Illinois Youth Grants
Explore 121 grant opportunities
Application Deadline
Sep 13, 2024
Date Added
Aug 8, 2024
The Heart of Illinois Community Foundation's Impact100 Grant Program is currently seeking applications, inviting proposals across a broad spectrum of community needs. While the explicit mission alignment and strategic priorities of the foundation are not detailed in the provided text, the grant program itself demonstrates an implicit commitment to fostering positive change in areas vital to community well-being. By supporting projects in arts/culture/recreation, social services, conservation/environment, health, youth, and education, the foundation aligns with a general philanthropic mission to enhance the quality of life for residents within its service area. The program's openness to operating funds, one-time projects addressing critical needs, new or expanding programs, and improvement projects beyond an organization's means, indicates a flexible and responsive approach to community investment. The target beneficiaries for this grant program are primarily non-profit organizations that serve the residents of Macon, Piatt, and Moultrie counties, or Paris, IL. Specifically, organizations with 501(c)(3) status or other qualified charitable, religious, or government organizations are eligible. A prioritization is given to 501(c)(3) organizations recognized by the IRS as operating public charities for a minimum of three years, suggesting a focus on established and sustainable entities. The overarching impact goal is to address critical needs within these communities by funding projects that fall within the designated categories. The grant program focuses on a diverse range of project types and subject areas. These include arts/culture/recreation, social services, conservation/environment, health, youth, and education. This broad scope indicates a desire to support a holistic improvement of community life. The funding also specifically supports operating funds, one-time projects addressing critical needs, new or expanding programs, and improvement projects. These priorities highlight the foundation's understanding that effective community support can take many forms, from sustaining ongoing operations to catalyzing new initiatives and addressing urgent needs. While specific expected outcomes and measurable results are not explicitly detailed in the provided text, the nature of the supported project types implies a desire for tangible community benefits. For instance, funding for social services would likely aim for improved well-being for vulnerable populations, while education grants would seek enhanced learning opportunities. Similarly, support for conservation/environment would aim for improved ecological health, and health grants for better public health outcomes. Organizations applying are likely expected to articulate their own specific, measurable outcomes that align with the foundation's broad areas of interest, demonstrating how their proposed projects will generate positive, quantifiable change within the communities served. With $200,000 available funding for 2024 and individual grants ranging from no minimum to $50,000, the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation is strategically investing in local organizations that are working to address the most pressing issues in Macon, Piatt, and Moultrie counties, and Paris, IL. Their theory of change, while not explicitly stated, appears to be rooted in empowering local non-profits to effect positive change through direct service, program development, and critical infrastructure improvements. By providing financial resources to a diverse array of projects, the foundation aims to strengthen the social fabric and overall vitality of the communities it serves, ultimately contributing to a healthier, more vibrant region.
Application Deadline
Not specified
Date Added
Jan 13, 2025
This grant provides funding for K-12 schools in Missouri and Illinois to implement innovative educational projects that enhance student engagement and prepare them for a technology-driven future.
Application Deadline
Oct 14, 2025
Date Added
Aug 28, 2025
This funding opportunity provides financial support to non-school district organizations in Illinois to create and enhance after school programs that offer academic and enrichment activities for students.
Application Deadline
Not specified
Date Added
Sep 23, 2024
This funding opportunity provides financial support to nonprofits in Illinois and Missouri that are addressing critical community needs through innovative or emergent programs, with a focus on areas such as basic needs, health, and youth success.
Application Deadline
Nov 14, 2025
Date Added
Oct 22, 2025
This grant provides funding to organizations for implementing suicide prevention training in correctional and juvenile detention facilities in Illinois, focusing on at-risk youth and older males in underserved communities.
Application Deadline
May 10, 2024
Date Added
May 9, 2024
The City of Champaign's Community Matters youth program, founded in 2007, offers funding for the 2024-2025 program year. This initiative aligns with the city's mission to address critical areas such as safety, academic support, technology, recreation, career exploration, and employment among its youth. The program seeks to support public or private non-profit agencies that provide services meeting the needs of Pre-K through 18-year-old students residing within Champaign. The primary beneficiaries of this grant are youth from low-income families within the City of Champaign. The program's impact goal is to have a lasting positive effect on the community by fostering well-rounded development in its youth. While open to low-income youth from any Champaign neighborhood as space and funding allow, a key prioritization is given to programs serving youth from specific target areas: Beardsley Park, Bristol Park, Garden Hills, and Douglass Park, ensuring that resources are directed where they are most needed for community transformation. Proposals should focus on activities that can be carried out with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. These activities are broad and include the rehabilitation of residential and non-residential structures, building demolition, construction and rehabilitation of public facilities, and public services. However, activities related to the general conduct of government, political activities, and new housing construction are generally ineligible. This focus ensures that the funded programs directly contribute to community improvement and youth development. The expected outcomes include enhanced safety, improved academic performance, increased technological literacy, greater recreational opportunities, and better career exploration and employment prospects for the youth participants. While specific measurable results for the 2024-2025 allocation are dependent on the yet-to-be-announced CDBG annual allocation, the previous year's public service allocation of approximately $133,000 provides an indication of the funding scale. This funding, limited to 15% of the City of Champaign’s total CDBG award, underscores the strategic priority of public services within the broader community development framework, aiming for a significant impact despite funding constraints. The funding period runs from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.
Application Deadline
Oct 24, 2025
Date Added
Sep 16, 2025
This funding opportunity provides financial support to community colleges in Illinois to enhance career and technical education programs, improve student success, and foster partnerships with secondary institutions and employers.
Application Deadline
Jul 3, 2025
Date Added
Jun 4, 2025
This funding opportunity provides financial support to organizations that assist migrant and seasonal farmworkers, focusing on enhancing job training, education, employment services, housing stability, and youth development initiatives.
Application Deadline
Not specified
Date Added
Dec 11, 2024
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Application Deadline
Not specified
Date Added
Jul 26, 2024
This initiative provides funding to organizations that deliver essential health screenings and services to underserved communities of color in Illinois, aiming to reduce health disparities and improve access to care.
Application Deadline
Not specified
Date Added
Nov 8, 2024
This funding opportunity supports nonprofit organizations in Scott County, Iowa, and Rock Island County, Illinois, to implement projects that enhance youth education, promote financial stability, and improve community health.
Application Deadline
Oct 7, 2024
Date Added
Sep 5, 2024
The After School Programs – Non-School Districts grant is a funding opportunity for eligible entities to establish after-school programs that enhance academic achievement, promote positive behaviors, and provide enrichment activities in a safe environment, separate from the 21st Century Community Learning Center grant, with the aim of supporting working families and improving community quality.
Application Deadline
Jun 24, 2024
Date Added
May 24, 2024
Five Illinois counties, Alexander, Hardin, Pulaski, Gallatin and Saline; face a fundamental lack of mental health services for justice-involved youth; often having to take juveniles out of the home county for services. If the juveniles are in need of anything greater than outpatient treatment, these youth are sent outside of their home county and sent up to central Illinois, many miles away. Lack of social services coupled with the lack of public transportation, can make it very difficult for juveniles to access resources to avoid entering the Juvenile Justice system in the first place or to succeed while in the system.
Application Deadline
Aug 8, 2024
Date Added
Jul 26, 2024
This initiative provides funding to organizations that deliver culturally sensitive HIV prevention and care services to at-risk minority populations in Illinois, including men who have sex with men, homeless individuals, and those with histories of mental illness or substance abuse.
Application Deadline
Aug 7, 2024
Date Added
Jul 22, 2024
Firearm violence has deeply harmed neighborhoods, communities, and the entire State of Illinois, both through the immediate loss of life and the long-term, harmful effects of trauma experienced by victims, witnesses, and community members. As one of its multiple funding efforts to reduce firearm violence in the most heavily impacted communities across Illinois, the IDHS-Office of Firearm Violence Prevention (OFVP) is seeking to fund youth development organizations in specific community areas across Illinois that will provide structured and unstructured programming to community youth. These programs are meant to serve youth who are the highest risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of firearm violence and should utilize evidence-informed programming and services which will improve youth outcomes and decrease risk factors associated with firearm violence.
Application Deadline
Not specified
Date Added
Nov 1, 2024
This funding opportunity provides financial support to local nonprofit organizations in DeKalb that serve vulnerable populations, including the homeless, individuals facing mental health challenges, victims of violence, and low-income families.
Application Deadline
Nov 14, 2025
Date Added
Aug 12, 2024
This funding opportunity supports nonprofit organizations that provide career development programs for Black youth aged 14-24 in designated NBA markets.
Application Deadline
May 16, 2024
Date Added
Feb 22, 2024
The FY 2025 Early Childhood Block Grant (ECBG) RFP, managed by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), targets new and current grantees looking to increase service capacity. The grant focuses on preschool education and prevention initiatives, supporting entities outside of Chicago in providing educational, health, social, and child development services to young children and their families. Applications must meet GATA prequalification requirements and are due by 4:00 p.m. on May 16, 2024. Grant renewed every year.
Application Deadline
Not specified
Date Added
Feb 10, 2025
This program provides financial support to nonprofit organizations in Lee County for human service initiatives focused on health, education, financial stability, and youth development.
Application Deadline
Not specified
Date Added
Oct 2, 2025
This program provides funding to Chicago-based nonprofits that empower youth aged 16 to 24 through workforce readiness and food security initiatives.

