Meet Our Partners - Bright Promises COVID-19 Emergency Grant Recipients

January 14, 2021

Low-income children and families across Metropolitan Chicago continue to be significantly impacted by COVID-19. This pandemic still threatens the low-income children and families we serve in extraordinary ways.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bright Promises has supported the immediate needs of low-income children and families through the Bright Promises COVID-19 Response Fund. Bright Promises response efforts have been focused on four main areas of pressing, unmet need:

  1. Domestic abuse/child abuse prevention and services - As families are sheltered in place in their homes, abusive situations have been severely exacerbated. Witnessing or being a victim of domestic violence is one of the identified ACES, or causes of childhood trauma.

  2.  Food/shelter for homeless families - Homeless families are more vulnerable and impacted by the pandemic as they lack the safety and stability of a controlled home-environment. Due to COVID-19, families are often shuffled from one place to another as individual staff or guests at shelters test positive, adding another layer of stress and uncertainty for children.

  3. Mental health support for children/youth - The pandemic is scary for children, especially those that were already in vulnerable situations. Access to mental health services for children are crucial for both those that were already receiving therapy/counseling and for whom a disruption in services would be devastating and for children that are experiencing anxiety about the current crisis.

  4. Childcare for first responders and essential workers - Health-care workers, custodial staff, grocery store-workers, delivery people, first responders and others must report to work. Many of these frontline and essential workers are at-risk of losing their jobs and the benefits afforded to them if they do not have access to reliable childcare, which jeopardizes the stability and safety of their children. 


Since March, 2020 four rounds of emergency grants have been distributed to support organizations serving low-income families across Metropolitan Chicago and the surrounding suburb. These grants have addressed the urgent needs of low-income children and families, while also providing a lifeline to the agencies serving these families, ensuring that the infrastructure necessary for recovery remains intact.

The following is a list of organizations who have received emergency funding from Bright Promises Foundation:


It is critical that the most vulnerable children and families in our communities continue to receive our support right now A gift to the Bright Promises COVID-19 Response Fund is an immediate action you can take to ensure Chicago children are able to thrive, now and in the future. To donate to Bright Promises ongoing COVID-19 response efforts, visit www.brightpromsies.org/support.