Announcing our 2026–2027 Parish Partners!
Episcopal Charities is pleased to announce the 2026–2027 class of Parish Partners! This year, eleven congregations across the Diocese of Chicago will receive grant funding for their outward-facing ministries.
Episcopal congregations are uniquely positioned to see and respond to the needs of their neighbors. Across the Diocese of Chicago, people are hungry, families face violence and uncertainty — and in our parish halls, church kitchens, and community rooms, Episcopal congregations are responding to the needs around them. Parish Partner Grants exist to resource that work. Episcopal Charities awards one-year grants to Episcopal parishes in the diocese that want to begin or expand outward-facing projects for their neighbors.
Each year, Episcopal Charities' Allocations Committee evaluates every application on a consistent set of criteria: the strength of a congregation's connection to its community, the plan's likely impact, evidence of community voice, the partnerships involved, and clarity of proposal. This cycle, the committee reviewed fourteen applications and selected a slate of parish projects spanning food security, accessibility, intergenerational care, and community connection.
Our 2026-2027 Parish Partners
All Saints Episcopal Church, Chicago — Enhanced Accessibility Project
The All Saints' Enhanced Accessibility Project seeks to improve accessibility between the church and parish hall, particularly for food pantry participants and everyone who uses these spaces, including church and community members. Disabled and older persons will gain greater autonomy and dignity through features they can use independently and easily. Currently, accessing the ramp and lift requires assistance from others, unintentionally diminishing the agency of those who need them.
Christ Episcopal Church, Waukegan — Community Meal
For more than 30 years, Christ Church's Community Meal has provided consistent food assistance to Waukegan residents facing food insecurity or financial hardship. As need has grown, the program has continued adapting to serve more seniors, families, and individuals. Paid staff, the Northern Illinois Food Bank, and local church partners support the Community Meal. This year, Parish Partner Grant funding will address staffing and equipment barriers that currently limit how many meals the kitchen can prepare, making the operation more efficient and sustainable.
St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oak Park — The Emmanuel Network
The Emmanuel Network is a new ministry addressing a gap St. Christopher's identified through pastoral conversation. Physical accessibility alone doesn't create belonging. Neurodivergent children, disabled adults, and homebound neighbors still face sensory, cognitive, and technological barriers to worship. Parish Partner Grant funding will help St. Christopher’s install an updated sound and camera system, captioning and assistive listening technology, and visual access tools. It will also fund multi-sensory supports for children with autism and ADHD, plus simple tablets for homebound participants. As the parish puts it, this ministry is designed to welcome and include people "often excluded from church spaces," member or not.
Church of the Holy Nativity, Clarendon Hills — Good Memories Choir (Second Year Parish Partner)
With Episcopal Charities’ support and partnership with the nonprofit Sounds Good Choir, Holy Nativity is launching Good Memories, a choir that brings together people with dementia, their care partners, and volunteers. This replicates a program that has run in Chicago since 2018. Singing has been shown to improve cognitive, social, and emotional well-being for people with dementia, and the choir's free, public concerts push back on cultural stigma around the disease. The parish has already recruited a conductor and pianist and drawn a matching gift from its own Endowment Committee ahead of the choir's first rehearsal this fall.
Church of Our Saviour, Chicago — Emerging Voices (Second Year Parish Partner)
Thanks to Episcopal Charities’ support, Church of Our Saviour welcomed Lake View High School choir students and the William Ferris Chorale into its newly renovated space in February 2026. Together, they staged the world premiere of "Again," an original piece the students composed in collaboration with composer Alexandra Olsavsky, centered on themes of loss and longing. Lincoln Park is losing community gathering places that actively welcome marginalized neighbors. Emerging Voices gave Chicago Public Schools students a platform to use their own voices. Second year Parish Partner funding will help the parish expand the program, grow its accompanying choir, and deepen its partnership with the Chorale.
Grace Episcopal Church, Freeport — Hope WINS
Grace partners with Hope WINS, a nonprofit offering developmentally appropriate care for children with Down syndrome, severe autism, and other complex needs, along with their families. Beyond summer programming, Hope WINS provides care on days when public schools are closed. It also hosts parent-support sessions on topics like trauma-informed care, complete with meals and childcare so caregivers can fully participate. This year, the Parish Partner Grant will help sustain the program into its third year, serving roughly 60 children each summer through swimming, library visits, and other community outings.
Grace Episcopal Church, Galena — Galena Food Pantry (Second Year Parish Partner)
Grace Church is one of nine congregations behind the United Churches of Galena. This 100% volunteer organization has run the Galena Food Pantry from the basement of a former hospital since 2001. Food costs rose, and federal support shrank in 2025, but the pantry still served 2,325 households, a 40% increase over the previous year. That's nearly 200,000 meals for residents across Jo Daviess County, including its more isolated rural areas. With continued funding from Episcopal Charities, Grace intends to continue serving its community through the Galena Food Pantry.
Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park — Community Fridge Project
Grace Church hosts one of six community fridges maintained by the Community Fridge Project, a "Neighbors Feeding Neighbors" effort providing barrier-free, 24/7 access to fresh food and pantry staples across Oak Park and Austin. Each fridge is opened an average of 63 times a week, and it's typically empty by the next day. Parish Partner Grant funding will allow parish volunteers to prepare and distribute sack lunches across all six fridge locations.
Messiah-St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church, Chicago — Intergenerational Outreach Program
Messiah-St. Bartholomew's Food Pantry has served the Avalon Park neighborhood for more than two decades. Pantry clients have long shared concerns that reach beyond food, including senior isolation, safety, and struggling neighborhood schools. Building on the pantry's visibility, the parish is piloting a three-pronged program. It includes a revitalized block club with a resident-led annual block party, a social worker-led activity series connecting isolated seniors, and a ten-week tutoring initiative pairing college student tutors with at-risk third through sixth graders, fostering relationships across generations.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, DeKalb — Harvesting Hope
St. Paul's sits in the Annie Glidden North (AGN) community of DeKalb. Church leaders and student interns identified food security as a foundational concern there, particularly access to fresh vegetables and fruit. This concern shapes health, education, and safety alike. Through Harvesting Hope, the parish is growing its sustainable vegetable, fruit, and pollinator gardens. It is training college interns and students to work alongside pantries and a local school. It is also building interfaith partnerships that bring people together across racial, class, and age lines to grow and distribute produce to families across the AGN community, build understanding across racial, class, and faith lines, and feed the hungry, making AGN a more just place to live.
Trinity Episcopal Church, Aurora — Sandwich Board Kitchen Equipment (Second Year Parish Partner)
Trinity is home to The Sandwich Board, a food-insecurity ministry built by eight area churches that prepares more than 350 meals through weekly distribution. This year's funding will replace the program's failing dishwasher, a piece of equipment the current volunteer team has outgrown. It builds on last year's Parish Partner-funded stainless-steel countertop, keeping food production running efficiently for the volunteers and families who depend on it.