evanston will join with the department of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences on an initiative to measure racial bias in preschools and to develop an intervention to ensure all children have equal opportunities to thrive.
• Ladies of Virtue will partner with the political science department in Weinberg College on “Restore Our Girls: Safety and Support in Urban Schools,” a project designed to ensure Black girls are treated with fairness and dignity.
• Open Communities will partner with the computer sciences department in the McCormick School of Engineering to continue the advancement of a web accessible tool to identify modern redlining and strengthen equitable access to credit for communities of color.
• Phalanx Family Services will partner with Feinberg’s Social Environment and Health Lab to pilot a community-led trauma program for Chicago’s Far South Side to expand trauma-related mental health care access.
• Women Initiating New Directions will partner with the Northwestern Education Prison Education Program to continue an apprenticeship for system-impacted women, building practical skills, confidence and supporting employment

Learn more about the ANCHOR Grant program, read FAQs and check out previously funded projects by visiting the Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations.