The 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods announced a second wave of grants to nine organizations for planning and community development activities that support Chicago communities and complement the City’s bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The investments total more than $1.5 million and support youth programming, neighborhood tourism and infrastructure planning, small business certification and workforce development strategies. With the implementation of these initiatives, the Fund is closer to ensuring that the 2016 Games, if held in Chicago, will have a long-term beneficial impact on Chicago neighborhoods.

These second-phase grants, awarded between February and July 2009, built on research findings of eight planning grants awarded in 2008. Combined with the first round of grants, the 2016 Fund has channeled nearly $2 million into planning, mapping, and implementing projects in areas of critical importance to Chicago. All of the activities supported by the Fund aim to help position neighborhoods to benefit from the opportunities presented if Chicago is chosen as the 2016 Host City, and they are specifically designed to benefit the city’s neighborhoods whether or not the Olympic and Paralympic Games come to Chicago.

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