Oak Park-based PCC Community Wellness Center is among three Chicago-area community nonprofits vying for a $350,000 grant from Humana Foundation.
The Humana Communities Benefits program has been offered since 2003. New this year is an online voting component where Chicago residents can vote for which nonprofit they’d like to see win the grant.
The voting period started on Aug. 11 and wraps up Friday, Aug. 22.
As of Monday, PCC Wellness has garnered 1,100 votes, says Jinnie Hoggarth, the agency’s development coordinator. The grant money goes toward creating a new program to serve each agency’s community residents. If awarded, PCC Wellness will use the grant to build an urban garden on vacant land it currently owns on Lotus Avenue near its 5425 W. Lake St. health center in Austin.
The agency launched a produce market in summer 2010 at the Austin center to service clients but has always eyed an urban farm, Hoggarth said.
PCC Wellness operates 11 health centers in the Chicago area, including three Oak Park locations. The two other community health agencies vying for the grant are Family Alliance Inc. in Woodstock and Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance in Chicago.
The grant increased this year from $100,000 to $350,000 to provide more services for the recipient communities, said Cathryn Donaldson, Human’s Midwest media relations consultant.
Similar online contests are currently going on in Tampa and San Antonio, Donaldson said. The online voting was added this year to give community residents a say in who wins the grant.
The online results, though, are one aspect of the decision-making process. The agencies’ proposals will be judged next week by a committee comprised of community leaders in the various towns who’ll review and score submissions. The Humana Foundation will make the final decision on a winner, who will be announced in September.
“All of these programs impact local communities and we want to make sure community residents can vote for the organization they think deserves it the most,” Donaldson said.
The foundation will also work with the winner as it develops its program, she added, through a new mentorship program featuring past year’s winners.
“It takes quite a bit of time to develop these programs, and we thought this would be helpful for new recipients,” Donaldson said.
The online voting period ends at 10:59 p.m., Central Standard Time, this Friday. Hoggarth said her agency will continue to pursue funding for the urban garden even if it doesn’t win the grant, which is administered over three years.
If approved, she said, the money will go toward building the farm, buying flower beds and other supplies. PCC Wellness will also work with Chicago Botanic Garden in creating the farm. The agency plans to send two community members through the garden’s Windy City Harvest Apprenticeship program, which trains people in urban farming, via a scholarship.
The nine-month program includes a paid internship to work at a Windy City Harvest or partnering organization’s farm. PCC Wellness hopes to have a permanent seasonal coordinator in 2017 for the farm, which will be overseen by a Windy City Harvest coordinator until then.