Lightfoot awards $7.5 million in funding to Chicago community groups as they fight two battles: COVID-19 and uptick in violence – Chicago Tribune

The announcement marks the first allocation of dollars after Lightfoot last year pledged to support the work of nonprofit groups that provide job training, counseling and street outreach in disinvested neighborhoods, mostly on the South and West sides. Recipients are confronting the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on black Chicagoans and a 14% increase in homicides over the same time period last year, according to Police Department data. Through April 20, the city had seen 137 killings, compared with 120 in 2019.