A Better Chicago Announces Four Local Organizations Selected To Receive Grants Through $10 Million “Every Day Counts” Initiative to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism

CHICAGO (7/15/2026) – A Better Chicago announced today the first cohort of organizations selected to receive funding through Every Day Counts, a citywide initiative designed to reverse the trend of chronic absenteeism in Chicago. The investments mark the beginning of the organization’s $10 million commitment over five years to identify, support, evaluate, and scale promising solutions to one of the most urgent challenges facing young people today.

With a focus on improving student attendance and strengthening belonging, the four selected proposals will implement innovative, school-connected strategies in Austin, Garfield Park, and South Lawndale.

Selected organizations are:

• BUILD – $500,000 grant: In the Austin community, BUILD will embed a cross-functional support team at Spencer Technology Academy providing mentoring, after-school programming, clinical therapy, and intensive case management for students experiencing attendance challenges.
• Enlace Chicago – $500,000 grant: Working across seven community schools in Little Village, Enlace will implement an approach that combines school-based family support specialists, expanded mental health services, and culturally responsive family therapy. The initiative is designed to stabilize families facing trauma, immigration-related stress, and other barriers that contribute to chronic absenteeism.
• Illinois Action for Children – $500,000 grant: In Garfield Park, Illinois Action for Children will expand its Community Connections model across multiple elementary schools, providing embedded case managers to help schools identify attendance concerns early and connect families with critical resources and supports. The project also introduces a peer attendance leadership model for middle school students.
• The Alliance 98 (TA98) – $258,000 grant: TA98 will partner with High School for Social Justice (SOJO) in Little Village to connect chronically absent high school students with paid employment opportunities aligned to their interests and career goals. Combined with dedicated mentorship, the model seeks to address economic and structural barriers that keep students out of school.

Organizations will begin working with school partners this summer to plan for implementation, with programs and services launching on the first day of the 2026/27 school year, August 24th. Together, these initial four grants will enable organizations to directly serve 465 students across 12 partner schools — helping schools recover an estimated 2,600 days of instructional time.

Organizations were selected through a competitive RFP process. Applicants were required to demonstrate strong school partnerships, a clear understanding of the barriers keeping students from attending school, and a plan to strengthen attendance and belonging. Final selections were based on alignment with the initiative’s goals, readiness to implement, and potential to drive meaningful impact for students and families.

“Education remains one of the strongest pathways to opportunity, and we are proud to invest in four organizations that are reimagining how we address chronic absenteeism,” said Beth Swanson, CEO of A Better Chicago. “We know when students are consistently present in school, they are more likely to build meaningful relationships, succeed academically, graduate, and pursue bright futures. To keep young people connected, supported, and engaged in their learning, we need targeted, data-driven strategies that can move the needle in the right direction, and that is exactly what these investments are designed to do.”

Grant Recipients

Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development (BUILD) is a nationally recognized gang intervention, violence prevention, and youth development organization based on Chicago’s West Side. The organization provides comprehensive opportunities for youth facing systemic obstacles to help them achieve positive futures. Reaching over 6,500 young people and families annually, BUILD offers a holistic suite of services empowering at-risk youth to become leaders in safer, stronger communities.

“We are deeply grateful to A Better Chicago for this transformational investment, allowing BUILD to expand our Violence Prevention Village model; surrounding young people with consistent, caring adults before crises take root,” said Bradly Johnson, CEO of BUILD. “Every day, we see how relationships help students show up, stay engaged, and feel they truly belong. Together, we are strengthening whole-family support and helping more young people be present and thrive, because every day counts.”

Enlace Chicago provides culturally responsive programming aimed at fostering a safe, healthy, and thriving environment. The organization focuses on four core pillars: education, community health, immigration and advocacy, and violence prevention. By delivering comprehensive services and cultivating collaborative neighborhood networks, Enlace empowers local residents and positively impacts the lives of more than 8,000 youth and adults each year.

“We are honored to receive A Better Chicago’s support through Every Day Counts. This investment allows us to reduce barriers that too often prevent Latino families from fully accessing the opportunities and resources they deserve,” said Marcela Rodriguez, Executive Director of Enlace. “By working alongside trusted community partners such as Centro Sanar, we can expand our reach and deepen our impact, ensuring more families have access to culturally responsive support and the guidance they need to navigate complex systems, including our schools. In Little Village, we know that every family wants their child to succeed despite the systemic barriers they face on a daily basis. We believe that when families are informed, engaged, and connected, students are more likely to thrive.”

Illinois Action for Children (IAFC) is a statewide organization dedicated to expanding access to affordable, high-quality early care and education for working families. Founded in 1969, IAFC champions equitable early childhood programming, operating at the intersection of direct service, public policy, and systems-level advocacy. The organization’s mission is to ensure every child in Illinois has the foundational resources necessary to support lifelong health, safety, and well-being.

“We know that when children attend school regularly, they are better positioned to thrive academically and socially,” said April Janney, CEO of Illinois Action for Children. “Positive school attendance habits begin as early as preschool. That’s why, for more than a decade, a top priority at Illinois Action for Children has been promoting school attendance to reduce chronic absenteeism for all children—especially for students experiencing challenging social and economic circumstances. A Better Chicago’s investment will allow us to help more families overcome barriers to attendance, expanding our reach and deepening our impact.”

The Alliance 98 (TA98), founded in 2018 in Chicago’s Little Village community, is dedicated to combating unemployment and underemployment among young adults ages 16 to 24. Serving Chicago’s West and South Sides, the organization equips youth with vital career readiness skills, mentorship, and direct access to employers. The organization provides comprehensive support for young adults transitioning into college, pursuing trade programs, or launching their own businesses.

“This partnership carries real meaning for our team. All of us come from Little Village, some of us walked these school halls ourselves, and now we get to help open doors for the students who walk them today,” said David Rojas Jr., Founder & CEO of The Alliance 98. “As an alum of Little Village High School, I’m honored to be playing my part in giving back to the present and future leaders of our community. Every young leader at Greater Lawndale High School for Social Justice already carries the drive to succeed. This partnership lets us build more of what turns that drive into new relationships: employment opportunities, mentors who want to show up and be part of the impact, and a place that fosters belonging.”

Chronic Absenteeism in Chicago

A Better Chicago launched Every Day Counts in response to alarming attendance trends both nationally and locally. Nationwide, chronic absenteeism remains near 30% in the post-pandemic era. In Chicago, the challenge is even more severe: during the 2024/25 school year, 40% of Chicago Public Schools students—approximately 130,000 young people—were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year.

Data from A Better Chicago’s Youth Opportunity Dashboard, which tracks youth outcomes across all 77 Chicago neighborhoods, identified absenteeism as one of the most urgent barriers to student success, with particularly high rates on the city’s South and West Sides.

While absenteeism affects students across demographics, Black and Latinx students experience disproportionately high rates, threatening to widen existing educational inequities. For many Latinx families, recent immigration enforcement actions and fear surrounding deportations have created additional barriers to consistent school attendance. Attendance challenges also spike at key transition points in a young persons life particularly when students enter high school and again during their senior year.

These challenges underscore the urgent need for community-driven solutions that address the root causes of absenteeism and help more young people stay connected to school and on track for success.

About Every Day Counts

Every Day Counts is A Better Chicago’s citywide initiative to reduce chronic absenteeism and strengthen student belonging. Through a $10 million, five-year commitment, the initiative invests in innovative school- and community-based solutions designed to improve attendance, accelerate learning, and expand opportunity for young people across Chicago. To learn more, visit https://www.abetterchicago.org/chronic-absenteeism-initiative

About A Better Chicago

A Better Chicago is a venture philanthropy that invests in the most promising nonprofits helping children escape poverty. We’re a supercharger. We have provided more than $50 million in unrestricted funding and management support to help the nonprofits in our portfolio grow. Our donors want to make pivotal, well-researched investments that lift the outlook for our city.

###