Becoming the Healthiest (and Safest) City in the Nation"

Post written by CHC Member Melissa Akinlawon

Melissa serves with American Cancer Society as a Colorectal Cancer Screening Navigator and Health Educator

On May 17th, Chicago Health Corps and Healthy Communities Corps held an In-Service day focused on community and violence as it relates to public health. After watching a documentary entitled "The Interrupters" featuring the work of CeaseFire, guests from CeaseFire-Roseland stopped by to tell us more about the organization and their current initiatives. CeaseFire, nationally known as Cure Violence, is an initiative founded in 1995 by Dr. Gary Slutkin in order to address violence as a public health epidemic and preventing the spread of transmission at the source. I remember in high school hearing about Cease Fire addressing and reducing the violence in south and west neighborhoods of Chicago, such as Roseland, Auburn Gresham, and Englewood. At the time, I knew them as'the guys in orange that stood on corners around the neighborhood"-- however, I did not fully understand their impact until after I returned to the city after college. This organization is a highly valuable resource for not only the city of Chicago, but the whole world. As violence is a growing international issue, Cure Violence uses a public health approach to address violence, and we realized how much it applies to violence as other health conditions that we are more familiar with, such as cancer and sexually-transmitted diseases.

Violence is a topic that is very personal to me, and was common in the neighborhoods where I grew up. There is a familiar notion around the city that when the temperature rises, so does the gun violence.  However, violence prevention is one of Healthy Chicago's, a new city-wide initiative, top priorities. Its purpose is to engage the city in practical, goal-driven actions to result in a transformation of the health status of the city, essentially making Chicago the healthiest city in the nation.
Other key priorities addressed in Healthy Chicago are areas that most Corps members currently serve in, including:

• Tobacco Use
• Obesity Prevention
• HIV Prevention
• Adolescent Health
• Cancer Disparities
• Heart Disease & Stroke
• Access to Care
• Healthy Mothers & Babies
• Communicable Disease Control & Prevention
• Healthy Homes
• Public Health Infrastructure

This initiative tackles public health priorities that are prevalent in almost all 77 neighborhoods of Chicago, regardless of social and economic demographics. This is also what I enjoy most about serving in CHC. We help change health outcomes and reduce disparities for people of diverse backgrounds. If AmeriCorps members can help make Chicago the healthiest city in the nation, imagine what can happen if all major cities take this approach!