All In 2022-Event Series Recap

Every fall, Communityhealth hosts the All In™ campaign- a series of education, thought leadership, and networking events focused on generating solutions to help all Chicago residents access health care. We are working together to become the first major metropolitan city to have a fully functioning system in place ensuring that every Chicago resident has access to the right health care, at the right time, in the right place.

Last month, we hosted 8 events both in-person and virtual ranging from panel discussions to a cooking demo to a cabaret and a documentary screening. We were also proud to offer the first ever All In patient only event!

8th Annual All In Chicago Breakfast Summit

We kicked off out month-long series with the 8th Annual Breakfast Summit. This year’s theme was Bringing Health Care to the People. We were extremely fortunate to Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois for giving a timely, engaging, and provoking keynote on the state of reproductive and women’s health in our state and country.  Our panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Jay Bhatt, Executive Director at Deloitte Center for Health Solutions & Deloitte Health Equity Institute. Where he engaged panelists, Dr. Thomas D. Huggett, Medical Director of Mobile Health, Lawndale Christian Health Center, Marcela Rodriguez, Co-Executive Director of our partners Enlace Chicago, Jacinta Staples, Director of Community-Clinic Collaborations, Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and very own Steph Willding, CEO of CommunityHealth in the innovative ways they brought health care to their communities and how they will continue the collaboration needed to make access a reality.

Food as Medicine: a Community Cooking Demo, co-presented by Just Roots

On September 3rd we hosted our first ever patient only All In event at Just Roots, an urban farm bringing fresh and affordable produce to the Bronzeville neighborhood.  Completely free to our patients, they were able to spend an afternoon at the farm learning how different fruits and vegetables grow, how they can grow an urban garden at their homes, taste testing fresh produce, and finally eating a wonderful meal they learned to prepare from Chef Sebastian.

 

 

Behavioral Health Innovations: a Conversation, co-presented by Ascension Illinois

COVID-19 shone a spotlight on many health inequities in our city, with behavioral health at the forefront. Kevin Ahrens, Director of Operations at Ascension Illinois spoke with Cristal Gary, Chief Advocacy Officer at Ascension Illinois about the changes he saw over the course of the pandemic and the steps Ascension Illinois is continually taking to make sure behavioral health needs are met centered in health care. Watch their talk here.

Food as Medicine: a Discussion

To follow our cooking demo, we hosted Food as Medicine: a Discussion to dive deeper into how we can create and sustain healthy lifestyles for out most underserved communities. Tim Kollar, former Executive Director of TopBox Foods led an engaging conversation with Sean Ruane, Co-Founder & Director of Operations and Development at Just Roots, Selma Sims, Chief Executive Officer and Head Grower at Gardeneers, and Dr. Michele Zurakowski, Chief Executive Officer at Beyond Hunger on the numerous ways their organizations are helping their community’s live healthy lives. If you missed the conversation, you can rewatch here!

Associate Board Cabaret

Our 4th annual Associate Board Cabaret was held in person this year after two years of virtual laughs and joy! Gathering at the Hideout, CommunityHealth Associate Board member, Sarah Wagener hosted a night full of belly laughs, beautiful music, and powerful stories told my talented friends of CommunityHealth. A special thank you to our performers, Chad the Bird, Amy Do, Jasmine Davila (Miss Spoken), Kenya Elan, Liz Fitzgerald, The Red Birds, Rudy Mendoza, and Wyatt Waddell. We didn’t want the night to end. Learn more about our performers and where you can see them next here.

Access to Health Care for Immigrants

In July of 2022, Health Access for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) passed, now offering Medicaid to Illinois residents as young as 42 years old. Panelists, Winne Lam, Associate Director of Behavioral Health and Clinical Services at CASL, Paola Seguil, Director of Operations at CommunityHealth, Itedal Shalabi, Co-Executive Director at Arab American Family Services and Luvia Quiñones, Director of Health Policy at Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights give us an insider perspective on the triumphs and struggles this struggle has brought their communities and what we need to do to continue the fight for access to health care for immigrants. Watch the panel here.

Not Going Quietly, co-presented by Health Care Council of Chicago (HC3) in partnership with the Illinois Medical District (IMD)

A rising star in progressive politics and a new father, 32-year-old Ady Barkan’s life is upended when he is diagnosed with ALS. But after a confrontation with powerful Senator Jeff Flake on an airplane goes viral, catapulting him to national fame, Ady and a motley crew of activists ignite a once-in-a-generation political movement called “Be a Hero.” Through his journey, Ady discovers that collective action and speaking truth to power offers hope for his family and millions of others. Learn more about Ady’s story and watch the documentary here.

All In Celebration

We closed out this tremendous series on Thursday, September 29th with a night of celebration, connection and raising funds to help us continue to serve uninsured and underinsured Chicagoans. Dr. Allison Arwady, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and long time CommunityHealth volunteer physician was awarded our highest honor-the Serafino Award for her outstanding service and commitment to the city of Chicago.

 

We hope you will join us next fall and be All In.