April 9 , 2008

UIC RECEIVES $2.25 MILLION TO BUILD NONPROFIT NETWORK

The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a three-year, $2.25
million grant from the Grand Victoria Foundation to create a network to
help Illinois nonprofits and small municipalities access federal grants
and build partnerships for community improvement.

Illinois ResourceNet, based in UIC's Great Cities Institute, will
provide a Web site, Web-based seminars, conferences, workshops, a
resource center and technical assistance.

The University of Illinois Extension is conducting needs assessments
and workshops across the state. The goal is to generate interest among
nonprofits that may lack the resources to carry out their missions and
projects, said Atanacio Gonzalez, associate director of the UIC
Neighborhoods Initiative, a program of the Great Cities Institute.

Youth and family services are one type of program likely to gain a
greater share of federal discretionary funds with help from the
network, said Richard Kordesh, director of Illinois ResourceNet and a
fellow of the Great Cities Institute.

"A university brings assets such as technology, knowledgeable staff,
and objectivity," Kordesh said.

Long-term, productive partnerships with federal agencies are critical
to Illinois' future, said David Perry, director of the Great Cities
Institute.

"The Web site will build resources, and the training will build
capacity. We are building the knowledgeable infrastructure upon which
to mount new agendas and make them work," Perry said.

UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research
funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students,
12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public
medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities
Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with
community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of
programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around
the world.

For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu