The Polk Bros. Foundation is accepting applications for its Risk Reduction Strategies to Prevent Overdose Program.
Donor Name: Polk Bros. Foundation
State: Illinois
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/16/2026
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The opioid epidemic is a byproduct of historic systemic injustices targeted at marginalized neighborhoods that have experienced disinvestment in Chicago. The urgency to combat the epidemic and existing disparities related to overdoses persists today. Abstinence-only and other mandated methods of recovery stigmatize individuals using opioids and fail to consider the multifaceted nature of recovery. Activities focused on reducing harm, however, reframe the opioid epidemic as a public health issue, promoting compassion and support for recovery. This life-saving work can extend to drug use and its related challenges more broadly. Outreach and engagement, distribution of safe supplies, and advocacy for more compassionate policies, alongside wraparound supports can save lives and make dramatic improvements in rates of early death due to overdoses.
Polk Bros. Foundation aims to fund organizations that center intentional practices and public health policies designed to prevent overdoses and lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with drug use.
Goals and Outcomes
PBF seeks to support efforts that reduce harm related to drug use in Chicago through activities that:
- Increase the capacity of harm-reduction organizations to expand their reach and service areas and embed strategies in program delivery
- Build inclusive and diversified coalitions that include people with lived experience, advocates, policy-makers, community leaders, and service providers to align policy and advocacy agendas and to collaborate across neighborhoods
- Develop cross-sector partnerships that reduce trauma related to drug use, including trauma resulting from experience with incarceration, exposure to violence, and housing instability
- Support widespread education and outreach about substance use, overdose, and pathways to recovery that promote risk-reducing behaviors in schools, parks, at community events, and other public spaces that foster community connection
- Equip agencies working with people who use drugs to offer prevention and wellness services, including housing, mental health, and reentry supports
- Pursue non-lobbying policy and advocacy strategies centering and resourcing overdose prevention that is at low or no cost, and is broadly accessible
Funding Information
One-year (12-month) grants will support programs and operations and range from $50,000 to $150,000.
Eligibility Criteria
To be considered eligible for funding under this RFP, organizations must be:
- 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that hold active, IRS-recognized tax-exempt status and operate exclusively for charitable/educational purposes
- Chicago-based and for the purpose of serving Chicago residents
- Engaged in programs and initiatives designed to help low-income individuals, families, and neighborhoods that demonstrate high need
- Organizations that:
- Work in overdose prevention, treatment, or non-lobbying advocacy
- Include people with lived experience of drug use in organizational decision-making, workforce, and/or leadership
- Conduct activities related to overdose prevention including distribution of safe supplies and naloxone, education, and referrals to wraparound supports
- Convene, collaborate, and partner within and outside of the substance use sector
Through this RFP, short-term outcomes may include:
- Increased assistance or support for people to navigate complicated public systems, including the criminal-legal, homelessness, education, and/or health systems
- Increased retention and uptake on referrals to treatment and other services, including counseling, disease management, and housing supports
- Greater capacity of existing underfunded community partners to help them remain in operation and continue to serve priority populations
- Creation, strengthening, and diversification of coalitions across neighborhoods and development of plans for working together
Grants awarded through this RFP will contribute to PBF’s goal of closing the life-expectancy gap in Chicago’s south and west side neighborhoods by addressing:
- Root causes of disparities in mortality (e.g., trauma, poverty, systemic disinvestment)
- Conditions holding disparities in place (e.g., inequitable policies and practices, stigma)
- Physical symptoms and conditions that lead to substance use challenges (e.g., incarceration, homelessness, sickness, hopelessness)
For more information, visit Polk Bros. Foundation.
