Community Wellbeing
Introduction
GCI’s Community Wellbeing Research Cluster produces research and analysis that examines the social, economic, and environmental conditions that shape the quality of life for residents. The cluster emphasizes issues such as public safety, health equity, social networks, and accessible public spaces as critical factors in fostering dignity, connection, and purpose for all community members. Consistent with GCI’s mission, this interdisciplinary work engages a variety of partners to inform policies and programs that support inclusive and thriving communities, while recognizing the interrelationships between wellbeing, neighborhood conditions, and the city as a whole.
Cluster Reports
Below is a collection of reports associated with GCI’s Community Wellbeing Research Cluster.
Summary
The Raíces 2026 Report, produced by the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation and the University of Illinois Chicago’s Great Cities Institute, summarizes findings from the 2025 Raíces Public Policy Conference. Gathering nearly 1,000 stakeholders, the report examines economic, civic, and legal challenges facing Latino communities amid intensified immigration enforcement. It highlights Latino workers’ significant economic contributions alongside persistent instability, labor precarity, and barriers to civic participation. The report also discusses state legislative protections and underscores the importance of strengthening labor protections, civic engagement, and community infrastructure for Illinois’ future.
Summary
This Language Needs Assessment Report, prepared by Rob Paral at the Great Cities Institute and commissioned by the Illinois Governor’s Office of New Americans, analyzes Illinois’ linguistic landscape using American Community Survey data. It identifies more than one million residents who speak English less than “very well,” highlighting the state’s linguistic diversity and the need for accessible public services. The report documents demographic and geographic patterns of Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) populations and notes recent growth linked to new migration, providing data to guide policy implementation and resource allocation across Illinois.
Summary
Creative Roots, Equitable Futures: Latino Arts in Chicago analyzes the cultural and economic contributions of Latino arts organizations while highlighting persistent funding inequities. Despite Latino communities comprising nearly 30% of Chicago’s population and supporting over 300 arts organizations, these groups receive a small share of philanthropic and public arts funding. Using mixed methods and multiple data sources, the report examines funding patterns, economic impact, and visibility barriers. It concludes that sustained, proportionate investment in Latino arts is essential for advancing cultural equity and strengthening Chicago’s cultural and economic vitality.
Summary
The Raíces 2025 Report, developed by the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation in partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago’s Great Cities Institute, reflects community priorities gathered during the 2024 Raíces Public Policy Conference. Centered on equity, justice, and community development, the report highlights key issues including language access, housing, education, healthcare, immigration reform, and economic opportunity. Drawing on community input and data, it documents the contributions of Latino communities while identifying persistent barriers, offering policymakers and advocates a roadmap for advancing inclusive and equitable policy solutions across Illinois.
Summary
Assessing Philanthropic Support for Latines in the Chicago Area analyzes philanthropic funding for Latine-led and Latine-serving organizations in Cook County from 2003–2022. Conducted by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Great Cities Institute and commissioned by Nuestro Futuro of The Chicago Community Trust, the report examines funding across economic development, education, health equity, housing, and immigration. Despite Latines comprising 26% of the population, these organizations received only 1.9% of philanthropic funding. The report highlights persistent gaps and offers recommendations for more equitable, flexible, and responsive philanthropic investment in Latine communities.
Cluster Projects
Household Stress in the Chicago Region: A multiple indicator study
Census data can be utilized to create an index of potential household stressors comprised of 10 indicators based on 27 different items. The index was created through face validity based on available census data, with indicator constructs validated with factor analysis.
Household Stress in the Chicago Region: A multiple indicator study
Explaining school closures in Chicago, 2000-2013
A study, released in Fall 2016, sheds light on the multiple, conflicting interests that school districts must balance to plan for the capital needs of school-age populations. The researchers, Rachel Weber, Stephanie Farmer and Mary Donaghue, investigate the fact factors that led to the closure of public schools between 2000 and 2013 in Chicago. They reverse engineer the school closure decisions under two mayoral administrations by constructing a logit model that estimates the decision to close schools that were open as of 2000 as a function of physical, student, geographic, political, and neighborhood demographic factors. The findings reveal some distance between the official rationale for closures and the realities of capital budgeting under austerity: building utilization and student performance were predictors of these closures, but so was the race of students in each school. Specifically schools with larger shares of African American students had a higher probability of closure than schools with comparable test scores, locations, and utilization rates. Whether administrators explicitly considered the race of a school’s students in planning decisions or whether race in the model was a proxy for other unmeasured characteristics, the cumulative effect of technical decisions interacting with a racially differentiated education environment forced African American students and their families to bear the burden of these administrative disruptions.
Why these schools? Explaining school closures in Chicago, 2000-2013