The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation will award 52 grants of $5,000 each to qualifying Chicago-area small businesses affected by immigration raids and patrols.
Communities eligible in the first phase include Pilsen, Brighton Park, McKinley Park, Archer Heights, Back of the Yards, Little Village, Chicago Lawn, West Lawn, Berwyn and Cicero.
Grants will be distributed in three phases over a one-year period ending June 30, 2027.
“These grants will help local businesses stabilize, recover and continue serving as the economic backbone of their neighborhoods,” Jaime di Paulo, CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said in a news release on Thursday.
Applications open on Aug. 24 and close Sept. 14. Grant recipients will be announced on Oct. 1.
Businesses eligible for grants must have been running for at least two years, have 10 or fewer employees and have a valid business license, among other criteria.
Applicants must submit written statements limited to 250 words describing negative impacts on their business due to immigration enforcement actions, such as reduced revenue and operating hours, fewer customers, canceled events or other financial losses, IHCC Foundation said.
The grants aim to help small businesses recover by giving financial assistance for operating expenses, including rent, payroll, inventory and utilities.
Communities eligible for grants in the next phases will be announced later.
The grants are made possible by the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust.
The IHCC Foundation will also host “shop local” events and digital marketing campaigns to encourage people to support neighborhood businesses.
The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce launched its first “shop local” event in February in Brighton Park to promote small businesses in the Southwest Side neighborhood.
The chamber chose Brighton Park for its first shop local event because immigration raids had a major impact there. Foot traffic slowed dramatically along Archer Avenue’s commercial corridor.
Last October, U.S. Border Patrol agents in Brighton Park shot Marimar Martinez five times. She survived, but the shooting sparked a confrontation in the neighborhood between nearly 100 protesters and federal agents, some in an armed personnel carrier.
Last year, immigration agents often started their day in Brighton Park because there is a Home Depot nearby where laborers used to gather, said Hilda Alvarez Rodriguez, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s special projects manager, in February.
More than 78% of Brighton Park residents are Latino, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.
More information about the grants is at ihccbusiness.net/resilientcommunitiesinitiative.