With Gratitude for our Chicagoland Partnerships

In May 2020, PIH-US was invited to Illinois to help support the Illinois Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 response. Throughout the pandemic, PIH-US convened community-based organizations, governmental public health leaders, local philanthropies, and health care providers from across the state to share resources, experience, and emerging best practices to strengthen and inform the COVID-19 response. Coming out of the crisis, PIH worked to sustain these alliances between community leaders and public health decision-makers through a range of convening spaces and programming.  We are grateful to have been a part of the exceptional community-based public health and health equity ecosystem in Chicagoland over the last several years. As we wrap up our current programming and formal partnerships in Chicago at the end of 2024, we want to celebrate some highlights from the last four years and express our gratitude for the many incredible partners we’ve had the privilege to accompany and work alongside. Below, we highlight our shared impact from the last several years.

(1) Bolstering the state’s pandemic response 

PIH-US supported the Illinois Department of Public Health to project contact tracing workforce needs. We also designed and scaled a state-wide care resource coordination program. Through this partnership, over 2,500 contact tracers, case investigators, care resource coordinators, and managers were hired to manage caseloads and support isolation and quarantine across the state. When vaccines became available, we helped the Cook County Health Department identify gaps in vaccine access and deploy mobile vaccination units to these areas. PIH-US also partnered with Malcom X Community College to develop a free, online training that prepared more than 3,000 community members to speak to their neighbors about vaccination. After the course, participants received ongoing support through an online learning community of vaccine ambassadors.

(2) Reducing barriers to vaccination

PIH-US convened and managed the Chicagoland Vaccine Partnership (CVP), a consortium of more than 160 community, government, and health care organizations that worked to coalesce community-led public health outreach and increase vaccine access in vulnerable communities. Through weekly town halls, grant distribution, skill-share trainings, and other events, community organizers were equipped with resources to build vaccine confidence and reduce barriers to access. As part of a consortium, PIH-US directed more than $3 million in grants to 100+ community-based organizations to design their own COVID-19 outreach and vaccine access solutions. One of these organizations, Public Equity, used grant funds to conduct door-to-door outreach and put on 23 events to educate and vaccinate. Events included quality of life fairs, where they reclaimed vacant lots to offer vaccination, nutrition advice, gym memberships, and free yoga classes, as well as “pop-up” events to encourage on-site and in-home vaccination

(3) Launching the Community Health Organizer Accelerator

PIH-US’s Community Health Organizer Accelerator trained community organizers to mobilize their communities in the fight for health equity. We partnered with community organizations to equip five community health organizers to raise community awareness of critical services by providing training in advocacy, organizing, public health skill-building, and resource navigation. When GAP Community Center, a community-based partner, struggled to identify legal and social services for the influx of migrants arriving in Chicago, PIH-US helped organize “Know Your Rights" informational sessions and facilitated connections to immigration lawyers. By connecting the Alliance of the Southeast, a coalition supporting neighborhoods in Southeast Chicago, to the Respiratory Health Association, PIH-US bolstered the Alliance’s efforts to hold a neglectful apartment management company accountable.

(4) Supporting the public health workforce

PIH-US convened and led the Chicagoland Learning Community, a network of community-based ambassadors strengthening health literacy, access, and outcomes across the region. The Learning Community hosted weekly knowledge-sharing, skill training, and community-building events and delivered customized trainings for cohorts across the region, including through a partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health’s Healthy Chicago Equity Zone (HCEZ). The goal of HCEZ was to establish hyper-local partnerships to address and close Chicagoland's racial life expectancy gap. PIH-US provided mentorship and guidance to regional leads in the HCEZ, who offer administrative and project management support to community-based organizations.

Learn more about our work in Chicago.