The Siragusa Foundation, established in 1950 by Ross D. Siragusa, is a private family foundation that is committed to honoring its founder by sustaining and developing Chicago's extraordinary nonprofit resources. Governed today by his surviving spouse, his descendants and non-family board members, the foundation supports charitable organizations that reflect the founder's special interests in arts & culture, education, the environment, health services & medical research and human services. Through these five program areas, the foundation funds organizations and projects that provide services to populations with defined needs, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life for people living in the metropolitan Chicago area.

  

The Foundation's Education Program primarily provides low income, middle income and minority students with scholarships for secondary and undergraduate education. Education funding is made in special honor of our founder, and we are dedicated to preserving the continuity of tuition assistance for the students we support.

The Foundation's Environment Program funds conservation and restoration projects, as well as environmental education programs in the greater Chicago area. The Foundation funds conservation, preservation and restoration projects, mostly in the Chicago area, that work to reverse or prevent the effects of environmental neglect. The Foundation supports environmental efforts that engage the public in active participation and provide education about natural resources rather than environmental lobbying or research-only projects.

The Foundation's Health Services and Medical Research Program is balanced between medical research organizations, which are concerned with scientific inquiry and the exploration of treatment methods, and health service organizations, which provide direct social and clinical care. The Foundation primarily funds fellowships, single-disease research programs and clinical treatment services. The Foundation believes it is critical to fund research efforts, health support services, patient care services and treatment, and advocacy programs for both adults and youth, all of which are highly complementary to each other.

The Foundation's Human Services Program funds a large number of organizations that address a wide range of current and pressing social needs. We are primarily interested in sustaining programs that, in the words of our founder, "help people help themselves." The Human Services Program targets underserved populations in the following areas: poverty, hunger, and homelessness; programs for children and youth; programs for women and girls; services for the disabled; services for the elderly; employment assistance and life skills programs.