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Annual Grants — Education
K-12 EducationAfter-school programsScholarships (if offered)
Who can apply: Organizations and school-based programs serving Highland Park and Highwood. Applicants should review HPCF guidelines before applying.
Highland Park Community Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & Voluntarism
About Highland Park Community Foundation
We support organizations and programs that address the unmet needs of our community and expand opportunities for all Highland Park and Highwood residents.
Focus Areas
Human servicesEducationCreative & cultural artsSenior servicesServices for individuals with disabilitiesFood accessLegal servicesYouth development
Who They Fund
individuals directly affected by shootings (shooting survivors)families of shooting victimscommunities impacted by gun violence
Funding Style
About Highland Park Community Foundation
Highland Park Community Foundation’s recent giving shows a strong emphasis on shooting recovery alongside ongoing community support. In 2024 and 2025, it directed six-figure grants to Josselyn for general operating support and shooting recovery, and to Highwood Library & Community Center for general operating support and shooting recovery. Those awards sit alongside steady support for local nonprofits serving Highland Park and Highwood residents across human services, education, senior services, disability services, food access, legal services, youth development, and creative and cultural arts. The foundation’s largest recent grants also include support for Family Service of Lake County, Highwood Public Library, and Family Focus HP, reflecting a mix of broad organizational support and program-specific funding. Its grantmaking profile points to a community foundation working through both annual competitive grants and donor-advised funds, with recurring awards to local institutions and service providers. The pattern is local, repeat-oriented, and centered on organizations that address unmet needs in the community and expand opportunities for residents.
What Highland Park Community Foundation Funds
In human services and behavioral health, Highland Park Community Foundation funded Josselyn with $144,000 in 2024 and $105,000 in 2025 for general operating support and shooting recovery, then supported JCFS Chicago with $75,000 in 2024 for shooting recovery. For family and youth support, Family Focus HP received $90,000 in 2024 for program support and $56,000 in 2025 for program support, while Family Service of Lake County received $140,000 in 2023 for general support and $53,000 in 2023 for general support. Education also appears as a recurring theme: College Bound Opportunities received $40,000 in 2025 for program support, and the foundation’s education-focused programs extend to students and schools in Highland Park, Highwood, and Lake County. Creative and cultural arts are part of the portfolio too, with The Art Center Highland Park receiving $50,500 in 2024 and $50,000 in 2025 for program support.
How Highland Park Community Foundation Gives
Typical grants cluster around a median of $12,250, with a 25th percentile of $8,000 and a 75th percentile of $30,000. The recent grant list also shows repeated awards to the same organizations across multiple years, including Josselyn, Highwood Library & Community Center, Family Focus HP, North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic, Highland Park Community Early Learning Center, and Tri-Con Child Care Center. That recurring pattern aligns with the foundation’s philosophy tags: general operating support, program support, general/unrestricted support, and ongoing/recurring operational funding. It operates as a mixed community foundation and also uses donor-advised funds, with some grantmaking routed through those DAFs.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$1.9M
Total Assets
$7.6M
Total Revenue
$1.6M
Total Expenses
$1.3M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $8K and $30K, with a median of $12K.
25th Percentile
$8K
Median
$12K
75th Percentile
$30K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
Laurie Levin
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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