DePaul University’s Msgr. John J. Egan Urban Center has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust for university and community-based collaborations.

“This grant will help expand the reach of the center as well as our impact on the communities we serve,” said Michael Bennett, executive director of the Egan Urban Center. “Strengthening collaborations between African-American and Latino residents is extremely important if we are to continue our commitment to community development.”

The award will fund the African-American/Latino Collaboration in three areas of Chicago: Chicago Lawn, North and South Lawndale and Humboldt Park neighborhoods. The Egan Urban Center serves as a trusted mediator and helps cultivate the relationships within these communities.

The Chicago Lawn initiative will promote collaboration among Charter One, the Southwest Youth Collaborative and the Latino Organization of Southwest (LOSO). Throughout the program, Latino and African-American residents are being educated about the importance of financial growth for their families and community. The proposed goal is to develop a collaborative project that focuses on an economic development initiative, such as a credit union or co-op housing within the Chicago Lawn community.

The goal of the Humboldt Park project is to form a working group composed of Latino and African-American block club activists in the neighborhood to address safety, education and health concerns of residents.

The newest initiative for the Egan Center will focus on the North and South Lawndale communities. Organized by the Community Renewal Society, discussions have begun to look into conflicts between African-American and Latino students at the new Little Village Lawndale High School. The long-term objective is to form a working group composed of African-American and Latino students and parents interested in facing school and broader community issues.

Founded in 1994, the Msgr. John J. Egan Urban Center represents DePaul’s tangible and enduring commitment to the research, development, deliverance and transfer of innovative education-based programs and services that have a significant social impact. To learn more about the Center, visit www.depaul.edu/~egan.

For 90 years, The Chicago Community Trust has connected the generosity of donors with the needs of the community by making grants to organizations working to improve metropolitan Chicago. In 2005, the Trust made more than $82 million in grants and awarded its billionth dollar in January of 2006. From strengthening community schools to assisting local art programs, from building health centers to helping lives affected by violence, the Trust continues to enhance the region. To learn more about the Trust, visit the web site: www.cct.org.

DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the nation and the 10th-largest private, not-for-profit university in the United States. A richly diverse population of 23,148 students attends classes on two city and four suburban campuses.