Diamond Impact Award

CWSC grant allowed for the renovation of the club’s Art Makerspace room while growing its overall footprint by more than 25 percent. Deepening youth exposure to digital, visual, applied and performing arts, the project will further inspire daily creative expression and introduce potential career pathways to more than 100 youth from across 27 zip codes – the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago’s largest art program. The White Sox-branded makerspace will be central to the club’s mission to empower youth with opportunities to discover their passions through the arts.

Aimed at improving safety, accessibility and developmental support for nearly 200 local families from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, Diamond Impact funding helped Brightpoint replace two outdated water heaters and install safe rubber surfacing to open a new playground area. White Sox-sponsored upgrades also include adding auditory panels in the center’s gross motor room, a dedicated area supporting physical development and coordination, among other sensory space improvements. These space enhancements are designed to create a more inclusive, nurturing environment where diverse learners—who make up 35 percent of the center’s no-cost, full-day early childhood care population—can play, explore and thrive.

Grant support will champion the center’s four certified child life specialists with several new spaces for the 2,000+ children served by CCAC annually. The funding covered essential furnishings and enhancements to dedicated rooms for teens and young children interacting with the care team, while creating a more welcoming environment for daily forensic child life interviews. Further providing comfort and emotional support for children during their most vulnerable moments, CCAC updated an outdoor playground and built a new “doggy dugout” for children to interact with the center’s facility dog.

Expanding coverage to Chicago’s South and West Sides, Mobile Care’s grant funding helped the foundation introduce a second mobile dental unit that provides free, high-quality care to children at schools and daycares across underserved communities. There are 1,600 children who rely on Mobile Care for their dental needs, and these state-of-the-art, converted RV clinics often provide their only access to this essential, preventative care. The new unit will allow Mobile Care to offer twice-yearly cleanings and follow-up treatments like fillings, ensuring more children receive consistent, compassionate touchpoints with dentists to prevent serious issues and promote lifelong oral health.

NMMA used Diamond Impact grant funding to help transform a decommissioned firehouse into a vibrant creative hub for its Yollocalli Arts Reach program, serving teens and young adults ages 13-24. The funding supported renovations and equipment for a new DJ booth and recording studio, core elements of the museum’s Youth Arts and Digital Media Education initiative. With programming space on the first floor and a youth-only area upstairs, Arts Reach will engage up to 400 young people, offering an inspiring, safe space to create, express themselves and build futures through the arts.