As of December 2021, we have chosen to work with Open Door Advisors in Philanthropy. Thank you for your interest!
I. Introduction
ChicagoCAC was founded by former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1998. The county and state provided seed money to begin operations and assist with building expenses, while the city funded the building of our original 40,000 square foot center, which opened in 2001. In March 2015, the city completed construction of an 18,000-square-foot expansion to better support the families we serve.
The additional space improved the quality and number of child- and family-friendly spaces, shaped the physical environment to enhance collaboration among our teams, doubled our mental health program capacity by adding dedicated space for new staff, and included a new community training center to broaden our prevention efforts. The City of Chicago continues to own our building and ChicagoCAC holds a renewable 10-year, $1/year lease.
As part of our FY22-24 plan, ChicagoCAC is launching the CAN Hope initiative, which will expand our model with additional co-located community-based and government partners to serve adults experiencing domestic and sexual violence and their children.
Our vision for CAN Hope is to become a 24/7 safe location where individuals who have experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, or human trafficking can access immediate support services, medical care, orders of protection and access to a trauma-informed law enforcement response (if requested). We want to co-locate key service providers and legal advocates in a centralized, safe space where survivors can seek help and make informed decisions about next steps in protecting themselves. We will use our extensive experience with specialized collaborative teams to create a trauma-informed investigative process that mirrors ChicagoCAC protocols for adult survivors, while also creating safe solutions outside of the criminal justice system.
We have a commitment and acknowledgement from the City of Chicago and the responsible entities (CPD, State’s Attorney, Mayor’s Office) to move forward with this project. We have formed a working group with community partners that are members of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence for the project’s future including service providers, survivor advocates and legal advocates.
CAN Hope is expected to require an upfront investment of approximately $35 million for facility construction, with additional upfront time and resources required to coordinate with the city, partners and local communities. We have a pending commitment from the city, but no formal commitments – public or private – at this time. We seek to retain a consultant to secure government funding for the expansion/creation of the CAN Hope center.
II. Scope of Services
ChicagoCAC is soliciting proposals from qualified firms that can help us accomplish our goal of securing funding to create the CAN Hope center. The scope of services includes the following:
• Consult on recommended funding structure and strategy related to the ownership status of the current building (owned by the City of Chicago) and new building (ownership TBD).
• Identify potential government funding opportunities that align with this project.
• Consult on various forms of funding and make recommendations on options for a funding stack.
• Develop strategy for pursuing identified funding sources.
• Engage with policymakers and legislators to secure appropriations to support the project.
• Provide regular status updates to executive director or her designee.
• Advocacy activities as needed.
ChicagoCAC will provide marketing and support materials, will be available for meetings with identified policymakers and legislators, and provide additional information as requested. The initial contract award period will be for twelve (12) months, with the opportunity to renew quarterly thereafter.
III. Proposal Content
All proposals shall include the following:
- Letter of Interest;
- Company name, complete address, telephone number(s), email address, name of principal point of contact;
- Names of the individual(s) who will undertake this work and their areas of responsibility;
- Experience of the individual(s) named above, highlighting their previous work, areas of expertise, and capacity to fully execute the scope of services outlined. CVs or bios of the proposed respondent staff should be enclosed;
- A list of at least three clients for whom the respondent has provided similar services within the past five years and an example of successful efforts managed on their behalf;
- A work plan that broadly outlines how the respondent will satisfy the scope of services above;
- A firm fee proposal for a monthly retainer. Additional expenditures will not be permitted.
IV. Timeline
The anticipated schedule for this RFP and contract approval process is as follows:
RFP available for distribution: October 1, 2021
Deadline for receipt of questions: October 15, 2021
Deadline for receipt of proposals: October 22, 2021
Finalist interviews: Week of November 8, 2021
Projected award date: November 15, 2021
Anticipated start date: December 1, 2021