This edition of CLOCC News features two mini-surveys, each of which can be completed in approximately five minutes. Please support our work by completing and sharing the surveys with your networks where appropriate. Thank you for your attention!

In partnership with the Alliance for Health Equity, Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital is collecting feedback to help us create a plan to improve the health of your community. If you live in Chicago or suburban Cook County, please take this five-minute survey to share what’s most important to you about your community’s health. We want to know what you think is going well, what needs to be improved and how COVID has impacted you and your family. Once you’re finished, please share the survey with your neighbors and networks!

We encourage our partners to provide feedback via this brief survey, which should take under five minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for your contribution.

The Experimental Station fosters a dynamic ecology of innovative educational and cultural programs, small business enterprises and community initiatives. Since 2006, ES has both built its own programming to address local needs and have fostered, hosted, and sponsored many other initiatives. Current programs include Link Up Illinois, 61st Street Farmers Market, Blackstone Bicycle Works, small business incubation, and public arts and cultural events.

Experimental Station is currently seeking a Link Up Illinois Program Associate who will be central to supporting operations of Link Up Illinois as it continues to grow. Link Up Illinois provides farmers markets, farm stands, food co-operatives, and small grocers across the state with funding to implement Link Match programs for recipients of Illinois Link (federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits). Link Match is a healthy food incentive earned by SNAP/Link participants whenever they make a purchase at participating locations.

Learn more here (.pdf).

Common Threads will utilize the NHC Chicago member to lead virtual nutrition and healthy cooking classes for student, adult, and families living in underserved communities in Chicago, with potential to implement classes for families in person as the city begins to open back up.

In addition to teaching lessons, the member will be expected to build relationships at the district, school, and community level to schedule classes and ensure they are meeting local needs and interests as well. The member will be responsible for maintaining a high quality of implementation, scheduling, auditing and communication with school administrators and staff, community partners, and the Common Threads team.

View the flyer here

Virtual event, RSVP Here

Connect with CLOCC's network of nearly 3,000 childhood obesity prevention advocates by listing your organization's upcoming events or current job openings on the Consortium's website. Upon submission, postings will be approved by CLOCC staff; events and careers applicable to the CLOCC network may also be featured in this newsletter. If you have questions or are not able to access the webpage, contact info@clocc.net. CLOCC will not publish for-profit services or events, or products for sale.

The Sport for Good Chicago Leadership Council is currently recruiting for three open positions. Council Members are asked to serve a two-year term with a commitment of approximately 6 hours per month. We strive to have all levels of experience represented across the Leadership Council, so we encourage you to apply whether you are a coach, funder, educator, or executive. Additionally, we strive for the Leadership Council experience to provide an opportunity for development and growth. Members of the Council are encouraged to take leadership of projects and try out new areas of work.

The application is open until Wednesday, October 20th. Learn more or apply here.

For questions related to testing criteria and general information about COVID-19 and children, please contact the COVID-19 Call Center at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital at 312.227.5300. The Call Center is staffed by Lurie Children’s nurses and is available Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM CT, and Saturday, 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM CT.

The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) has introduced a Social Impact and Equity Fund to identify, recognize, and financially support innovative strategies among organizations working to leverage federal nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and school meals to fight hunger and promote equity.

Funded in part by PepsiCo, this new initiative will award four grants of $25,000 each to local, state, or regional tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations doing exceptional work fighting hunger and injustice, centering equity throughout their operations, policy, and advocacy efforts, and working in collaboration with people with lived expertise.  To learn more, visit the online application. The LOI deadline is Friday, October 22nd.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that parks and green spaces are a vital part of a healthy community. Yet, due to systemic racism, parks are still not enjoyed evenly. A 2020 study found that parks serving communities of color are—on average—half the size of parks located in majority-white communities and five times as crowded. The unequal distribution and investment in parks—and the unjust experiences that many people of color have in the outdoors—can be righted.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is currently seeking letters of interest from community-based organizations and base-building groups working to increase park equity and advance racial justice through local policy and systems change in urban, low-income communities of color across the nation. This effort is part of People, Parks, and Power, a joint initiative with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation led and managed by Prevention Institute. Learn more about eligibility and selection criteria here. The LOI deadline is November 4th.

Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH), with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), in partnership with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), is launching the second round of the Learning and Action in Policy and Partnerships (LAPP) program. To build new opportunities for more sustainable efforts by local or state governments in collaboration with community partnerships, DASH will grant $80,000 each to five awardees to promote data-sharing and data-integration aiming to improve health, equity, and well-being in local communities and identify learnings for how states can support community data sharing through policy. Learn more about this opportunity here. The application deadline is 2:30 PM CT, Friday, November 12th.