Deepening our impact with the Steans Family Foundation

City Year Chicago is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Steans Family Foundation, a longtime supporter and advocate for the North Lawndale community. Founded in 1986 by the Steans family, the foundation is dedicated to enhancing the community by empowering the individuals and organizations that reside within the neighborhood. Focusing their giving on a wide range of program areas – education being a top priority – the Steans Family Foundation has been making a significant impact throughout the community for nearly 40 years.

City Year Chicago’s collaboration with the Steans Family Foundation is rooted in our own efforts to expand and deepen our impact in North Lawndale through the service of our AmeriCorps members. We began serving the North Lawndale community in 2009 with our first partner school, the Collins Academy High School, followed by the Johnson School of Excellence. 12 years later, City Year Chicago has our greatest presence in North Lawndale, serving a total of eight schools with nearly 50 AmeriCorps members across the third-10th grades.

Because of the Steans Family Foundation’s significant investment, we were able to add two new schools and serve 400 more students at a very critical point in time as they return to in-person learning for the first time in nearly 18 months; our expansion into Kellman and Sumner Elementary Schools increases the total number of students we serve to 2,100 across the North Lawndale community.  

Thank you to the Steans Family Foundation for your meaningful and impactful support during the 2021-2022 school year!