City contract vendors / Who gets the city's money

Christopher House — City of Chicago contracts

Every contract the City of Chicago has on file with this vendor: what was awarded, which departments issued it, and how the awards were procured. Figures are computed live from the city's official contracts dataset.

Recorded in city contract data as CHRISTOPHER HOUSE.

$262,198,046

Total awarded

Net of revisions and de-obligations

343

Contracts on file

Earliest approved Jun 23, 1994

$24,387,024

Largest single award

Jun 29, 2026

Most recent approval

A note on the totals: the city files revisions and de-obligations as their own records with negative award amounts, so the total above is the net of awards and adjustments. An awarded amount is also not money paid — it is the ceiling the city agreed to, and actual spending can come in lower.

Departments, by total awarded

  1. Department Of Family And Support Services$208,831,824
  2. Department Of Children And Youth Services$26,623,517
  3. Department Of Human Resources$26,062,706
  4. Department Of Housing$679,999

Largest individual contracts

  1. DFSS-HHS-CS-CEL: — 2025$24,387,024
  2. DFSS-HHS-CS-CEL: — 2019$13,714,515
  3. FY' 09 - FY' 2011 HEAD START COLLABORATION — 2008$13,123,470
  4. FY 06 - FY 08 HEAD START COLLABORATION — 2005$12,304,058
  5. DFSS-ECBG-CS-CEL: — 2019$12,168,000
  6. FY '12 - '14 HEAD START / COLLABORATION — 2011$11,543,134
  7. DFSS-ECBG-CS-PI: PREVENTION INITIATIVE PROGRAM — 2019$8,908,400
  8. DFSS-ECBG-CS-CEL: — 2023$7,436,000

How the work was procured

  1. RFP17 contracts
  2. RFI4 contracts
  3. BID3 contracts
  4. SOLE SOURCE3 contracts

Contract types

  1. DELEGATE AGENCY302 contracts
  2. COMPTROLLER-OTHER1 contracts

Christopher House contracts most heavily with Department Of Family And Support Services, which accounts for $208,831,824 across 208 contract records.

Christopher House contracts FAQ

How much has Chicago awarded to Christopher House?
City of Chicago contract records show $262,198,046 awarded to Christopher House across 343 contract records approved since Jun 23, 1994. That figure is the net of awards and later adjustments, and an award is not the same as money actually paid out.
Which city departments contract with Christopher House?
By total award amount, the departments contracting with Christopher House are: Department Of Family And Support Services ($208,831,824); Department Of Children And Youth Services ($26,623,517); Department Of Human Resources ($26,062,706); Department Of Housing ($679,999).
What is the largest Christopher House contract?
The largest single award on file is $24,387,024, described by the city as "DFSS-HHS-CS-CEL:", approved Nov 20, 2025, through Department Of Family And Support Services.
Why can a contract amount be negative?
The city records revisions and de-obligations as separate rows with negative award amounts. That means a vendor total is the net of original awards plus every later adjustment, not a running tally of payments. Awarded dollars are also not the same as dollars spent — a contract can be awarded and only partly drawn down.

Source

Contracts are matched on the vendor name exactly as the city records it, so a company filed under more than one spelling may appear on more than one page. Award amounts can be negative on revisions and de-obligations; totals are the net of awards and adjustments, not payments made.

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