Hiring for the Collaborative!

Summary:  The Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI) is seeking an energetic, well-organized Program Associate to work to advance health equity with a collaborative of 25+ hospitals, 6 health departments and community stakeholders in Chicago and Cook County. The ideal candidate will have experience working across sectors and in partnership with communities to address social determinants of health and advance health equity.

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Voices at the Table

This event will provide an opportunity for PP4H Partners to: engage, elicit feedback from community resources, share ideas and visions for community resources, network, and recruit interested participants.
Click the link for more info, or contact: Gabriel Lara (773) 757-8476 or [email protected].

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RWJF Awards $6.3 Million to 100 Million Healthier Lives Initiative

Funding will be used to foster healthier, more equitable communities.  
Click here for more information. 

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Proviso Partners for Health Celebrate Village of Maywood's Tobacco 21 Ordinance: Raising the Age to Purchase Tobacco Will Save Lives

Maywood, IL – In the first victory of a broad-based initiative to reduce tobacco use, Proviso
Partners for Health (PP4H)’s proposal to increase the tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21 was
unanimously approved by the Maywood Village Board on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.

Since almost all smokers begin smoking during adolescence or young adulthood, raising the
minimum legal sales age helps reduce the number of youth who start smoking.

PP4H is a multi-sector coalition comprised of Loyola University Health System, Loyola
University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, as well
as Proviso East High School, Respiratory Health Association, Quinn Community Center, Green
Business Network and more than a dozen other community and social service agencies and
businesses.

Lena Hatchett, executive lead of PP4H and assistant professor of Neiswanger Institute for
Bioethics at Loyola University Chicago, oversees the coalition’s work, which is focused on
health equity solutions for local residents. PP4H invests in youth opportunities to reduce
childhood obesity and tobacco use.

“PP4H provides a forum in which community leaders and members can work together to find
solutions to health problems,” said Hatchett. “Thanks to strong support from Respiratory Health
Association, the trustees knew their action would have immediate and long-lasting results for
Maywood’s youth.”

Local parent Christopher Epps and students from Proviso Math & Science Academy joined
Lainie Sanker, Program Manager of Respiratory Health Association, in advocating for the
tobacco age ordinance at the village board meeting.

“We hope Maywood’s leadership will help Broadview, Melrose Park, Bellwood and other
communities take the same step in raising the tobacco purchase age to 21,” said Sanker.

Koula Michalousa, of Art’s Food and Beverage, attended the meeting along with the store’s new
owner, Krupal Patel. As retailers, both were in complete support of the new ordinance.
“Smoking is blatantly not good for you and young people often make decisions that they later
regret,” Michalousa said. “We think it’s a great health initiative and completely support the
ordinance being passed.”

Proviso Partners for Health is funded by a $2.5 million Transforming Communities Initiative
(TCI) grant from Trinity Health. Loyola University Health System is a member of Trinity Health.
Other grant initiatives include expanding school wellness committees and policies, active
recess, community gardens, establishing a farmstand and increasing park usage.

Maywood joins Chicago, Evanston, Oak Park, Highland Park, Deerfield and Naperville in
establishing this important public health protection. PP4H and Respiratory Health Association
encourage communities across the state to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21
and continue to advocate for the Illinois General Assembly to pass a statewide Tobacco 21 law.

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Louder than a Bomb

Since 1991, Young Chicago Authors has been transforming the lives of young people by cultivating their voices through writing, publication, and performance education.
 

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Proviso Giving Garden featured in Village Free Press!

Read the article about the Proviso Giving Garden and Christopher Epps, the full-time gardener responsible for cultivating the Proviso Giving Garden in Maywood.