Primo Center For Women And Children

Primo Center For Women And Children (doing business as Primo Center), a Chicago-based nonprofit tax-exempt organization, operates as a grant recipient specializing in trauma-informed housing and supportive services for homeless families and children, with a footprint concentrated in federal grant awards rather than federal contracts. The organization functions primarily as a prime grant recipient (38% of recent awards) and increasingly as a sub-recipient on maternal and child health home-visiting programs (62% of recent awards), with no federal contract vehicle participation.

Primo Center's capability portfolio centers on permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, homelessness prevention, trauma-informed case management, and comprehensive supportive services targeting homeless families, children exposed to trauma, and vulnerable populations in the Chicago metropolitan area. The organization's grant work demonstrates a recidivism rate consistently under 5% for families exiting homelessness. As a prime recipient, Primo Center holds a $445,399 HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) Program award (CFDA 14.267) from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, performance period May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027, supporting permanent housing, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, supportive services, and homelessness prevention across five CoC program components. The organization also received a $367,199 CoC grant for the 2024–2025 performance period and holds a Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program grant (CFDA not specified) from the HHS Maternal and Child Health Bureau, running through February 28, 2027, focused on early intervention and maternal-child health. As a sub-recipient, Primo Center participates in the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) under the Illinois Department of Human Services as the pass-through grantee, with multiple sub-awards issued July 2023 through August 2025 for in-home health visiting services targeting pregnant women, infants, and young children. Primo Center also received sub-award recognition under HUD's Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) and homeless shelter and supportive services programs.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward HHS Health Resources and Services Administration (25 awards), HUD's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development (14 awards), and HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (1 award), accounting for 95% of recent awards across three distinct federal agencies. The organization's total combined dollars obligated across all awards stands at $10 million. Recent activity shows significant growth from three awards in 2022 to nineteen in 2024, though 2025 activity has moderated to three awards with one additional award in 2026. Only two awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting minimal near-term recompete exposure. Primo Center's federal footprint is geographically concentrated in Illinois and serves primarily Chicago-area homeless populations, with particular emphasis on homeless families of color and children experiencing complex trauma.