It takes approximately $6200 per year to educate each child at Grace Christian Academy. However, the majority of families which Grace serves (80%) are below 185% of the poverty line. These families make major sacrifices just to pay the $1700 average annual tuition which Grace charges. We cannot complete our calling to provide Christian education in Little Village without the support of our generous churches and donors! Whether you are able to give monthly or once a year, we are grateful for your partnership to provide our families with great Christian education. Your donations go directly towards the fund that ensures any family desiring quality, Christian education is able to receive the financial assistance that they need.
Invest In Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program
In 2017, Illinois approved funding to grant $75 million in tax credits for donors who give money to Scholarship funds that help low-income students attend private schools. Donors can receive 75% of their donation back as an Illinois income tax credit when they reserve a credit with the Illinois Department of Revenue and give their donation to a recognized scholarship granting organization (SGO). More than 80% of Grace's families meet the income requirements to qualify for these scholarships. Donors who are interested in supporting Grace's students can designate their donations to Grace through the SGO Empower Illinois. For complete information, check out the Empower website at: empowerillinois.org/donors
To support Grace students and claim this tax credit, you must complete the following steps:
Reserve your tax credit with the Illinois Department of Revenue. This requires that you have an account with mytax.illinois.gov (the same system where you can file your Illinois income taxes online). When reserving your credit, Select Region 1 (Cook County) and Empower Illinois as the Scholarship Granting Organization, and enter how much you will be donating.
Within 60 days of reserving your credit, make your donation to Empower Illinois, our partner Scholarship Granting Organization. Designate the donation to Grace Christian Academy – Chicago and your donation will go directly towards scholarships for Grace students!
Receive a certificate of donation from Empower and claim your credit on your 2018 taxes (filed in the spring of 2019)
Please note, the donations cannot be claimed as charitable donations on your federal taxes. Please speak to a tax adviser if you have specific questions about the tax ramifications of making a gift through this program.