Blog

Vote for Us to Win the People’s Choice Award!
CommunityHealth is a Top 100 Finalist in the Chicago Innovation Awards. CommunityHealth has been nominated by Chicago Innovation, a local organization designed to educate, connect, and celebrate all innovators in the Chicago region. Every year they host the Chicago...

The All In Celebration 30th Anniversary Gala
Let's talk about health care in Chicago. CommunityHealth is celebrating 30 Years of Care in 2023. Throughout our 30th year, we have expanded the annual All In event series from one month to multiple events hosted across the summer. All In events offer spaces of...

Are You All In?
We are leading the fight for access. CommunityHealth hosts the All In event series every year. With events based in education, thought leadership, and networking, All In offers spaces for corporate partners, community leaders, industry professionals, students, and you...

Cheers to Over 10 Years with CommunityHealth!
CommunityHealth is celebrating 30 Years of Care... and 11 staff members who have been with us for over 10 years! As the largest volunteer-based free clinic in the nation, serving at-risk and vulnerable populations living under the poverty line and without insurance,...

Volunteer Spotlight: Victor Karwacinski (Polish Interpreter of the Year in 2022)
CommunityHealth shines the Volunteer Spotlight on Victor Karwacinski during August. Victor has been volunteering with CommunityHealth for three years, serving as a Polish interpreter and Trainer for other interpreters onboarding with our clinic. His passion for care...

Welcome to CommunityHealth!
Even in our 30th year, CommunityHealth continues to grow! Throughout 2023, our clinic has onboarded 10 new staff members so far. As a volunteer-based free clinic serving at-risk and vulnerable populations living without insurance, cultural competency is the foundation...

30th Anniversary Open House Block Party
Are you All In? CommunityHealth is celebrating 30 Years of Care throughout 2023. Since 1993, our volunteer-based clinic has been leading the fight for access by providing free health care to the underserved and uninsured. In 2018, CommunityHealth celebrated 25 years...

Redefining Access to Health Care
Are you All In? CommunityHealth invites you to Join the Conversation at the All In event series. We are leading the fight for access as we work to ensure every Chicagoan has access to the right health care, at the right time, in the right place. After the upcoming...

The 5th Annual All In Cabaret, Presented by the CommunityHealth Associate Board
You're invited! The 2023 All In event series has already been a huge success... and we are just getting started! For the next event, the Associate Board at CommunityHealth is excited to present the 5th Annual All In Cabaret...Join the Conversation at the Hideout...

30 Years of Care: Meet the Faces of CommunityHealth!
CommunityHealth is celebrating 30 Years of Care! The mission of CommunityHealth is to serve people without essential health care. Our vision is Quality Health Care For All. CommunityHealth is one of the largest volunteer-based free health centers in the nation....

Oral Health Awareness
CommunityHealth observes Oral Health Awareness throughout July. Dental care is not only expensive but often not covered by insurance. And communities who need the most dental education and care tend to have the least access to such. CommunityHealth is proud to offer...

The Heroes of Health Care
The city of Chicago is in a State of Emergency. More than 10,500 asylum seekers have been transported to Chicago since August 31, 2022. Southern border states like Texas are transporting asylees to sanctuary cities such as Chicago, with 10 busses arriving in 10 days...

Join the Conversation at the Upcoming All In Events!
Let's talk about health care in Chicago. CommunityHealth invites you to participate in our All In campaign. All In is a series of education, thought leadership, and networking events focused on generating solutions to help all Chicago residents access health care. ...

Happy Pride Month!
Happy Pride Month! CommunityHealth believes that health care is a human right. All intersections of identity, including the LGBTQIA+ community, deserve safe access to Quality Health Care. So in a nation where it has historically been unsafe for people to identify as...

CommunityHealth on the Front Line: Welcoming New Neighbors Seeking Asylum in Chicago
With over 10,500 asylees transported to Chicago from Southern states like Texas and Florida since August of 2022, the City of Chicago is in a State of Emergency. Migrants fleeing political, social, and environmental instability everywhere from South America to Morocco...

Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. At CommunityHealth, we believe mental health is for everyone. Mental health is not only relevant to people living with mental illness; we all have dynamic, ever-evolving emotional wellness. Whether through Health Education...

Volunteer Spotlight: Isa Alvarez (Clinic Volunteer of the Year – Spanish Interpreter in 2022)
CommunityHealth shines the volunteer spotlight on Isa Alvarez during May. Isa began volunteering with CommunityHealth in 2020, serving over 270 hours as a Spanish interpreter. As both a role-play facilitator and trainer, she stepped up to train other volunteers in...

The Next Generation of Leadership
Let's talk about health care in Chicago. CommunityHealth invites you to participate in our All In campaign. All In is a series of education, thought leadership, and networking events focused on generating solutions to help all Chicago residents access health care. ...

Introducing the Second Year of the Healthy Homes Initiative
At CommunityHealth, we prioritize health care professionals that properly represent the communities we serve. So as the Health Education team launches the second annual Healthy Homes initiative in partnership with Elevate, we are proud to onboard Daniel Espinoza as a...

CommunityHealth is Now on TikTok!
CommunityHealth continues to evolve with the changing circumstances of our world. From updating our eligibility with Illinois insurance plans to opening our doors to migrants displaced by crises, we continue update our processes even in our 30th year. In offering free...

Volunteer Spotlight: Kelly Scherer (Fundraiser of the Year in 2022)
CommunityHealth shines the Volunteer Spotlight on Dr. Kelly Scherer during April. Kelly began serving with CommunityHealth as a volunteer optometrist in 2019. However, optometry services were halted during the pandemic. Unable to provide in-person services but still...

National Volunteer Week: Cheers to Our Volunteers!
Happy #NationalVolunteerWeek!Though CommunityHealth celebrates Volunteer Appreciation Month throughout April, we like to go big during this week from the 16th to 22th. As the week comes to a close, we wanted to give you an overview of all the ways we have commemorated...

Volunteer Spotlight: Dr. Brian LaMoreaux (Ilene Goodman Award in 2022)
The Ilene Goodman award is presented to one volunteer every year at our Volunteer of the Year Awards in December. Ilene, together with her husband Milton, was a volunteer who was connected with CommunityHealth almost from the beginning of its existence. The Goodmans...

Updates from the Microsites: New Volunteer Opportunities at Enlace and Onward House
CommunityHealth recognizes that hyper-localized care is accessible care. So to meet our communities where they are at, we opened two community-based clinics in our patients' neighborhoods of Belmont Cragin at Onward House in 2021 and Little Village at Enlace in 2022. ...

The Leaders of The New Normal: Introducing the Panel for the 9th Annual All In Breakfast Summit!
How can we work 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? CommunityHealth invites all Chicagoans to...

Volunteer Spotlight: Cici Gazder (Lab Clinic Volunteer of the Year in 2022)
CommunityHealth shines the Volunteer Spotlight on Cici Gazder during March. Cici began volunteering with CommunityHealth in August of 2021. She served 195 hours as a lab technician, conducting blood draws for testing and comforting patients during lab work. For her...

30 Years of Care: A Letter from Our CEO
CommunityHealth is celebrating our 30th anniversary this year. Since 1993, our clinic has provided high quality health care to uninsured individuals in Chicago. Our founder, Dr. Serafino Garella, built CommunityHealth from his belief that quality health care is a...

Match Day: Congratulations to our Student Volunteers!
The Future of Health is in the next generation of health care providers. The Student Run Clinics (SRC) at CommunityHealth train medical students and residents in primary, specialty, pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing care with a focus on cultural competency. Our...

Women’s History Month: Women in Leadership at CommunityHealth
March is Women's History Month. Throughout the month, the United States honors the advancement of gender rights, accomplishments by female innovators, and the space for growth we face with gender equality. But CommunityHealth celebrates gender equity everyday. While...

Future of Health: Training the Next Generation of Health Care Providers
As one of the largest free clinics in the country, CommunityHealth relies on volunteers to provide health care services at no cost to patients. Over 40% of CommunityHealth’s volunteers are from our Student Run Clinics with community partners such as Rush University...

Volunteer Spotlight: Dr. Lauren Sullivan, DO (Volunteer Preceptor of the Year in 2022)
Dr. Lauren Sullivan, DO, began volunteering with CommunityHealth in 2016 and has served over 244 hours throughout the past 7 years. As a doctor of internal medicine, Dr. Sullivan not only diagnoses complex illnesses but also supports overall well-being in her...

Phlebotomists Recognition Week with Jazmin Ascencio
CommunityHealth celebrates our lab technicians during Phlebotomists Recognition Week from February 13-17. To learn more about phlebotomy, we talked to Jazmin Ascencio, our beloved Clinic Support Coordinator who has been with CommunityHealth for two...

American Heart Month with Dr. Tochukwu Okwuosa, DO
February is American Heart Month. CommunityHealth advocates heart-healthy living year-round. Heart disease is considered the number one cause of death in the United States. American Heart Month addresses the risk factors and celebrates daily habits that strengthen...

Volunteer Spotlight: Ann Corkery (Pharmacy Volunteer of the Year in 2022)
With almost seven years of service, Ann Corkery has volunteered with CommunityHealth since 2016. As a volunteer in the pharmacy, Ann's service ensures patients maintain care outside of clinic hours through medication management. Ann currently holds over 455...
Front Lines by Eko: CommunityHealth [VIDEO]
New partner Eko visited CommunityHealth this past summer and created a video about the work that we are doing in our microsites: August 18, 2022

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...

In Remembrance: Dr. Milt Goodman
We are so sad to announce the passing of Milt Goodman, a long-time member of the CommunityHealth family. For over 20 years, Milt brought his gentle warmth to all those around him, not to mention the delicious pastries he would regularly bring into the break room for...

Volunteer Spotlight: Laura Licari, 2021 Pharmacy Volunteer of the Year
Laura Licari has been a pharmacist for 16 years and a CommunityHealth volunteer for 14 of those years! As someone who is proud of pharmacists' contribution to the health care system, she has been happy in her professional career. Laura has brought her skills to a...

All In™ Keynote Speaker Jennifer Welch, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood IL
On September 1st, you have the chance to hear from President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois, Jennifer Welch, the keynote speaker at our Eighth Annual All In™ Breakfast Summit. In the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, we could...

Our first ever All In™ event EXCLUSIVELY for patients!
CommunityHealth is proud to present, for the very first time, an All In™ open for patient registration ONLY! On September 3rd, CommunityHealth and a group of patient participants will visit Just Roots Chicago, a community urban farm, for a tour and cooking...