News

June 24, 2020

For over forty years, The Coleman Foundation has worked to improve opportunity and quality of life, and to reduce disparities for people living and working in Chicago. We know there is so much more work to be done. Our story began with Fannie May Candies, the initial source of the assets we use to make grants.  Fannie May's shops throughout city neighborhoods and the manufacturing plant on West Jackson Boulevard connected us to the local fabric...

May 5, 2020

In an effort to support its grantees during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Coleman Foundation has invited 80 organizations to participate in its COVID-19 Matching Grant Program. Through the Program, organizations, which span the Foundation’s program areas, may earn a grant award of up to $25,000 as a match to donations from private individuals received between April 15 and June 1, 2020. To ensure that grantees employ campaign strategies that work best for activating their own...

May 5, 2020

The Coleman Foundation is committed to supporting our grantees and Chicago area residents during the pandemic. We are grateful for the Foundation's resources and humbled by the responsibility to steward them to areas of greatest need. We continue to engage with our grantee communities, listen to emerging needs in the sectors that we fund, and provide assistance where we can. So far, we are funding three COVID-19 relief initiatives....

March 20, 2020

The Coleman Foundation is committed to supporting the Chicago community during these uncertain times and has become a founding supporter of Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund. The Fund was created to deploy resources to community-based organizations at the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Chicago region. While a contributor to the fund, the Coleman Foundation is not in a role to decide which organizations receive resources from the Fund. For more information, please visit:...

March 19, 2020

The Coleman Foundation cares deeply about the health, safety and well-being of our grantees and those they serve in our community. We want to provide an update concerning the Foundation’s response to COVID-19 epidemic, recognizing that it is a very fluid situation. We are committed to providing the best support possible while safeguarding the health of our staff and their families. For the present, our staff will be working remotely and will not be participating in...

March 9, 2020

March 9, 2020 Michael Hennessy, CEO of the Coleman Foundation in Chicago since 1995, has announced that he will retire at the end of 2020.  Hennessy began his association with the Foundation in 1987 when it was a part of the Fannie May Candy Company and he was a member of the company’s management team. During his time as head of the Coleman Foundation, Hennessy has played a critical role in shaping the development and advancement of...

February 13, 2020

Janet Wolter, MD – Janet Wolter, MD, former physician and professor of medicine at Rush University Medical Center, passed away on Feb. 4. A national leader in cancer care, Wolter co-founded the Midwest’s first comprehensive breast center in 1985 known as the Coleman Foundation Comprehensive Breast Center Clinic. She recently passed at the age of 93. Wolter was passionate about care teams and encouraged nursing staff to work alongside physicians before this model of care was...

January 31, 2020

The seventh year of the Coleman Foundation’s #ILGIVE Matching Grants Program resulted in record fundraising by participating non-profit organizations. Seventy Foundation grantees collectively raised over $3.1 million during the program period which ran from November 1 to December 3 of last year. ...