 |
Resources for Health and Equity
|
|
Dear Friends,
As protests in support of Black lives continue internationally while we manage a global pandemic alongside frightening economic hardship, many of us in the non-profit sector are looking for guidance, examples, money, and various other kinds of support. We have adapted programs to meet our communities' shifting needs at lightning-speed. As a sector, we are doing all we can to meet payroll and to keep ourselves and those we care for safe. We are having deeper and more personal conversations with colleagues, leaving ourselves vulnerable. We are determining daily how to make the most of our own skills, talents, life experience, privilege, time, connections, and resources.
We may feel we have a lot to give, with fresh energy and motivation, or we may feel completely depleted. We are learning together, and leaning on one another. I've said it before and I will keep saying it: We are in this together.
But first, we have gathered the resources below to support our collective work.
|
|
|
Sincerely,
Karen A. Reitan
President & Chief Executive Officer
|
|
|
- The COVID-19 Immigrant Family Support Project, launched by Illinois Department of Human Services, Office of Welcoming Centers for Immigrant and Refugee Services, Illinois Immigration Funder Collaborative, and Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, will provide pandemic-related emergency assistance funding to Illinois immigrants - regardless of immigration status. The fund is for people facing unemployment, loss of income, medical costs, and food and housing insecurity as a direct result of COVID-19. The criteria are: being an Illinois resident; experiencing an income disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including job loss and reduction in hours; and not being eligible for federal stimulus or unemployment insurance.
- A Community Youth Employment Program was announced recently by Governor JB Pritzker. Youth will acquire skills and receive paid work experience that will help them enter and advance in the workforce. This program will be implemented and managed by Illinois Department of Human Services-funded youth services organizations across Illinois. Qualifications, activities, and other information can be found here.
|
|
- Through the Chicago Resiliency Fund, the City of Chicago is offering $1,000 in cash to Chicagoans ineligible for federal stimulus checks. Eligible households include undocumented immigrants, "mixed-status" families, dependent adults, and ex-offenders returning to their communities. To be eligible, recipients must be Chicagoans who have not received federal stimulus checks. Applications will begin to be accepted on June 22, and more information is available here.
- My Block, My Hood, My City funds and organizes efforts to repair small businesses impacted by looting in Chicago. It also provides COVID-19 aid to seniors.
- The American Heart Association of Metro Chicago is accepting expressions of interest for the second round of their Social Impact Fund. They are looking to support sustainable solutions to the underlying social determinants of health challenges that are causing the COVID-19 virus to disproportionately impact minority communities on the West and South Side of Chicago. Applicant may be a company, organization, or individual, and must be operating within the following zip codes: 60651, 60620 and 60628. The solution must impact the residents within the West or Southside of Chicago.
- They are hosting an information session on Thursday, June 18 at 10am. Register here.
- Deadline to submit an expression of interest is July 10.
|
|
|
Mental Wellness Resources
|
|
- The CDC offers tips here for coping with stress, caring for ourselves and our communities, and prioritizing our mental health. They remind us that everyone reacts differently to stressful situations and offer ideas for people who have been directly impacted by COVID-19, including children.
|
|
|
National Health Corps Chicago:
Host Sites Needed
|
|
Have you considered applying to be a host site for our National Health Corps AmeriCorps program?
Administered by PHIMC, National Health Corps Chicago's mission is to improve access to health services and education in underserved communities in Chicago, and we are still seeking host sites for the 2020-2021 service term.
Benefits of Hosting AmeriCorps Members:
- A consistent member with a strong skill set for up to 11 months increases organizational capacity to address critical needs.
- Support for host site supervisors and ongoing technical assistance from PHIMC program staff.
- Networking and collaboration opportunities with other host site organizations.
- Member training and professional development from PHIMC program staff and outside experts, including motivational interviewing, trauma informed care, conflict resolution, and communication skill building.
Questions? Please complete our Intent to Apply survey if interested and reach out to Alisha Jani, Project Manager for NHC Chicago, at [email protected]. She can share more about our program and our focus areas for 2020-2021, which include increasing nutrition/physical activity, increasing quality of life for older adults, and reducing prescription overuse.
We also invite you to visit the NHC Chicago website.
|
|
|
|
Working Towards an Anti-Racist Society
|
|
State of Illinois
- Governor JB Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton issued a proclamation on behalf of the administration naming June 9, 2020 as a day to honor George Floyd and other Black people who have suffered violence and police violence due to white supremacy and racism. The proclamation also names Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and acknowledges the "countless others whose memories we cannot allow time to erase."
Tools
- Mapping Our Social Change Roles in Times of Crisis by Deepa Iyer of the Building Movement Project begins, "I am a rapid responder but over the past few weeks as the coronavirus pandemic has spread across the world, I have felt disoriented and lost." This tool can help us to find direction.
- A BLM x Social Change Roles Reading List by Aliya Nealy says of the mapping exercise above, "I decided to sit with it and I was so moved at the simplicity and depth of the roles. I quickly saw the framework make its way around social media, which was a sign to me that people were also trying to find their lane and their work after the murder of George Floyd and eruption of protests."
Training
- Praxis Group facilitates groups aimed at reflection, affirmation, and equity. Their team centers queer people, transgender and nonbinary people, people of color, women, and femmes. Among their offerings, they address whiteness and anti-racism.
Resources for White People
- Interrogating Whiteness: "We contribute to our collective journey toward racial justice through dismantling white supremacy. We understand that white folks need to hold white folks accountable in order to move through white fragility and break white solidarity. We believe this is a necessary, not sufficient, part of the collective journey."
|
|
"My entire experience in higher education has involved centering my professors' and colleagues' white comfort, often at the expense of my own mental wellness."
~ by LaShyra "Lash" Nolen, former National Health Corps Chicago member, on Huffington Post
|
|
|
|
Thank you to everyone on the front lines working in and with our communities in Illinois. Thank you to Kaitlyn here below and her family for sharing this dance with all of us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
