These grant recipients will be on hand at the Social Justice Celebration & Fundraiser to showcase their work and discuss the impact of our grant program on their mission.
Avicenna Shelter Medicine Clinic
Avicenna Community Health Center is an interfaith, academia-community partnership providing free, culturally centered, primary healthcare to the underinsured and uninsured residents of Champaign County. In September of 2022, Avicenna’s outreach team established the shelter medicine initiative, a twice monthly pop-up clinic run at Strides Shelter, the only low barrier homeless shelter in the county. The goal of the shelter medicine initiative is to provide free healthcare services to individuals experiencing homelessness.
Funds from the McKinley Community Grant will be used to obtain point of care HIV-Syphilis testing kits and a machine to read the results.
CU Early – Urbana School District #116
CU Early is a Prevention Initiative home visiting program that serves expectant families and children ages birth to three. CU Early was established in 1999 as part of the Urbana School District. The mission of CU Early is to positively impact child development and nurture healthy caregiver-child relationships during the critical early years.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to purchase 190 CU Early kits that contain developmentally appropriate materials for new families participating in celebrations at the beginning and end of the year.
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Justice Coalition
The C-UPHD Justice Coalition is a group of C-UPHD employees from all divisions across the district who have the common goal of dismantling the systems that uphold inequity. Their mission is to ignite conversations, provide training, and orchestrate change that moves towards making C-UPHD a cornerstone of diversity within the Champaign-Urbana community, and to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion during every interaction within and outside the Champaign Urbana Public Health District.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to host a Black Health, Wealth, and Wellness Fair that will include educational resources and free services for those attending.
Champaign-Urbana Reparations Coalition
The Champaign-Urbana Reparations Coalition (CURC) educates and activates residents of Champaign County to support and implement a plan for reparations for African Americans. Collaborating with other community partners, the Coalition has hosted educational events, drafted legislation, obtained grant funds to further our goals, and continued to increase participation across Champaign County.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to support the travel expenses for CURC leader Dr. Jeff Trask to attend national meetings focused on the reparations movement.
Healing House Worship Center
The Healing House Worship Center is a pillar of hope and support in the north end area of Urbana, Illinois. Founded on the principles of love, service, and community, our church has a longstanding commitment to alleviate the struggles of those in our community, particularly focusing on poverty, food insecurity, and mental health.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to expand the food pantry, conduct mental health workshops, provide support for the incarcerated and recently released, and launch a community outreach initiative to raise awareness about social justice issues.
Illinois Coalition Assisting Undocumented Students Education
I-CAUSE is a registered student organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign whose mission is to advocate for the rights and access to higher education for undocumented students. Our organization serves as a safe and supportive space for undocumented, DACAmented, and mixed-status students while actively working to dismantle systemic barriers through education, outreach, and advocacy.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to support the I-HOPE scholarship, a student-led initiative created to provide direct financial assistance to undocumented students at UIUC who are often ineligible for federal financial aid and excluded from institutional scholarships.
Persons Assuming Control of their Environment (PACE)
PACE, Inc. has proudly offered invaluable services to individuals with disabilities in Champaign, Douglas, Edgar, Piatt, and Vermilion counties since 1985. Their unwavering dedication extends to providing support to the families and friends of those experiencing disability with the resolute goal of ensuring their full participation in society.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to support The Pull for Access program that offers comprehensive support for housing, food assistance, medication copays, and the procurement of necessary adaptive equipment.
School of Social Work Community Learning Lab
The School of Social Work’s Community Learning Lab (CLL) creates and supports relationships between the community and the students at the University of Illinois in a partnership that is mutually beneficial in the areas of sustainability, service, growth, and education. During a recent global exchange program in South Africa, faculty and staff at the University of Johannesburg expressed strong interest in contributing to the inaugural Beyond Borders: Global Collaborations for Mental Health Research and Services Conference. The conference will be free and widely accessible, ensuring that students, faculty, and community partners—including over 600 local community professionals on the Community Learning Lab’s listserv—can attend.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to ensure this conference includes diverse global perspectives.
Sola Gratia Farm
Sola Gratia Farm is a regenerative urban produce farm started by St. Matthew Lutheran Church and Faith in Place with a mission of making healthy food accessible to all by nurturing productive land and cultivating diverse, inclusive communities. Since 2012, SGF has donated nearly 30% of the 480,000 pounds of produce harvested. SGF also strives to build community through educational programming, active outreach, volunteer opportunities, and monthly events.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to support SGF’s expansion through the purchase of 29 adjacent acres.
The Land Connection
The Land Connect (TLC) was founded in 2001 with a vision of preserving land. In recent years, TLC has expanded their work to effect change across the food and farming system. We provide farmers with the education and resources they need to operate successful enterprises that have positive environmental and ecological outcomes.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will be used to buy fresh, local ingredients to be used in our Kids Kits program, where we hand out 60 free kits to area families with all the required ingredients and a recipe to make a small meal or snack.
The Nest Postpartum Support
The Nest’s mission is to reshape the narrative surrounding the NICU experience, shifting it from a focus on struggle and isolation to one centered on community and support. We achieve this by offering a range of services, including prepared meals, transportation, lodging, gas gift cards, restaurant gift cards, emotional support, and financial assistance for childcare costs for older siblings.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will help provide families with a combination of prepared meals and restaurant gift cards for locations near Carle Hospital.
We CU Community Engaged Scholars
We CU supports service learning instructors in creating impactful learning experiences for students through project matching with community partners, trainings, mini-grants, and service recognition. In 2022, the Humanities in Action (HIA) program was founded to expand humanities students’ access to community engagement opportunities, so they can use their strengths to make an impact while learning new skills from community organizations. A collaboration with the Humanities Research Institute (HRI), HIA supports five undergraduate humanities students as they work alongside a local organization to advance social justice causes.
Funds from the McKinley Grant Program will support HIA programs that directly help humanities students as they work to make Champaign-Urbana a more just and equitable community.