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COVID-19 Updates and Resources
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Dear Friends,
On what feels like Day 4,025 of this pandemic, I want to offer my continuing gratitude for your commitment to health and well-being in Illinois' many communities. Following are resources which we hope will support you both at work and at home.
Thank you also to the performers and participants in our Night of Noise: It's a New Day virtual fundraiser this past Saturday. We will have more to share about that event in a future email. Stay tuned!
Our team here at PHIMC wishes you and your loved ones a healthy and connected Memorial Day. We may be physically distancing, but we are still socially connected.
To stay up to date on the latest COVID-19 information, local issues, and resources, p
lease visit the
State of Illinois
and/or the
City of Chicago
Coronavirus Response Center.
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Sincerely,
Karen A. Reitan
President & Chief Executive Officer
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Illinois
Restore Illinois: A Public Health Approach to Safely Reopen Our State,
released by the Governor's Office on May 5, 2020, is a five-phased plan to reopen our state. Guided by health metrics, distinct business, education, and recreation activities will characterize each phase. Until COVID-19 is defeated, this plan also recognizes that just as health metrics will tell us if it is safe to move forward, health metrics may also tell us to return to a prior phase. With a vaccine or highly effective treatment not yet available, Illinois Department of Public Health will be closely monitoring key metrics to immediately identify trends in cases and hospitalizations to determine whether a return to a prior phase may become necessary.
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Cook County
Cook County's full plan, executive summary, and guiding principles can be found
here. They
offer these and other ways to get involved in their response to COVID-19:
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Chicago
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, alongside Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH),
announced the "Protecting Chicago" framework which the City will use to guide Chicago's reopening process amid COVID-19.
The
framework is organized into five phases and Chicago has already transitioned from phase one to phase two:
- PHASE ONE: STRICT STAY-AT-HOME - Limit the amount of contact with others; the goal is to limit interactions to rapidly slow the spread of COVID-19.
- PHASE TWO: STAY-AT-HOME - Guard against unsafe interactions with others; the goal is to continue flattening the curve while safely being outside.
- PHASE THREE: CAUTIOUSLY REOPEN - Strict physical distancing with some businesses opening; the goal is to thoughtfully begin to reopen Chicago safely.
- PHASE FOUR: GRADUALLY RESUME - Continued staggered reopening into a new normal; the goal is to further reopen Chicago while ensuring the safety of residents.
- PHASE FIVE: PROTECT - Continue to protect vulnerable populations; the goal is to continue to maintain safety until COVID-19 is contained.
Community Sentiment Survey on Reopening
- To help the City reopen in a way that reflects the lived experience of residents during the crisis, Chicago residents are invited to complete
this short survey
.
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More COVID-19 News and Resources
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- What's in the HEROES Act for Nonprofits - Forefront offers this preliminary analysis of how the fourth - and newest - federal stimulus package will affect the social impact sector.
- This COVID-19 Racial Equity & Social Justice resource list includes information to help communities and activists as they work to understand and respond to the moment and over the long haul. It includes tips, tools, and resources for analysis, addressing hate, healing and community care, organizing and solidarity, and for virtual work and online engagement.
- To help communities and local governments strengthen their response to COVID-19 and advance health equity, ChangeLab Solutions is publishing a blog series about policies that can be enacted right away. The first post in the series is about protections for food workers. They describe the series in their introductory post:
"COVID-19 has urgently demonstrated that everyone needs to live in safe and healthy communities," they say in their introductory post. "The people most affected by COVID-19 are communities of color, people with low income, immigrants, and other underserved groups. These groups are most vulnerable because of existing laws and policies that affect the fundamental drivers of health inequities. Communities and local governments that take steps to ensure health, safety, housing, food, and economic stability for all of their residents will be helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and laying the groundwork for health equity and prosperity for future generations."
- The Network for Public Health Law offers these strategies for sharing data as part of a cross-sector response to COVID-19.
- For Kids - Governor Pritzker announced a new "All in Illinois" children's content series featuring Illinois museums and attractions. This content and more is available here.
- In Chicago, a Racial Equity Rapid Response Team was created to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the African American community. "Organized around four pillars prioritized by the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, the coordinating structure comprises a steering committee and working groups focused on Education, Prevention, Testing & Treatment, and Supportive Services, each to include targeted ways to engage directly with residents in the impacted communities."
Thank you to ChangeLab Solutions, Forefront, Chicago Department of Public Health, and Illinois Department of Human Services for making us aware of the resources and information above.
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Black Patients' Guide to COVID-19
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Color of Change created Black Patients' Guide to COVID-19 with the expertise of Dr. Ruth Arumala to provide tools to help Black people fight medical racism and survive COVID-19. They have summarized the guide in these four graphics below.
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To help Color of Change place this guide in newspapers around the country, visit their
donation page.
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Developed by Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) for people living with depression or bipolar disorder, the
DBSA Wellness Wheel can also be a useful tool for anyone struggling with social isolation and extra stress under quarantine.
"Wellness comes from knowing your strengths and finding ways to move forward, one step at a time," DBSA reminds us.
Through creating your own wheel, you can see your strengths in perspective and discover ways to move toward the life you want to live, even while sheltering in place.
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Thank you to Equality Illinois for hosting a town hall to address the needs of LGBTQ+ youth while we shelter in place. Thank you to panelists Tara Bell, Board President for our distinguished community partners at Rainbow Café in Carbondale, as well as Nat Duran, PHIMC Youth Engagement Manager for Illinois Safe Schools Alliance. As quoted by Matt Simonette afterwards in the Windy City Times:
"As the pandemic progresses, numerous LGBT youth might be finding themselves without the support systems they generally rely upon, whether those might be friends, school personnel or community organizations," noted Nat Duran, youth engagement manager for Illinois Safe Schools Alliance. They further explained that youth are currently facing 'unparalleled questions,' and that adults need to both model self-care and give as many visual indications as possible of their support.
A wealth of resources were shared, including these:
- For Teachers - Lessons, blogs, videos, stories, and webinars from Facing History and Ourselves.
- For Parents - "Fighting the Big Virus: Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together," a story from Piplo Productions developed to help young children and families talk about their experiences and feelings related to COVID-19 and the need to shelter in place, in both English and Spanish.
- For Youth and Families - Resources compiled by Illinois Safe Schools Alliance.
- For the LGBTQ+ Community - Resources compiled by Equality Illinois, broken into categories which include living with HIV, elder care, trans/non-binary, LGBTQ youth, undocumented, and the 2020 election.
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Congratulations, Graduates!
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Thank you for working to support our communities each and every day.
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