RiverEdge Park Dunham Pavilion/$2,000,000 ($500,000 in 2011; $500,000 in 2012; $1M upon completion of the project)
This $2 million grant will name the Dunham Pavilion, the concert and entertainment venue that will be an integral part of the first Music Garden phase of the new five-phase RiverEdge Park and Nature Conservancy project conceived by the City of Aurora, Illinois Downtown Redevelopment Commission to enhance the quality of downtown community and commercial life and to revitalize the environment along the banks of the Fox River. This project has been launched with an $8 million State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs grant.

Breaking Free, Inc./$594,708 (Third installment of a three year grant)
This grant provided support to create Breaking Free's Aurora-area "Student Assistance Center" and school on-site programs to meet the ongoing needs of middle-school and high school students challenged by drug and alcohol problems. In 2007, the Dunham Fund provided a $1.18 million, three year start-up grant to fund the Aurora-based Breaking Free Center.

Communities In Schools Aurora Community Assessment Project/$450,000
This grant is contingent upon CIS successfully securing additional funding commitments of $150,000 to insure the sustainability of the project. The award was made to allow the CIS Community Assessment Project partners to develop a comprehensive, centralized system to collect and analyze data that will support community education and school-based initiatives and provide a resource for nonprofit agencies needing statistical, demographic and analytical data for grant-seeking inside and outside the Aurora area. By December 2011, data and information, identified as priority needs via stakeholders consensus, will be available in a format accessible on-line by means of an open-access website dedicated to this project. The collaborative was initially awarded a second-place Dunham Fund Challenge for Change grant in 2009 for developing the community assessment program concept.

Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry/$425,000 matching challenge grant
The Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry will move and expand its operations to collect and distribute up to eight million pounds of food each year to respond to a growing need in the community and to bring the Pantry closer to its mission and vision of eliminating hunger in the Aurora area.  The Dunham Fund has issued a challenge to the Pantry to raise $425,000 from other funding sources by June 2011 to receive a $425,000 Dunham grant to purchase and refurbish an existing 17,000 square foot facility in Aurora with warehouse space, a receiving dock and a supermarket style distribution center. The pantry will pursue collaborative efforts with other Aurora-area food pantries for the joint collection and storage of food products from various supply sources.

Institute for Collaboration's Mathematics and Science Education System/$250,000 grant (with an additional $150,000 challenge matching award of $1 for every $2 of new funding raised by the project collaborative)
This grant will enable Aurora University and its partners to advance the curriculum and related planning for the creation of a Magnate Academy for students in third through eighth grade gifted in math and science. This proposed innovative school will serve students from the East Aurora, Indian Prairie, Oswego and West Aurora school districts, as well as Aurora University students. In addition, the grant and potential matching funds will support the design of a comprehensive resource development plan necessary to raise the funds to make the academy a reality. The collaborative was awarded a first-place Dunham Fund Challenge for Change grant in 2009 for developing the math and science academy concept.

Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley/$180,000
$180,000 was allocated to the Dunham Scholarship Fund, within the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, for six $30,000 scholarships to be awarded to high school students in the Dunham Fund service area in 2011.

Fox Valley Heart Foundation's Healthy Community Heart Clinic/$135,000
In November 2010, the Fox Valley Heart Foundation, in collaboration with Visiting Nurse Association of the Fox Valley, opened the Healthy Community Heart Clinic at VNA's Federally Qualified Health Care Clinic (FQHC) in Aurora. The clinic is the only cardiovascular specialty clinic for uninsured and Medicaid patients in the Aurora area and will serve up to 1,800 clients a year with consultation and follow-up services. The Heart Foundation met a $1 for $1 challenge to receive this grant from the Dunham Fund.

Waubonsee Community College Dunham Early College Academy/$105,000
Waubonsee Community College's Dunham Early College Academy received a Dunham Fund grant of up to $105,000, which includes $15,000 to fund the final year of the Early College Academy program and the fees for East and West Aurora high school juniors currently enrolled and eligible to complete their senior year in the DECA dual-credit program. The grant also includes up to $90,000 in full, two-year tuition, matched $1 for $1 by Waubonsee Community College, for any of the currently enrolled DECA students who successfully complete the program and apply and are accepted to WCC after high school graduation.

CASA Kane County Healthy Child Program/$100,000 grant (with a total possible $400,000 challenge match of 40 cents on every additional $1 received by CASA for this project by December 31, 2011)
This Dunham Fund grant could provide up to one-fifth of the campaign goal that CASA has set to support the agency's Grow a Healthy Child Program and Operational Endowment Fund. This program will offer the human support and educational tools to CASA clients who "age out" of the child welfare system at 18 to 21 and must transition into the adult world. The funds raised for this program initiative will be held in an Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley and the interest will be used to support the ongoing operational needs of this program.

SciTech Hands On Museum/$75,000 grant
This Dunham Fund grant was made to support the SciTech Museum with operational support during a period of economic downturn and leadership turnover. SciTech's program is unique to the community and provides "hands on" science and technology programming to school-age children in the school districts and general admission for families in the Aurora area.

Joseph Corporation/$50,000
Joseph Corporation is a community-based nonprofit organization that focuses on affordable housing and counseling programs for homeowners. This grant was given specifically to provide JoCo clients with home foreclosure counseling.

Boy Scouts of America/$50,000
Boy Scouts of America was awarded a $50,000 grant to develop a scouting outreach program on the near east side of Aurora.

Suicide Prevention Services, Inc./$49,400
In collaboration with Aurora University and Communities in Schools, Suicide Prevention Services will host community forums, conferences, professional training and outreach programming in the discipline of suicide prevention. The year-long public awareness campaign will be designed to enhance institutional and community responsiveness to persons at-risk, stressing suicide prevention through education.

Kendall County Food Pantry/$42,000
This grant will provide funding to the Kendall County Food Pantry to enhance the pantry's "Kendall Cares" website and to purchase a new freezer for food storage at their food distribution site.

Aurora Police Department Senior Executive Training/$36,600
The Aurora Police Department was awarded scholarship funding for police officers to attend the Harvard Professional Development School for the Senior Executives in State and Local Governments three-week training program.

The Larkin Center/$28,000
The Larkin Center in Elgin received this Dunham Fund grant to upgrade the HVAC system in this school for special needs students with significant behavior disorders. Students are placed at this facility by local school districts in Kane County, Illinois.

DuPage Children's Museum/$26,000
The Dunham Fund awarded a grant to DuPage Children's Museum to support the implementation of the Kindergarten Math Initiative (KMI) for all kindergarten classrooms in Aurora School District 131 during the 2010-2011 school year. KMI is a school learning lab program at DuPage Children's Museum that uses a child-centered, hands-on approach to improve math literacy for kindergarten students and impacts later success in math. 

Peaceful Schools/$25,000
The Dunham Fund grant provided staffing and materials for school sites for this Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley sponsored anti-bullying program.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters/$25,000
With this grant, Family Counseling Service will provide up to sixty Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring relationships in East Aurora School District 131. The project will be the collaborative effort of Big Brother Big Sisters, three schools in the district, and the nation's largest Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp (NJROTC) program at East Aurora High School,

Rebuilding Together Aurora/$25,000
Rebuilding Together Aurora brings volunteers and communities together to improve the homes of low-income homeowners so that they may live in warmth, safety, and independence.  This grant was awarded for RTA's Year-Round Handyman program which provides smaller scale, more immediate repairs to low-income seniors and disabled homeowners, focusing on ADA modifications and fall prevention services.  For the Handyman program, RTA has partnered with Quad County Urban League's YouthBuild program that teaches youth, ages 16 to 24, construction trade skills in a classroom and real life setting.

Chicagoland Feed My Starving Children/$24,050
Feed My Starving Children is a hunger relief organization that utilizes 100% volunteer labor to package a specifically formulated and vitamin fortified rice mixture which is shipped to missionaries and humanitarian organizations in over sixty countries around the world to feed malnourished children. This Dunham Fund grant will purchase a forklift to move the inventory in the organization's Aurora warehouse onto fifty-foot tractor trailers for shipment.

Streator Unlimited/$20,000
The Dunham Fund has made this grant to support Streator Unlimited, Inc. which offers vocational training and residential services in five locations in Illinois. The agency is committed to enriching the lives of adults with disabilities by teaching skills that will enable them to reach their fullest potential, live as independently as possible, and become integrated into the community.

Association for Individual Development Recycling Program/$20,000
With this grant the Association will launch the AID Recycling Program, a "Going Green" on-site job training and employment program and recycling business for individuals with disabilities that will also result in increased environmental consciousness in the community.

Quad County Urban League/$15,000
This Dunham Fund Grant will allow Quad County Urban League to expand the capacity of its Workforce Development program and will enable the organization to provide assistance that better positions clients for long-term success through a new Personal, Career and Leadership (PCL) development curriculum.

Provena Fox Knoll Comprehensive Life Enrichment Program/$11,000
Provena Fox Knoll will utilize this grant to advance the retirement center's Comprehensive Life Enrichment Program for its residents through enhanced physical fitness, cognitive acuity through new technology based learning, and depression reduction programming that incorporates exercise, social interaction and engagement in hobbies and interests.

Dominican Literacy Center "Greater Aurora Area Literacy Coaliton"/$5,000
This grant will provide the "start-up" funding for the formation of "The Greater Aurora Area Literacy Coalition" as a new Illinois, non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation whose purpose will be to publicize and coordinate literacy services in the Aurora area. The groups in the coalition include the Dominican Literacy Center, Waubonsee Community College, World Relief, Wayside Cross, Hesed House, Family Focus, Aurora Public Library, Siloam Ministries, and the Heritage YMCA. This will be the only literacy coalition in the Dunham Fund service area.

Dunham Nursing Scholarship – Advancing Nursing in Aurora/$750,000
Rush Copley Foundation, in partnership with Alden of Waterford, Aurora University, Dreyer Medical Clinic, Kane County Health Department, Visiting Nurse Association of Fox Valley and Waubonsee Community College, will implement a nursing scholarship program to build a high-performing, diverse workforce of nurses in Aurora, Illinois. Over the next two years, an estimated 100+ nursing education scholarships will be awarded at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels.

Breaking Free, Inc./$509,309 (2nd installment of three year grant)
Breaking Free provides in-school substance abuse counseling to area teens in their Dunham Student Assistance Centers.

Quad County Urban League/$333,334 (Final installment of three year grant)
From its John C. Dunham Educational and Vocational Training Center, the League provides advocacy and support programs that range from an alternative learning environment at Aurora Middle School Academy to emergency rental assistance.

Dunham Emergency Assistance Fund/$250,000
In the first quarter of 2009, the Dunham Emergency Assistance Fund was established at the Fox Valley United Way in response to the unprecedented need for emergency food and shelter in the Aurora area during the recent economic downturn.

• Fox Valley United Way/$10,000
  This grant was made in appreciation of Fox Valley United Way’s administration of the Dunham Emergency Assistance Fund and for United Way’s achievement of the $100,000 match challenge for the fund.

 

Challenge for Change Grant Awards/$165,000 in total

• Institute for Collaboration’s Mathematics and Science Education System/$100,000
  The Institute and its partners brought together a collaborative coalition with the goal of developing an Aurora Mathematics and Science Education System that would culminate in a Magnet Academy for East Aurora and West Aurora elementary and middle school students who are gifted and talented in math and science. 
• Communities In Schools’ Community Assessment Project/$50,000
  The collaborators will develop a comprehensive, centralized data warehousing system for use by agencies who apply for funding both inside and outside Aurora. The primary focus of the project is to develop and analyze data that will support education and school-based community initiatives.
• Rush Copley Medical Center’s Binary Health Integration Project/$15,000
  Working with their six B-Hip collaborative partners in behavioral health, psychiatry, the Aurora East School District, and local human service agencies, the Copley family practitioners will coordinate the prevention, promotion, and especially, the early identification, intervention and treatment of mild to severe mental illness in children and teens in the Aurora area.


For a more comprehensive view of the Challenge for Change criteria and the three award recipients.

Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley/$180,000
The Dunham Fund Board of Advisors designated $180,000 for Dunham Scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic years to be administered by the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley.

• Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley/$2,700 The Dunham Fund Board of Advisors also allocated funding for hardware and software purchases to implement an on-line application process for the Community Foundation's Scholarship Program.

Hesed House Employment Training Program/$100,000
Hesed House, an area homeless shelter, in partnership with Waubonsee Community College and the Illinois Employment and Training Center, Aurora Jobs Council and local employers will collaborate in a transitional employment program to provide job skills preparation and employment opportunities for homeless individuals. The Dunham Fund grant will reimburse 50% of 20+ trainees’ salaries for 90 days with cooperating local employers.

Association for Individual Development Internship Program/$76,400 (Two-year grant)
This internship program is in collaboration with Aurora University and will provide twenty students in the Health and Social Services field the opportunity for hands-on experience in Behavioral Health, Development Training, Residential Services, and other interactions with clients. The goal of the program is to provide a path that leads to employment at AID and other service providers in the Dunham Fund service area.

Joseph Corporation/$50,000
Joseph Corporation is a community-based nonprofit organization that focuses on affordable housing and counseling programs for homeowners. This grant was given specifically to provide JoCo clients with home foreclosure counseling.

Fischer Middle School Math Innovation Project/$49,000
The Math Innovation Project at Fischer Middle School in Aurora's Indian Prairie School District 204 was funded by the Dunham Fund through the Indian Prairie Foundation to equip a state-of-the-art math classroom with the "Lrn2innovate" software program and thin client technology. 

Mutual Ground/$35,000
This Dunham Fund grant was provided for the continuation of Mutual Ground's domestic violence shelter which offers a unique program in the Fund's service area for women and children in need of protective emergency services.

Peaceful Schools/$25,000
The Dunham Fund grant provided staffing and materials for school sites for this Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley sponsored anti-bullying program.

Serenity House/$25,000
Serenity House provides housing for individuals with substance abuse issues who must be in a recovery program, be employed and able to pay rent. The residents maintain the home and cooperatively share household duties until they can relocate to their own independent living arrangements. The grant provided by the Dunham Fund will be used by Serenity House for a down payment on a new residence, with the mortgage on the home to be serviced by the rent paid by the residents.

Spectrios Institute for Low Vision/$25,000
This Dunham Fund grant will partially fund a program in the Aurora area providing educational opportunities, on-site clinics and financial assistance for adults and children in need of low-vision rehabilitation.

Rosary High School Student Scholarships/$23,675
This Dunham Fund grant will provide emergency assistance scholarships for two outstanding, minority women students from the Aurora area currently attending Rosary High School. This grant will help each woman complete her high school education and will be matched dollar for dollar by the Dominican Sisters' Minority Fund.

Kaneland School Foundation/$10,000
The Kaneland Foundation sponsors an annual arts festival for the educational benefit of area school children, their families and the community-at-large. This grant will fund quarterly performances for the community-at-large and the annual Home Town concert.

Society of St. Vincent de Paul St. Katherine Drexel Conference/$10,000
This Dunham Fund grant will help the St. Katherine Drexel Conference with seed money for a new 501(c)(3) organization of volunteers who will respond to the increased demand for individuals in need of emergency assistance with rent, utility, food, clothing and medical payments during the current economic climate.

Waubonsee Community College's Dunham Early College Academy/$574,500 (2nd installment of two year grant)
The academy makes it possible for qualifying students, who might not ordinarily aspire to higher education, at both East and West Aurora high schools, to take college-level courses each afternoon during the school year and, therefore, graduate from high school with nearly a year's worth of transfer college credit.

Quad County Urban League/$333,333 (2nd installment of three year grant)
From its John C. Dunham Educational and Vocational Training Center, the League provides advocacy and support programs that range from an alternative learning environment at Aurora Middle School Academy to emergency rental assistance. Overall, the League seeks equal opportunities for all disadvantaged persons and people of color, including African Americans, women and persons with disabilities.

Visiting Nurse Association of the Fox Valley/$200,000 (2nd installment of two year grant)
The Visiting Nurse Association built and equipped the John C. Dunham Pediatric Wing in the VNA's new, federally qualified health care center in Aurora.

Breaking Free, Inc./$144,756 (1st installment of three year grant)
Breaking Free provides in-school substance abuse counseling to area teens in their Dunham Student Assistance Centers.

Aurora University's Dunham Scholars Program/$100,000
Dunham Scholars are Aurora University juniors and seniors who major in Business fields. Selected based on scholarship, character, work ethic and commitment to service, Scholars receive one-year renewable tuition scholarships.

Rush-Copley Medical Center's Family Medical Practice Residence Program/$100,000
Rush-Copley Medical Center provides hands-on support programming for residents aspiring to be Family Practice physicians.

Joseph Corporation/$64,000
Joseph Corporation is a community-based nonprofit organization that focuses on affordable housing and counseling programs for homeowners.

Fox River Study Group/$50,000
This Dunham Fund grant will help to fund the Fox River Study Group for its computer modeling, watershed study of the Fox River to measure the environmental and developmental impact of the river on its river edge communities in the Fox River Valley region.

Paramount Theatre/$50,000
The Paramount Theatre will offer scholarships to disadvantaged youth in the Dunham Fund service area to attend the newly established Paramount School of Performing Arts, a program introducing youth to music, dance and theatre arts.

Peaceful Schools/$50,000
The Dunham Fund grant provided staffing and materials for two additional school sites for this Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley sponsored anti-bullying program.

Dominican Literacy Center/$45,000
The Dominican Literacy Center has completed a capital project to expand and equip its literacy programming area in its current facility to accommodate an increasing number of clients.

Boardroom Bound/$40,000
Boardroom Bound will provide board governance education to area nonprofit organizations.

Youth Outlook/$37,500
This community-based nonprofit organization which counsels youth on alternative life styles will open a new center in the Batavia/Geneva area.

Larkin Center/$35,000
This nonprofit residential and day treatment center for emotionally disturbed children and adults completed much needed repairs and renovations to the original Larkin home.

Mutual Ground/$25,000
Mutual Ground's domestic violence and sexual abuse counseling staff provides youth awareness programming to over 40,000 students in Aurora schools.

Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley/$10,000
This grant was made in appreciation of the Community Foundation's outstanding administration of the Dunham Scholarship Program for area high school seniors.

The Dunham Fund Board of Advisors also designated $150,000 for Dunham Scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic years, increasing their original allocation by $50,000. The Community Foundation also administered a community-wide nonprofit seminar, co-sponsored by the Dunham Fund, Fox Valley United Way and the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley.

Kaneland School Foundation/$10,000
The foundation sponsors an annual arts festival for the educational benefit of area school children, their families and the community-at-large.

Aurora University’s Dunham Scholars Program/$100,000
Dunham Scholars are Aurora University juniors and seniors who major in Business fields. Selected on the basis of scholarship, character, work ethic and commitment to service, Scholars receive one-year renewable tuition scholarships.

CASA Kane County’s Child Advocate Training Program/$75,000
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is a nonprofit, volunteer organization whose members advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children in the Juvenile Court system.

Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity/$142,500
Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity constructed a Habitat home in Montgomery, Illinois.

Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley/$5,000
The Community Foundation administers the Dunham Scholarship Program for area high school seniors.

The Dunham Fund Board of Advisors also designated $100,000 for Dunham Scholarships for the 2008-2009 academic years.

Quad County Urban League/$333,333 (1st installment of three year grant)
From its John C. Dunham Educational and Vocational Training Center, the League provides advocacy and support programs that range from an alternative learning environment at Aurora Middle School Academy to emergency rental assistance. Overall, the League seeks equal opportunities for all disadvantaged persons and people of color, including African Americans, women and persons with disabilities.

Senior Services Associates, Inc./$5,000
A not-for-profit agency that helps seniors access appropriate social services.

Visiting Nurse Association of Fox Valley/$50,000 (1st installment of two year grant)
Visiting Nurse Association renovated and equipped the Dunham Pediatric Wing in the VNA’s new, federally qualified health care center in Aurora.

Waubonsee Community College Dunham Early College Academy/$495,750 (1st installment of two year grant)
The Academy makes it possible for qualifying students, who might not ordinarily aspire to higher education, at both East Aurora and West Aurora high schools to take college-level courses each afternoon during the school year and, therefore, graduate from high school with nearly a year’s worth of transfer college credit.