Funding for the CityArts Program increased by 280% in 2022, climbing from $1.7 million in 2021 to $6.5 million, according to a news release. The awards follow the announcement that $26 million will be provided in new arts and culture investments as part of the city’s 2022 budget.
Nonprofits

Hoops in the Hood is taking over the streets of Chicago this summer by bringing kids and teens together to play basketball in their neighborhood backyards. Chicago Tonight’s Joanna Hernandez hears more about the mission behind the program and the leaders who are driven to make a change.

A local Emmy-winning jazz vocalist is committed to ensuring students have the opportunity to pursue paths in performing arts, no matter the medium. Arts Correspondent Angel Idowu takes us to the West Loop for “Timeless Gifts: A Musical Revue.”

With summer quickly approaching, WTTW News reporter Joanna Hernandez moderated the latest edition of our “Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices” community conversation about investments being made in young people by local organizations.

It has been more than two years since Nyisha Beemon’s daughter was shot and killed inside a convenience store. Now, she wants to purchase the store and turn it into a community hub that would offer support and counseling.

Seena Jacob, the founder of the nonprofit BookWallah, is working to help children heal from trauma using books. She founded the organization in 2009 when she says she began to question her life’s purpose and started to visit orphanages around the world.

Rush University medical student Dmytro Mysak left Ukraine with his parents when he was 3 years old, but still has family living there. Now, he is organizing a relief effort for refugees of the war.

Mayor Emanuel's plan to return free water to some nonprofit organizations advances in the Chicago City Council. But just who will pay for water and why are some religious leaders still upset? Paris Schutz has the latest on that, and the controversy over parking meters.

Cardinal Francis George had a firm message for the mayor and other city leaders today: restore free water service to religious nonprofits. Paris Schutz has the story.

Residents pay for water, but religious leaders say their organizations should not. Paris Schutz has more on why the issue has brought all faiths together.