As I’m guessing most Streetsblog Chicago funders and readers are aware, spring 2023 turned out to be a rough ride for this transportation news website’s staff. On April 21 I was seriously injured when I was struck on my bike while riding to Garden of the Gods recreation center in southern Illinois.
While I, the editor-in-chief, was out of commission, SBC cofounder Steven Vance, stepped up to keep the site running and update people on my condition, despite his being out of the country during my hospitalization. Thanks also to journalists Cameron Bolton, Sharon Hoyer, AJ La Trace, and Ruth Rosas for contributing to the site in my absence.
Since returning to Chicago in late May, I‘ve resumed running SBC at a low-key pace, while I’ve continued to work on making a full recovery from my injuries. Many Streetsblog readers have written to me with words of kindness, and said they appreciate that the site is back in daily publication.
All this to say, I turned a particularly encouraging corner recently when Streetsblog Chicago received a significant check in the mail that capped off our 2022-2023 funding campaign. That ensures that our sustainable transportation advocacy will be funded for the better part of the next year. I’d like to give a huge thanks to SBC's funders, advertisers, and readers like you for helping us put another successful fund drive in the books, despite the challenging circumstances.
Once again we received a $75K grant from The Chicago Community Trust charitable foundation, an incredibly generous social justice-focused organization that has supported SBC since our launch a decade ago. Big thanks to Lauren Woods, program manager for the Trust’s Building Collective Power initiative, for making this happen.
We also raised more than $54K through other grants, ad sales and donations. As always, we’re extremely grateful to the very loyal SBC booster who donated $10,000 to fuel our walking, biking, and transit journalism, for the eleventh year in a row.
We also received a generous donation of $1,250 from the TransitCenter foundation, which we really appreciate.
I’d also like to give a big thanks to our returning ad sponsors: FK Law, Keating Law Offices, Boulevard Bikes, the Bike Lane, SHOFUR, the Active Transportation Alliance, Ride Illinois, and Roscoe Village Bikes. And special welcome to new advertiser Transit Tees.
(Ad sponsors, thanks for bearing with us while some of SBC’s advertising is currently on hold as part of the New York City-based Streetsblog Network’s redesign of all Streetsblog websites. While SBC staffers are not employed by the network, it generously provides our website. We will renew all SBC advertisements in the near future, and we’ll make sure your ads run for as long as they are funded.)
Thanks also to Streetsblog Chicago freelance writers Amber Drea, Imelda March, Mia Park, James Porter, and Igor Studentkov for the thoughtful work you’ve contributed to our site.
In closing, you may have noticed that the over $129K we raised during this fund drive is more than $4,000 more than we usually raise each year. That happened largely because 50-plus Streetsblog Chicago readers came out of the woodwork to help keep the website afloat during the month I spent in healthcare centers. Thank you so much for your support, and have a safe and fabulous summer!
