Chicago Funders Together to End Homelessness (CFTEH) is a collaborative of more than 30 philanthropic partners learning together and aligning resources around a shared strategy to prevent and end homelessness. Through its grantmaking efforts and convening power, CFTEH promotes more equitable housing policy, aligns public and private sector resources, and shifts power to communities most impacted by homelessness.
Collectively, CFTEH members invest nearly $30 million annually to prevent and end homelessness while pooling additional resources to support advocacy, organizing, and narrative change efforts through the Housing Justice Fund. CFTEH is locally focused and nationally connected as a network of Funders Together to End Homelessness. CFTEH has been incubated by Michael Reese Health Trust since 2020.
CFTEH’s mission is to radically reimagine, align and activate the capacity of philanthropic funders and partners to prevent and end homelessness in the Chicago region. As a funder collaborative, CFTEH’s core functions include:
- Education– facilitating opportunities for members to learn from each other and from community experts on topics like racial equity and housing justice
- Advocacy– using our collective voice and amplifying the voices of impacted communities to advance a shared agenda for change
- Modeling– developing public-private partnerships and modeling a community-informed, trust-based approach to grantmaking
- Convening– bringing together funders and community partners across sectors to dismantle silos and align resources and strategies
Through these efforts, CFTEH drives toward a significant reduction in the number of people experiencing homelessness in the Chicago region—especially within Black communities which are disproportionately impacted.
In the summer of 2022, CFTEH launched its first-ever pooled fund: The Housing Justice Fund (HJF). Through the fund, CFTEH has awarded $2 million to date to approximately 20 community partners that shape housing policy, increase public and political will, and build power within communities most impacted by homelessness. The fund prioritizes Black-led and lived expertise-led advocacy, organizing, and narrative change efforts. The fund was designed in response to community feedback about the challenges of raising flexible, multi-year funding from philanthropy to support long-term systems change efforts.
