Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

About Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

Oak Park-river Forest Community Foundation has built a local grantmaking pattern that reaches from youth mental health to arts, education, and community safety in Oak Park, River Forest, and nearby West Cook County. Among the foundation’s recent commitments, recurring support for Heph Foundation stands out: it received $500,000 in 2023, $402,500 in 2024, and $400,000 in 2025. That scale sits alongside a broader portfolio of community grants that includes support for organizations such as Animal Care League, Thrive Counseling Center, and Seven Generations Ahead. The foundation’s work is organized around racial equity and justice, youth mental and behavioral health, education and scholarships, community safety and belonging, arts and cultural programming, and environmental sustainability. It also operates as a mixed community foundation, which aligns with a grantmaking model that combines broad community support with named program funds. Recent grants show both general operating support and project-specific charitable purposes, suggesting a flexible approach that can sustain established local nonprofits while also backing targeted initiatives. The recipient base is overwhelmingly Illinois-centered, reflecting a strong emphasis on the Oak Park-River Forest area and surrounding communities.

What Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation Funds

Youth-focused giving appears in several parts of the foundation’s portfolio. The Future Philanthropists Fund is a youth-led collective giving model for programs that explicitly involve or benefit youth and young adults in Oak Park, River Forest, and West Cook County. The Fund Futures program also invests in youth and future leaders through grants or funded initiatives for young people in the OPRF community. Arts and enrichment show up through the Laura Southwick Award, which provides $500–$1,000 to encourage work in the fine and applied arts, and the Tom Neumann Summer Learning Fund, which supports academic, cultural, or travel enrichment between junior and senior year of high school. Community well-being is another clear theme. The Community Grants Cohort has prioritized mental and behavioral health for youth and young adults, including workforce pipeline development and access to services, while the Emerging Needs Fund supports new projects and emerging needs serving neighbors in the greater West Side.

How Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation Gives