The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation is a proud supporter of the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF). For the past three years, the PMAFF has supported CAF’s work to bolster their efforts to support more people in need of abortion care by expanding their direct abortion assistance program. Please read on to learn more about the important work of CAF.

The Chicago Abortion Fund is committed to providing support and resources to people seeking abortion care across Illinois, the Midwest, and beyond. CAF supports every single caller we reach on our hotline by offering individualized case management and complete wrap-around support for their needs, including funding for procedures, practical and logistical support, and emotional support. Our staff and volunteer case managers are experts in navigating onerous restrictions and barriers to abortion care across the Midwest, informed by conversations with thousands of CAF callers and, often, their own experiences obtaining care.

In 2022, CAF spent over $1,250,000 on abortion care and related wrap-around support services. Post-Dobbs vs Jackson Whole Women’s Health, wrap-aroundexpenses increased by over ten times. CAF has maintained our commitment to supporting every single caller in the face of rising call numbers and expenses. We
have built and sustained relationships with tens of sibling abortion funds and with over 70 clinics, hospitals, and telehealth providers across the region, and post-Dobbs, the country, and dozens of sibling abortion funds nationwide. This ensures that CAF’s callers can seek care when and where it feels right for them, regardless of where they are from. CAF has no eligibility or residential requirements to receive support.

In 2022, the organization completed the Shaping Change Study, the flagship study of our new WEsearch Department, and created a zine that synthesizes interviews with 99 of our callers on the process of funding their abortion, their feelings about it after, and their wishes for policy priorities in the reproductive health, rights, and justice fields. CAF has a robust research portfolio, unique among abortion funds. The WEsearch Department has also been critical to building our infrastructure, and this year, we upgraded our database, allowing staff and volunteers to streamline their case management processes and have access to real-time data, enabling us to make data-driven decisions to improve services.

 

CAF worked on multiple city, state, and federal efforts to expand and protect abortion access in 2022, including the Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act, a federal bill that aims to provide grant assistance to those who travel to receive reproductive health care, the Bodily Autonomy Sanctuary Ordinance passed by the Chicago City Council in September ‘22, and the Patient and Provider Protection Act, signed into law by Illinois’ Governor Pritzker in January ‘23. We led thousands of abortion access supporters in two coalition-based mass mobilizations, as well as organized the Families for Abortion Access March, a collaboration with Kido to engage over 2,000 parents, children, and community members on Chicago’s South Side on July 4th.

CAF recently launched a new iteration of our monthly Post-Abortion Community Circles, providing a safe space for people who have had abortions to feel at home
and comfortable talking through their experiences with abortion care. Community Circles 2.0 is led by program participants, and features monthly topics led by guest facilitators.

To learn more about the Chicago Abortion Fund’s work, please visit their website.

 

The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation is delighted to welcome Mark Anthony Florido as the Program Officer for Social Impact. Mark Anthony will provide support and guidance to applicants and grantee partners within the Social Impact program area with a focus on Education.

[Read more…]

The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation has been a proud supporter of BUILD Chicago since 2015. BUILD (Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development) is a comprehensive youth services organization that engages young people where they are – in schools, the courts, or the streets – providing the mentoring and support they need to persist through the systemic obstacles around them.  Founded in 1969 on Chicago’s West Side, BUILD has always focused on the hardest-to-reach youth – youth facing violence, mental health trauma, imbalanced policing, disinvested schools, and countless other intersectional challenges. By building trust and creating safe spaces, BUILD helps young people heal, develop resilience, discover talents, engage with school and work, realize their potential, and achieve positive futures. “BUILD is honestly about teaching you how to make your dreams happen,” says Cortez Dean, a former BUILD youth himself, who now works as a full-time mentor.

 

 

Each of BUILD’s programs addresses a different set of needs, and is designed to be combined with others as each youth requires. The Intervention program helps gang- and justice- involved youths step away from violence through intensive mentoring, violence interruption, resources, school re-engagement and gang detachment. Prevention focuses on younger, elementary and middle-school aged youths in schools, helping them avoid violence and gang involvement by fostering the skills, attitudes, and habits of success. Enrichment provides a variety of creative activities from art and music to sports and gardening, helping youths discover their creativity, positively express themselves, explore new talents, and gain leadership and work experience. Education/BUILDing Futures helps youth prepare for post-secondary education, teaching skills to succeed in school and prepare for college and careers. The Clinical and Community Wellness team wraps mental health care around all other services, providing therapy, on-call crisis response, case management, and court advocacy to youth and families impacted by community violence and trauma. Through all these programs, BUILD connects with over 5,000 youth and family members each year.

 

 

It’s a lot of services, but as any BUILD mentor will tell you, the common thread is making young people feel safe and cared for. “We make sure that kids don’t just feel like they’re part of just a program,” says Jeremy Mercado, an Intervention Specialist in middle schools. “It’s a family, it’s a brother and sisterhood.”

 

Potential doesn’t discriminate – only opportunity does, and BUILD believes that, with the care they need and deserve, every young person has potential to bloom into something beautiful and strong. “I feel loved when I come to BUILD,” says 15-year old Lanita. And that’s the most powerful service of all.

 

To learn more about BUILD Chicago, please visit their website.