Friends Of The Chicago River

Friends Of The Chicago River, a tax-exempt non-profit organization based in Chicago, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering environmental education, urban waterways restoration, and community engagement programming to civilian agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The organization acts primarily as a prime grant recipient (73% of recent awards) and as a sub-recipient under grants issued by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with combined federal obligations across all awards of $4.4 million.

The organization's recent portfolio spans environmental education and waterways restoration. Representative prime grant work includes a $165,665 Museums for America project grant awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services on September 1, 2026, to develop an art-focused exhibit on urban wildlife titled "Birds, the River, and You" at the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum, reaching over 35,000 museum patrons and 20,000 students and teachers annually through the Chicago River Schools Network. A $157,442 Environmental Education Grants Program award from EPA Region 5 (December 1, 2022 to September 30, 2024) funded curriculum development, teacher workshops, and field trips to increase environmental literacy in the Chicago-Calumet River watershed. Friends Of The Chicago River also received a $195,151 Cooperative Forestry Assistance project grant from the Department of Agriculture Forest Service to conduct forest restoration, invasive species removal, tree plantings, and wetland enhancements at Wampum Lake in Illinois through August 15, 2026. As a sub-recipient under National Fish and Wildlife Foundation prime grants, the organization has performed stream restoration and habitat improvement work on Thorn Creek, including bank stabilization, seeding, and final design development for Chicago-Calumet River shallows restoration.

Customer concentration is spread across seven distinct agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency (including EPA Region 5) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services each hold two awards, while the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Agriculture Forest Service account for the remainder. A more recent addition is an Inflation Reduction Act project grant from EPA Region 5 awarded February 1, 2025, focused on community-government collaboration to advance equitable climate, environmental, and waterways policy in Chicago, with sub-recipient administrative support and deliverables centered on policy implementation and stakeholder engagement through task force meetings, working groups, and coordination activities.

Activity has been modest and episodic, averaging fewer than one award per year across the past five years, with one award reaching ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months. The organization's work emphasizes environmental stewardship, STEM education engagement in underserved communities, and restoration of urban waterway systems in the Chicago-Calumet River watershed, typically performed in Chicago, Illinois or subordinate sites within Illinois.