OUR NEWEST ENDEAVOR-

THE CATALYST PROJECT FUND

Introducing the Catalyst Project Fund

Episcopal Charities has long been a force for compassion and impact across the Diocese of Chicago. For more than sixty years, our model of grant-making to nonprofit partners and, more recently, to Episcopal parishes has helped nurture ministries from modest beginnings into strong, thriving organizations.  But as our Board and staff entered a new strategic planning process in 2024, one truth became clear: the world has changed — and so must we.  This new moment calls us not only to support good work, but to catalyze it. 

Why the Catalyst Project Fund was Created

During the strategic planning process, we recognized that many of the nonprofit partners we have supported for decades have grown into large, stable, well-funded organizations — in several cases, our annual grant makes up less than 2% of their operating budgets. Beginning in 2025 and reaching full implementation by 2027, Episcopal Charities is intentionally reducing grants to seven of these strong nonprofit partners to $1,000 annually, freeing significant resources to seed new, high-impact ministries at the margins of our communities. These redirected funds flow into a new, mission-driven pool: The Catalyst Project Fund.  The Catalyst Project Fund prioritizes impactful, collaborative, emerging ministries—the kind of work that might not happen at all without Episcopal Charities’ leadership, resources, and convening power.

Read More About Our New Strategic Plan Here

What the Catalyst Project Fund Supports

Catalyst Projects are distinct from our longstanding nonprofit and parish partner grants. They are flexible, responsive ideas and initiatives that can emerge at any point during the year and are shaped in collaboration with diocesan partners, clergy, lay leaders, and community organizations. Some may be grant-supported; others involve administrative leadership, fiscal sponsorship, or start-up operating costs.

As part of our intentional restructuring, Catalyst Projects now includes several efforts formerly referred to as “strategic partnerships,” such as the Diocese’s Anti-Racism Commission and Sanctuary Committee. In addition, two major new projects have already taken root in 2025.

Our 2025 Catalyst Projects show the promise of this new partnership and direction: 

1. Project P.E.W.S. — Protect Evanston, Wilmette, and Skokie

Episcopal Charities convening, administering, and co-funding this initiative

Project PEWS addresses the growing number of Caribbean and African immigrants and asylum seekers—many undocumented—arriving in Chicago’s northern communities. These neighbors often face isolation, lack of legal protection, and barriers to basic resources. Episcopal Charities has taken a leadership role by providing administrative support, seed funding, and coordination across churches and community partners. In 2024–25, Project PEWS has already hosted a major resource forum and clergy training workshop, building a network of advocacy, safety, and belonging.  In addition to handling modest costs related to convening and organizing events, Episcopal Charities ended 2025 by providing small grants to our PEWS partner organizations whose direct work with Caribbean and African migrants forms the basis of Project PEWS:

  • Evanston Cradle to Career

  • Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti

  • Samaritans for the Common Good

  • Sherman United Methodist Church

  • St. Andrew’s Pentecost Episcopal Church

  • United African Organization 

2. Caring Light Campaign — Eco DioChicago Solar Initiative

EC serves as fiscal agent and provides project support
In partnership with EcoDioChicago, Episcopal Charities is helping parishes access solar energy through the Illinois Solar for All program. The Caring Light Campaign advances diocesan environmental commitment by supporting congregations in reducing carbon footprints and lowering long-term energy costs. Episcopal Charities is both fiscal agent for the state grant and a funding partner in moving this initiative forward. 

3. Anti-Racism Commission

Supporting the Diocese’s formation of leaders committed to racial justice and equity.

4. Sanctuary Committee

Continuing our multi-year collaboration to respond compassionately to migrants and asylum seekers arriving in Chicago.

5. Sanctuary Working Group of Chicago

Strengthening coordinated local responses of people of faith to immigrant needs through advocacy, hospitality, and resource-sharing.

6. Multi-Parish Energy Audit Project

Five Episcopal churches received equal grants to complete energy audits as part of the Diocese’s broader sustainability initiative, aligned with our partnership with Eco DioChicago and our joint Caring Light Campaign.

A New Chapter of Impact

The Catalyst Project Fund marks a bold next step for Episcopal Charities—one grounded in partnership, justice, and the Gospel’s call to stand with our neighbors at the margins. By redirecting resources toward emerging needs and visionary collaborations, we are positioning the Diocese of Chicago to nurture the next generation of ministries.

As Executive Director, Matt Berryman shared with Diocesan Convention as the spiritual foundation of our work:
“We don’t go to the margins to make a difference — we go to be made different.” --Father Gregory Boyle, S.J.

This is what the Catalyst Project Fund makes possible.
This is how we build a Diocese that God might recognize – a community not of “us and them” – a community of “just us.”