The Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation seeks to improve health outcomes for Chicago area residents experiencing the highest levels of health inequities and their adverse impact due to social determinants of health.
Housing is well understood to be an essential social determinant of physical and mental health and well-being. Homelessness impacts the decline in emotional, physical, and mental health. Therefore, access to affordable, safe, and healthy housing is crucial for supporting people’s health and wellness.
The Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation has been reviewing and refining its grant strategy to better focus on our work and subsequent grant focus.
Last year, the Foundation adopted a structured grant cycle centered on two issue areas: Health Care, reviewed each fall, and Housing (Homelessness), reviewed each spring. The new process now begins with a Letter of Intent (LOI), followed by a selective invitation to submit a full proposal. This approach helps the Foundation better align funding decisions with our strategic priorities while streamlining the application process.
Grant Strategy and Plan
As part of the re-evaluation, the Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation made two key changes: narrowing its geographic focus and limiting the size of eligible organizations.
Revised Geographic Focus Area – The Foundation has narrowed its funding area to Chicago and suburban Cook County, and will no longer fund organizations located in DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties.
Revised Organization Budget Thresholds -The Foundation also made the difficult decision to prioritize organizations with organizational budgets of under $10 million and will no longer fund organizations with budgets above that level.
These changes were made to increase our grantmaking impact, given the Foundation’s limited resources. As a result, we made the difficult decision to sunset support for some long-standing grantee partners located in the collar counties and/or with budgets over $10 million. We are proud of these organizations’ growth over time and their ability to secure more robust funding resources.
We recognize that the current federal environment has created significant uncertainty and strain for nonprofits, particularly those that rely heavily on federal funding. While we could not have anticipated the speed or scale of these challenges, we are mindful of their impact.
By making these changes, the Foundation aims to make space to support new organizations and over time, offer larger grant awards. Although this process is evolving, we are committed to approaching these transitions thoughtfully and respectfully.
Since the 1980s, the Blowitz Ridgeway Foundation has progressed and expanded the mission of its founder and the hospital for which it was named.