Austin Weekly News 080724 by Wednesday Journal

Fresh Supply connects West Side through text-based community hotline

The program is an expansion of Gar eld Park’s text-based program

By MICHAEL BANIEWICZ Contributing Reporter

A text-based community hotline that gives residents on the West Side accessible information about neighborhood events and resources was launched last week.

T he Westside C ommunity N etwork was launched T hursd ay, an expansion ofthe Garfield Pa rk C ommunity Hotline, c omes from Fresh Supply, a nonprofit pa rt icipatory learning org anization.

People can text “HEY” to the number 872-8146336 to subscribe, and after the name and age ofthe resident is confirmed, the network will send information subscribers choose, including community

Paycheck problem

Sub

Mr. Prasad.” See FRESH SUPPLY on pa ge 8

Resident doctors picketing outside West Suburban Medical Center June 11, called for improved working conditions, including better program funding and pay. One sign read, “Stop stealing from resident

JESSICA MOR DACQ

BIG WEEK August 7-14

Aging Well Together

Friday, August 9, 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Kehrein Center for the Arts

In this free wellness program provided by Mather’s Community Initiatives, participants 55 and older will celebrate with wellness, food, dance and fellowship.

Twelfth Night with Chicago Shakes in the city

Wednesday, August 7, 5 – 7 p.m., Gar eld Park Conser vatory

Join in at the blue stone terrace for an evening of music, movement and theater with Chicago Shakes. Shakespeare’s joyful comedy Twelfth Night is brought to vibrant new life with 22 free pop-up performances. Director Tyrone Phillips, a rst-generation Jamaican American, reimagines the story in the Caribbean isles, infused with the music and playful spirit of Carnival. Separated from her twin brother in a shipwreck and washed ashore in an unfamiliar land, the spirited Viola disguises herself as a man to work for charming Duke Orsino — and nds herself in the middle of a love triangle of hilarious mistaken identities. Enjoy this im-

mersive 45-minute pop-up performance and engage with artists in hands-on activities inspired by play. For more information, visit: https://gar eldconser vator y. org/visit/. 300 N. Central Park Ave.

End of Summer Bash

Friday, August 9, 12 – 4 p.m. , BUILD

Enjoy games, food trucks, giveaways, music, and more.

Bring a friend! All ages are welcome. Entry is free.

5100 W. Harrison St.

Yrudition Block Part y

Saturday, Aug. 10, 1 – 4 p.m., Austin Coming Together and Harris Bank 5200 Block of West Van Buren

Territo ry Block Part y

Thursday, August 8, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Central and Ohio lot

Block Part y

Saturday, August 10, 12 – 5 p.m., A House in Austin

A House in Austin is hosting a block party with music, food, games, school supplies, giveaways, plus more!

500 Block of North Pine Ave

AU STIN WEEKLY news

Editor Erika Hobbs

Sta Reporters Jessica Mordacq Amaris E. Rodriguez

Special projects reporter Delaney Nelson

Contributing Editor Donna Greene

Digital Manager Stacy Coleman

Digital Media Coordinator Brooke Duncan

Reporting Partners Block Club, Austin Talks

Columnists Arlene Jones

Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead

Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea

Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza

Sales & Marketing Representatives

Lourdes Nicholls, Ben Stumpe

Business & Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan

Circulation Manager Jill Wagner

Publisher Dan Haley

Special Projects Manager Susan Walker

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Judy Gre n

Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Steve Edwards, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer

HOW TO REACH US

141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

PHONE 773-626-6332

CIRCULATION Jill@oakpark.com ONLINE www.AustinWeeklyNews.com

Who are the DNC delegates, and what do they do?

By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter

plans for the areas, with more than 170 delegates just from Illinois expected to attend the convention Aug. 19 to Aug. 22.

But who are the delegates who have been elected to represent Chicago’s West Side and the western suburbs? And what exactly is their role at the Democratic National Convention?

What is the DNC?

The Democratic National Convention takes place every presidential election, convening delegates from 50 states and U.S. territories. The convention typically marks the end ofthe primary election season and the beginning of general elections

While the DNC serves as a period for Democrats to officially nominate a presidential and a vice-presidential candidate, in the past several decades nominees have been announced long before the convention. This makes the DNC more ofa celebration for the nominees and is a way for the Democratic Party to unify around the party’s platform

This year’s convention differs significantly from previous ones, when presidential nominees were chosen months before the DNC.

This year, before the convention opens, delegates will officially select the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate during a roll call. The roll call was scheduled Aug. 1 through Aug. 5, but Vice President Kamala Harris won enough delegate votes to become the nominee by 2 p.m. on Aug. 2.

What do delegates do?

Delegates represent voters and are the ones who officially select the Democratic presidential nominee. They must cast a vote for a presidential candidate or have an uncommitted preference.

On March 12, President Joe Biden received confirmation from most of the Democratic dele gates that they would renominate him. After Biden withdrew from the race July 21, Harris crossed that majority threshold July 22.

But an estimated majority confirmation only makes Harris the presumptive party nominee, not the official one. The for mal nomination came during the virtual roll call among the more than 4,000 delegates

After delegates selected the Democratic Party’s nominee, at the convention, they will spend time listening to speakers and attending get-togethers to rally around Harris and her party platform They will also vote on resolutions and platform initiatives.

How are delegates chosen?

Every state has its own way of choosing delegates. While some are elected at state caucuses or local party conventions, others are named a delegate because they are an elected representative who’s been voted for by the public.

In Illinois, voters who requested a Democratic ballot during the primary election in March had the chance to vote for delegates. Delegates who ran in Illinois had to be registered voters themselves, plus file a nominating petition, statement of candidacy and presidential preference form

The number of delegates that each state got this year depended on the state’s number ofelectoral votes and the proportion of votes it gave to the Democratic candidate in the 2020, 2016 and 2012 elections. United States territories are given a fixed number of pledged delegates

There are a few different types of delegates, including district delegates and at-large delegates, who are elected statewide

There are also PLEO delegates, who are the state’s party leaders and elected officials. PLEO and at-large delegates are elected by a quorum of district-level delegates.

District, at-large and PLEO delegates are bound to vote for a presidential candidate based on the results oftheir state or district’s caucus and primary vote count.

Superdelegates, on the other hand, can support any candidate, but only vote if the presidential nomination is contested.

Who are the area delegates?

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is a PLEO dele gate, along with Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Secretary ofState Alexi Giannoulias and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

PLEO dele gates also include Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, Emanuel “Chris” Welch, speaker ofthe Illinois House of Representatives, and state Sen. Kimberly Lightford.

District-level d ele gates include Ro ry Hoskins, mayo r of Fo rest Pa rk , along with other district-level d ele gates li ke Ald. E mma Mitts ofthe 37th ward, Stat e Re presentatives K am Buckner and La Shawn Fo rd and Chicago City C lerk A nna Valencia . State Representative Camille Lily is an at-large candidate.

Doctors demand unpaid sums, program funding from West Suburban

One group has star ted a legal arbitration process with the hospital

By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter

Doctors at West Suburban Medical Center are taking legal action against the hospital for money they say ha been paid.

The PCC Community Wellness Center — a federally qualified health center with 14 locations around Chicago and two inside West Suburban — has started a legal arbitration process to recover doctors’ unpaid paychecks from West Suburban.

“It’s not a lawsuit,” Manoj Prasad told Growing Community Media. “We have a difference in opinion. T hey believe we owe them something, and we believe they owe us something.”

Prasad is the owner and CEO of Resilience Health. In Dec. 2022, Resilience Health and Ramco Healthcare Holdings, LLC — a minority owner which is in charge of real estate and facilities – bought Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood and West Suburban, which sits on North Austin Boulevard on the boarder of Oak Park and Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.

The arbitration is the latest complaint about the hospital’s money management.

In May and June, resident doctors picketed to demand a union contract and requested investment in their education and better patient safety. They also called for raises and supplies, which are paid for with hundreds of thousands of dollars per resident in federal funding allocated to the hospital. But residents said they aren’t seeing that money reflected in their resources since Dr. Manoj Prasad bought West Suburban. According to Paul Luning, the chief medical officer and a family physician at West Suburban’s PCC Community Wellness Center, West Suburban and PCC have had numer-

ous staffing and teaching agreements since PCC launched inside the hospital.

Earlier this year, Luning said that PCC engaged in le gal action against the hospital because of nonpayment for contracted services.

“There’s a sta ng agreement for which certain payments are due, but there are some payments due back to us as well.”

M ANOJ PRASAD Owner of West Suburban Medical Center

“There are some physicians that have not been paid for their teaching services,” said Luning, who is also halfway through a two-year term as president of the West Suburban medical staf f. The position is elected, and he is not employed by the hospital.

West Suburban reimburses PCC to pay doctors for teaching residents, who are assigned to a PCC site for three years of outpatient experience.

“There’s a staffing ag reement for which certain payments are due, but there are some payments due back to us as well,” Prasad said.

Because the arbitration process is ongoing, Prasad said he is unsure if he can disclose how much PCC owes West Suburban. He said West Suburban’s medical staf f also teaches resident doctors at PCC.

Resident doctors picketed outside West Suburban Medical Center on June 11. See WEST SUB on pa ge 6

Luning said he doesn’t have a number for how many PCC

physicians haven’t been paid or how much they are owed.

But one of them, Frederick Barber, said he is out nearly $30,000, adding that it’s estimated that West Suburban owes PCC over $1 million.

Barber — who retired as a doctor three years ago after running his private practice out of West Suburban since 1975 — now works about four hours a week at the hospital monitoring resident doctors at the PCC Dr. Burdick Family Health Center inside West Suburban. But he said he hasn’t been paid for over a year of work

When Pipeline Health owned West Suburban, from 2019 to when it filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2022, Barber said he got a monthly check until the last two months of their ownership. But he said he has only received payment for four months since Prasad took ownership in December 2022.

Barber said he brought up the missing payments multiple times with Prasad, who told him to be patient, that he was hopeful money would come in.

West Suburban has long struggled with finances and has gone through multiple ownership changes in recent years. When Prasad bought the hospital, he inherited upward of $80 million in debt. He said he has had trouble finding

JESSICA MOR DACQ

WEST SUB Payment owed?

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lenders to help him clear it.

Although Prasad said the hospital has a long way to go before being out of the it is slowly paying of f its shortfall.

“The debt included pretty much all major vendors and suppliers in the healthcare industry,” Prasad said. “So, in order to operate, we have been slowly settling with a lot of them.”

Prasad said as he settles the hospital’s debts, he’s also adding additional services.

On July 16, West Suburban enhanced its mother-baby unit. The unit will now staf 24/7 obstetrician, contracted from an outside company, to handle birth deli request Prasad said came from the staf

‘Pay your workers right away

Resident doctors for med a union in November — the first time West Suburban medical staff had done so — and have been in contract ne gotiations since February. In addition to asking to improve what medical residents say is a lack of resources and worsening patient care, they also want to see more impact from their program funding and better pay.

Nkiru Osefo, a second-year resident at West Suburban, holds a sign that says, ‘Either you have the AC working or the elevator working. You can’t have both! -Overheard at West Suburban.’

e elevator problem

One of medical residents’ demands re garding better patient care includes repairing the elevators at West Suburban Medical Center, which are often out of service.

Upon taking his mother to an appointment at West Suburban at the end of July, one local man shared his elevator experience with Growing Community Media.

On the day he visited, all four of the lobby’s elevators were out of service. Austin Weekly News is not naming the man to keep his health history private

The man said patients, including his mother, had to meet with their doctors in the lobby

“After I was there for about an hour, one of the four elevators started working again,” the man said. “But at that point, I did not trust to use it.”

He added that a hospital employee told him that elevators haven’t been re gularly working for weeks, and repairs weren’ t being done because the hospital hadn’t paid its bills

“Our elevators are old. There’s no two ways about it,” Prasad told Growing Community Media in May.

The resident doctors picketed the hospital for a second time in June to continue raising awareness for their contract negotiation requests.

“Hey Prasad, this ain’t funny. What happened to all the money?” nearly two dozen medical residents chanted at the protest. “We did the work, we need the pay. Pay your workers right away.”

The picket came as resident doctors say their program lacks the support and supplies that they require to be successful.

“Every resident in the United States gets federal funding from Medicare,” hundreds of thousands of dollars per resident, Clarissa O’Conor, a recently graduated resident and for mer member of the union’s bargaining team, told Growing Community Media while she was still a third-year resident. “Since Prasad has taken over, he has refused to allocate any money to the residency program.”

Prasad told Growing Community Media that the program is funded with federal money tied to patient volume and other metrics.

As resident doctors’ contract negotiations are still ongoing, they say there has been little communication from Prasad.

“As before, it’s hard to reach him and get some feedback on our requests,” said Nkiru Osefo, a second-year resident at West Suburban, during the June picket.

Prasad says otherwise: “I always have had an open-door policy for anybody who’s got these complaints.”

The disparity between the efforts of West Suburban’s owner and what doctors see started long before Prasad bought the hospital.

“Things had declined before Dr. Prasad came and took over,” said Karla Tytus, a provider at PCC Salud Family Health Center in Chicago’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood and a family medicine resident at West Suburban Medical Center. “It’s continuing after, but it’s been a long time in the making, so it’s also going to be a long time in the making as far as getting our concerns heard.”

And while it seems that resident doctors are in it for the long hall, Prasad is worried that picketing and bad press will only deter people from coming to West Suburban.

“Talking about these things doesn’t really help anybody’s cause because the patients start thinking, ‘Oh my God, is this a good place to go?’” Prasad said.

“But things don’t get better if you keep things under wraps,” Tytus said at the June picket. “When it comes down to it, I

don’t think any of us have faith in him.”

At a time when morale among resident doctors at West Suburban feels very low, Luning said these students are a vital component at the hospital, where a majority of patients are on Medicaid.

“The hospital and the residency program, for me, are intertwined as being critically important to the success of PCC and, honestly, the care of underserved patients on the West Side of Chicago,” Luning said. “We rely on residents to take care of our underserved patients.”

“I sure hope it will survive,” he added about the residency program. “I intend to do everything we can to make it survive.”

Because the hospital has seen numerous owners over the last decade, one can’t help but consider if West Suburban might change hands again or, because the hospital has been in debt for so long, whether it’s worth keeping open. Officials say it must.

“It has to, for the care of our underserved patients,” Luning said. “For the hospitals to survive, I really think the residency program is a very important part of that.”

Prasad ag reed.

“I know the community needs this,” he said about West Suburban. “I know the community doesn’t need another empty building. Support from everyone is critical.”

In an email a few weeks earlier, Prasad said that six of the hospital’s 24 elevators were out of service because of abuse by users. While repairs are underway, he said they are expensive and replacement parts are hard to come by

“The place had been neglected forever,” Prasad said. “A lot of our money is going towards fixing things.”

As of the beginning of Au g ust, Prasad told Grow ing C ommunity Media that all of the hospital’s usually f unctioning elevators are back in servic e. He a dded that there is one elevator that re pair wo rkers ca n’ t fix, and i ts re p lacement will c ost close to $500,000.

“These elevators are very old, and from time to time, they break down and we have to fly in parts to make them operational,” Prasad said.

“I have zero intentions of selling,” added Prasad, who said that he’s fighting this battle single-handedly when it comes to the hospital’s finances. “If I g et overwhelmed, that’s a different story. But we seem to be trudging along, making very good progress.”

JESSICA MOR DACQ

Director of Health Science Surgical Technology Natan Mendez speaks with prospective students at Malcolm X College West Side

PHOTO S BY TODD BANNOR

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Kellie Scott, Owner Divine Consign

e founders of Fresh Supply aim to bring information to the West Side by text messaging.

FRESH SUPPLY

Community texts

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news, local events and community hubs to explore. They can also subscribe to a digital forum for residents to offer ideas on how to improve communities on the West Side of Chicago.

Fresh Supply, an organization focused on creating reform in communities through equitable technologies, launched the Westside Community Network, an SMS service, through the collaboration of students in the non-profit’s flagship summer program that includes 22 students from Al Raby High School and Chicago Tech Academy.

Jasmine Jones, co-founder and executive director of Fresh Supply, said she has worked with students in the program since its debut in 2022. Jones, who also works as a physics teacher at Al Raby High School, said that students are very qualified to develop the technology for the Westside Community Network.

“Students are able to articulate some of

the issues in a community very well,” Jasmine Jones said. “They have rich funds of knowledge from their own experiences, but oftentimes, students and young people in general aren’t positioned in ways that are transformative…at Fresh Supply, we want to seed something new…we believe that our young people are the investment.”

Throughout the summer, the Fresh Supply students learned about Chicago’s digital divide and how to develop solutions to create digital justice.

The digital divide in Chicago refers to the connectivity gaps that exist in Chicago’s South and West Sides, which include communities that are most impacted by digital disparities.

For example, a study from the Chicago Digital Equity Council, published in January 2023, reported that about “172,000 Chicago households (over 15%) don’t have internet at home, and nearly 92,000 (roughly 8%) don’t have any device.” The makeup of Chicago’s 10 least connected neighborhoods, it showed, is 72% Black and 25% Latino with an average median household income of about $35,000.

David Jones II, co-founder and president of the board of directors at Fresh Supply,

said that he hopes the Westside Community Network will highlight the need for legislation that improves the digital disparities in the Chicago’s West Side communities. One of the main goals for the network is to provide accessibility to information for households that may lack an internet connection, he said.

“We do hope to impact and influence policy at that level so that things can chang e more systemically,” David Jones said. “[The Westside Community Network] is not an end-all be-all…but it is a tool now for us, as an organization, the organizations re presented with it now in our community hubs, the students and young people who are influencing the decisions and the outcomes of what it looks like – that’s real community. If we can find ways to start communicating better, creating better accessibility points for people to tap in…now were basically tunneling the inter net to them.”

T he students who participated in the summer progr am visited multiple organizations and nonprofits across the city to learn about their needs and how the network can bridge the communication gap between the organizations and the people

MICHAEL BANIEWICZ

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that they aim to serve David Jones said that contributions from students were invaluable to the Westside Community Network. Including students was necessary as they are impacted by technolo gy often, he added. For example, Terron Smith, a student from Chicago Tech Academy, of fered insight on the wording for the text messages that helped shape the hotline “If we’re going to have real progress and

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growth in a community, the ef fort to do that has to be inter-generational,” David Jones said. “The world around us is changing and being shaped so rapidly by technology and tech systems that are most impacting our young people…we need to make sure that we center those that are being most impacted, those who are most vulnerable at the table to be able to help us to make decisions on how these things actually manifest in real life.”

Join us for the celebration of the completion of this 48-unit affordable housing development, followed by a property tour and community festivities.

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MICHAEL BANIEWICZ

Sonya Massey is another wake-up call

Iattended the rally that was held July 30 at New Mount Pilg rim Church in honor of the late Sonya Massey. She is the Black woman from the Springfield area who called 911 because she thought she heard a prowler. She had a pot of water boiling on the stove which they

Missing were Black politicians, including Mayor I’m-A-Black-Man-LivingOn-The-West-Side-of-Chicago and even more noticeable, white politicians like Governor Pritzker, on whose watch and literally

Summer Hawaiian Dance

the police. Although the George Floyd Act, which “would seek to address the racial profiling and use of force that so often results in deadly police encounters,” passed the House in March 2021, it has stalled

of police districts and had disciplinary problems in the past.

Sonya Massey’s two children, her father, and several other family members were present. The rally raised $15,000-plus for the children. It was heartbreaking to hear her son say that the police never told him who killed their mother. He had to learn about it through the media. The family will even more money as they fight to get justice for Sonya. A rally this past weekend of bikers who protested in Springfield is a sign that this is a cause are not going to allow anyone to p under the rug.

The Democratic National Convention starts in about two weeks. It’s going to be interesting to see what, if any, demands are made to the nominee in n for our support

No more pretextual tra c stops?

The Free2Move Coalition calls for the Chicago Police Depar tment to reevaluate the strategy

By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter

A group working toward more equitable traffic safety has called for the Chicago Police Department to stop pretextual traffic stops, which officials say encourage overpolicing and racial profiling.

The Free2Move Coalition submitted over 2,400 signatures to the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability July 25, asking for a hearing to eliminate pretextual traffic stops on the police force. The CCPSA then scheduled the hearing for Aug. 27.

Free2Move officials said there’s a lack of evidence that pretextual stops — often made under the pretext of minor traffic violations with the purpose to look for evidence of a non-traffic-related crime — are an efficient policing strateg y.

“Everyone here today, and those who were able to sign the petition to get her e, collectively, are asking the CCPSA to listen to the voices,” said Biliah Mandela of Community Renewal Society at the July 25 CCPSA meeting. “We are all here because pretextual stops are not working and are harmful to the Black and brown community.”

According to a report by Free2Move and Impact For Equity, from 2015 to 2023, there was a nearly 700% increase in traffic stops around the city, totaling over 530,000 stops. That’s more than 1,000 stops a day and the second-highest number of traffic stops since 2004.

But Free2Move suggests that few of these half-a-million traffic stops impact roadway or public safety.

Of last year’s traffic stops in Chicago, less than 1% produced contraband, less than 3% resulted in arrest and under 4% led to a citation, according to the report.

And last year, as in previous years, police disproportionately pulled over people of color.

In 2023, over 51% of drivers who police pulled over were Black, though Black people comprise about 30% of Chicago’s population. Approximately 30% were Latino, which make up about the same percentage of the city’s residents. More than 13% of traffic stops were for white drivers, which account for over 32% of the city’s population.

Pretextual traffic stops also impact Chicago’s West Side more than any other neighborhood.

Chicago’s 11th Police District, which covers Garfield Park and Humboldt Park, experienced the most traffic stops last year of any district — over 56,000. The second highest number, over 47,000, came from the 10th district, whose jurisdiction is Garfield Park and Lawndale. The next highest number was over 32,000 in the 7th District on Chicago’s South Side.

There are 22 district councils for each police district, each with three elected councilors. In addition to the 2,400 signatures, the Free2Move Coalition also got 36 district councilors to support its policy platform. It’s the first time ever that a majority of the councilors have endorsed a

policy proposal.

Leonardo Quintero, district councilor for the 12th District, said there are “stories that need to be shared, incidents that have been swept under the rug for years, and the people deserve the opportunity to be heard, believed and, most importantly, to be included in creating this language” for a new traf fic stop policy

Problems with police accountability

Minor traffic violations, like expired re gistrations or unlit headlights, often don’t affect other drivers as much as driving infractions, like speeding or running a red light.

Free2Move officials argue that police resources could be used to respond to more dangerous crimes and that pretextual traffic stops are de grading the police’s relationship with the people who it’s supposed to protect.

“No community wants or deserves tactical units or policing strategies that include pretextual stops,” said Jackie Baldwin, director of antiracism and equity at the Jewish Council on Urban Af fairs

The call to end pretextual traffic stops comes at a time when CCPSA is evaluating its own services.

In July, CCPSA President Anthony Driver announced there have been recent complaints about the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which CCPSA oversees.

“The information we have received concerns the quality and integrity of COPA’s investigations, the quality and integrity of COPA’s disciplinary recommendations and retaliation against COPA employees who have raised concerns about COPA’s investigations and recommendations,” Driver said at a special meeting July 15.

The CCPSA then unanimously voted to forward the complaints to the Office of Inspector General and recommended that it investigate the claims. The office usually doesn’t disclose whether it is looking into agencies or people, releasing reports only once it completes investigations.

While the Office of Inspector General may or may not scrutinize COPA, CCPSA is taking claims against pretextual traffic stops seriously.

If CCPSA determines at the Aug. 27 hearing that pretextual traffic stops should be eliminated, Free2Move demands a timeline for the Chicago Police Department to implement a new traffic stop policy by March.

“Twenty years ago, I was with Amnesty International. We did town hearings about racial profiling, and we called out pretextual traffic stops as an issue here in Chicago. It’s 20 years later, and we’re still fighting the same issue,” said W. Robert Schultz III, a campaign organizer at the Active Transportation Alliance. “I don’t want to wait another 20 years to solve this problem.”

West Side authors teach kids to tell their own stories

The tykes even presented them in an open mic session

By HOPE BAKER

Contributing Reporter

Authors from Chicago’s West Side ga ered at A House in Austin Sunday to read to youngsters and help them tell thei own stories.

The nonprofit hosted Authors Around the House, an event designed for kids ages 7 to 12. During the workshop, local authors read their own published children’s books out loud and then helped participants write stories of their own. After the stories we completed, the children shared their creations during an open mic session. Families also browsed a book fair that was presented by a representative from PaperPi a book distributor. At the end of the event, each child left with a goody bag filled with a journal and books by the local authors who facilitated the workshop.

Lynette Kelly-Bell, co-executive director of A House in Austin, said the nonprofit serves as a community hub. The organization was founded in 2016 to provide enriching programs and support for parents and children on Chicago’s west side. As of September 2020, the nonprofit has called a blue Victorian-style house on Pine Avenue their home.

“We want families to know this isn’t just a house,” Kelly-Bell said. “It’s for programming.”

Holistic programming and services provided for families at A House in Austin include weekly parent support groups, cooking courses, family counseling, parent-child music classes, early intervention therapies, drop-in play time and wellness practices of yoga and meditation.

“At the core of everything we do here is the foundation of a child’s development, and reading and writing are huge,” KellyBell said. “From the start we’ve always wanted to make sure that children have access to books. We want to make sure that parents have books at home to read to their children.”

Kelly-Bell said one of the goals of the reading and writing workshop is to expose kids to a future career path that they may not otherwise have considered.

“Having an author that looks like you and comes from the same neighborhood is so impactful to these children,” she said.

One of those authors was Honey Thom-

il Shorty Love” to a group of children at A

“Writing your emotions out is healthy because you can document where you’ve been and see your growth. It’s a good way to track yourself,” he said.

In a ddition to reading and w riting, an o pportunity to c olor and draw was provided by North Lawndale native Jay Simon, who brought a box of c olorin g b ooks he co-created titled “Elvin Exp lores North Lawndale.” Throughout the c oloring b ook, an ele p hant named Elvin drives around North Lawndale, visitin g significant places within the community

“My 7-year-old daughter learned the names of the streets in the neighborhood by doing the crossword puzzle in this coloring book,” Simon said.

Author Honey omas reads one of her books to a group of children at A House in Austin.

book titled “Lil Shorty Love” out loud to . It and opportunity,”

ool to get them reading

Thomas said.

Austin native Corey Dooley also read his

Dooley said writing can also be a helpful and healthy tool for school-aged kids

One of the parents who attended was Oak Park resident Nicole Linder, who brought her two children, an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old. Linder is also a member of the board at A House in Austin.

“It’s a super exciting chance for these kids to meet real authors,” she said. “The kids like to write stories so it’s a great chance to explore that.”

A House in Austin is located at 533 N. Pine Ave. For more information and to re gister for programs visit their website at ahouseinaustin.org.

HOPE BAKER

Jay Simon, creator of the “Elv in Explores North Lawndale” color ing book.

Maternity care deserts on South and West Sides see higher infant, maternal death rates

The lack of comprehensive pre- and post-natal care has negatively impacted new and expectant parents in underser ved areas. But Chicagoans are working to close the gap.

By JAMIE NESBITT GOLDEN and ATAVIA REED Block Club Chicago

A new American Medical Association re port studying the impact of OB-GYN clinic closures on maternal and infant health on the city’s South and West sides illustrates glaring disparities in care

Written in collaboration with Sinai Urban Health Institute, the re port — titled “From Facilities to Outcomes: A Neighborhood-Level Examination of Maternal and Infant Care Access in Chicago” — examines maternity care deserts and measures maternal health care access within Chicago ZIP codes using three categories: low, medium and full access

T he study found the range of full maternal care is distributed unequally across the city, with the South and West sides containing the most low-access ZIP codes. Downtown and the North Side had the most full-access ZIP codes.

Three conveniently located clinics on the South and West sides have closed in the past six years, and the dearth of specialists in certain ZIP codes requires expectant parents to seek care outside of their communities.

Nationally, more than 2 million people of childbearing ages, 15 to 44, live in “maternity care deserts,” according to a 2022 March of Dimes re port

Pregnant people in the United States are more likely to die from pregnancy and childbir th complications compared to individuals in other developed countries. But there is an “even deeper divide” between white pregnant people and their Black and Indigenous equivalents, according to the study.

New and expectant parents on Chicago’s South and West sides lack access to f ull maternal care and face hi gher maternal death rates, a new American Medical Association report found.

‘Systemic injustices prohibit access to resources’

Between 1999 and 2019, Black people had the highest median maternal mortality rate in the United States, while Indigenous people had the largest increase in the median state maternal mortality rate.

But the disparity between Black and white maternal mortality rates in Chicago is even higher than the national estimate, according to the study.

Nationally, the maternal death rate for Black mothers was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 births, compared to 19 deaths per 100,000 births for white women, according to a 2024 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

A recent study from the city’s Department of Public Health found Black Chicagoans were nearly six times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy or the year after birth.

Birth mortality inequities are not because of biological differences but come from systemic injustices that prohibit access to resources, according to the study.

Pregnant people require pre- and post-na-

tal care, but when that care is not available, “the impact to maternal and fetal outcomes is often more influenced by factors beyond the control of the pregnant person,” according to the study.

Additional ndings:

The number of obstetric and gynecological beds in Cook County ranges from 12 to 134, and neonatal intensive care unit bed capacity in Cook County ranged from eight to 86, with most located in Downtown’s medical district. Of the 14 NICU units in Cook County, only one facility near the South Side and two near the West Side — all outside of the city — specialize in highrisk pregnancies.

The Chicago maternal morbidity rate is 74.1 per 10,000 deliveries, but the rate ranges from 15.6 to 172.8 per 10,000 by ZIP code. Some of the highest rates are in ZIP codes without hospitals and in ZIP codes with lower numbers of practicing OB-GYN physicians.

Areas with high rates of inadequate prenatal care — care that begins after four months of gestation — coincided with areas highly concentrated on the South and West sides with few or no re gistered OB-

GYN providers and areas that are farther away from hospitals with a high capacity for mater nal and infant care

Living on the South and West sides was also correlated with higher rates of infant deaths, higher rates of preterm births (before 37 weeks) and higher rates of low (less than 2,500 grams) and very low (less than 1,500 grams) birthweights.

The findings are no surprise to Karie Stewart, a certified nurse-midwife with UI Health. She and fellow staffers at the Auburn Gresham-based clinic have seen an influx of patients seeking care unavailable to them closer to home.

“I don’t have access to obstetricians or [nurse practitioners with advanced nursing de grees] where I’m working, and so that makes it very dif ficult for me, because then I’m seeing people who are really high risk. Not that it bothers me … but the majority of the midwives are not comfor table doing high-risk care because that’s not what they were trained in,” Stewart said. “So you have a population that also has lots of social determinant needs, and we are stretched thin with staff.”

Stewart said exhaustion is the main reason so many health care professionals are leaving the industry. Having to manage prenatal care during the pandemic and shift from telehealth visits back to in-office ones was a hard transition for many. And the lack of support and resources didn’t help, Stewart said.

T he numbers reflect the reality: According to the study, the highest concentration of OB-GYN physicians is in the Downtown and Medical District areas. Whil e patients on the South and West sides may have the option to seek care at federally qualified health centers in their communities, those centers do not offer all of the same services and are rarely equipped to handle high-risk cases.

‘Filling in the gap for expectant parents’

But solutions are out there. Stewart believes that “incentivizing good health” would be a start.

“We have to provide the resources so expectant mothers can actually have a good

See MATERNITY CARE on pa ge 14

CREDIT: PEXELS; PROVIDED/L AU RA SMITH

MATERNIT Y CARE

Care deserts

from page 13

chance ofhaving a good health outcome,” Stewart said. “We see a lot ofthese patients on the South and West sides that don’ t have access to good nutrition or access to appropriate transportation. Ifthey have insurance, their insurance carriers aren’t informing them ofall the resources that they could utilize based on their car rier.

“We do a lot ofthat education within the clinic, and we have case managers and a nutritionist. I’ve purposely done those things because the area that I serve is a desert. If you were incentivizing clinics that support and highlight those types of things, you’ll have better outcomes.”

Stewart is one ofthe industry veterans behind the Melanated Group Midwifery Care model, a “multi-pronged strateg y” designed to improve the Black birthing experience from prenatal to postpartum care. The model received a $7.1 million grant from the Patient Centered Outcomes Re-

search Institute two years ago, allowing for the hiring ofBlack midwives, doulas and nurse navigators at UI Health.

Stewart’s model allows patients to star t with midwifery care. From there, she and her team determine whether the patient needs to be co-managed by the obstetrician or the maternal fetal medicine physician at UI Health’s main campus

The majority ofpregnant people remain at Auburn Gresham, where they have access to Stewart, a caseworker and a nutritionist, all of whom are ready to address any immediate needs, Stewart said. The nutritionist can make sure pregnant people are able to receive WIC or help them apply for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Expecting parents also get a doula who will help them postpartum.

Filling in the gaps and providing wraparound services also improves outcomes, whether it’s giving a pregnant mom money to take a bus for an ultrasound appointment or ensuring an expectant parent has support in a medical emergency, Stewar t said.

She recalled a time when one ofher patients had an emergency while she was at home with two small children with her partner away

WANTTO

“She just started bleeding a lot. She didn’t have a car nor anyone to call to support her children while she decided to go to the hospital. She called her doula, the doula that we provided, and her doula came to the house and watched the children while the ambulance took her to the hospital,” Stewart said. “She was able to g et the care she needed, which saved her life because that could have been really bad. She didn’t have to make the decision of choosing to either go to the hospital and assess her needs or leaving her children at home by themselves.

“She had support with the prog ram that we provided. She was able to g et a ride home, and know that when she got home, her kids were safe because the doula was there.”

T here are glimmers ofhope that this kind of care could be expanded

Earlier this week, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the birth equity initiative , which calls for providers of state-re gulated health care plans to cover crucial pregnancy and postpartum services, like midwives and doulas, for up to 12 months after birth. Stewart, who was on hand for the occasion, told Block Club the law is a sign of progress

“That’s huge step that they put funding to funding doulas, monies for midwives and also other resources that are needed for the community. T herefore, you’ re putting money into the workforc e, allowing other individuals to be able to assist in caring for this population and having better outcomes,” Stewart said.

On the West Side, doulas afﬁliated with Marillac St. Vincent in Garfield Park are helping vulnerable patients by offering round-the-clock assistance as they navigate their pregnancies through Project Hope, educating them on what they need to know and how to advocate for themselves during doctor visits. T he 29-yearold doula progr am helps young mothers in the community and those detained at Cook County Jail

And on the Far Southeast Side, a midwife is working to create a “utopia of Black birth workers” with nurses, a physician collaborator, pediatricians, nutritionists, social workers and childbir th and parenting doulas and educators, all of whom will assist in providing comprehensive care to patients at a birthing center, eliminating one more maternity desert. People interested in midwifery will be able to receive training there as well.

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENTCHANCERY DIVISION

CITIZENS BANK NA F/K/A RBS

CITIZENS NA Plaintiff, -v.-

WALTER LEE HARRIS SR, RHONDA HARRIS, CITY OF CHICAGO

Defendants

2023 CH 01160 5318 W HARRISON ST CHICAGO, IL 60644

NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY

GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on May 21, 2024, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on August 23, 2024, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate:

Commonly known as 5318 W HARRISON ST, CHICAGO, IL

60644

Property Index No. 16-16-121-0550000

The real estate is improved with a residence.

Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court.

Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.

If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4).

If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1).

IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW.

You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building

REAL

ESTATE FOR SALE

and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

For information, examine the court file, CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL, 60527 (630) 794-9876

THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION

One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE

You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE IL, 60527

630-794-5300

E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com

Attorney File No. 14-23-00786

Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762

Case Number: 2023 CH 01160 TJSC#: 44-1447

NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Case # 2023 CH 01160 I3248530

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENTCHANCERY DIVISION

SELFRELIANCE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, F/K/A SELFRELIANCE UKRAINIAN AMERICAN FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Plaintiff, -v.PETRO GLIBKA A/K/A PETER GLIBKA, MARIA GLIBKA, CAVALRY PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, CITY OF CHICAGO, OLEKSANDR MYRONYUK, OLEKSANDRA MYRONYUK, GALYNA MYRONYUK, ELENA MYRONYUK, PARVIDA VIBOON, MYKHAILO VALCHYSHYN, ROMAN POROKHNYAK, SVITLANA SKOROBOGACH, ULIANA PAZIUK, IHOR PAZIUK, HALYNA KHABA, MYKHAYLO KHABA, TARAS KHABA, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS

Defendants

2022 CH 5668 2528 WEST CORTEZ STREET CHICAGO, IL 60622

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY

GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on August 4, 2023, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on August 21, 2024, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 2528 WEST CORTEZ STREET, CHICAGO, IL 60622

Property Index No. 16-01-410-0250000

The real estate is improved with a multi-family residence.

POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW.

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

The judgment amount was $638,144.68.

You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

For information, contact B. GEORGE OLEKSIUK, OLEKSIUK & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 422 EAST PALATINE ROAD, PALATINE, IL, 60074 (847) 202-4030. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION

One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE

You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. B. GEORGE OLEKSIUK OLEKSIUK & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 422 EAST PALATINE ROAD PALATINE IL, 60074 847-202-4030

E-Mail: bgoleksiuk@gmail.com Attorney Code. 39474

Case Number: 2022 CH 5668

TJSC#: 44-1888

NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any

information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Case # 2022 CH 5668 I3248647

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENTCHANCERY DIVISION

U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR RCF2 ACQUISITION TRUST

Plaintiff, -v.-

FRANKIE C. JENKINS, STATE OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO TITLE AND TRUST COMPANY

Defendants 2019 CH 09458

24 S. CENTRAL AVE. CHICAGO, IL 60644

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY

GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on June 11, 2024, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on September 13, 2024, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate:

Commonly known as 24 S. CENTRAL AVE., CHICAGO, IL 60644

Property Index No. 16-17-205-0320000

The real estate is improved with a single family residence. The judgment amount was $274,354.67.

IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN

For information, contact JOHNSON, BLUMBERG & ASSOCIATES, LLC

Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 30 N. LASALLE STREET, SUITE 3650, Chicago, IL, 60602 (312) 541-9710. Please refer to file number 18 6423. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION

One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE

You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. JOHNSON, BLUMBERG & ASSOCIATES, LLC 30 N. LASALLE STREET, SUITE 3650 Chicago IL, 60602 312-541-9710

E-Mail: ilpleadings@johnsonblumberg.com

Attorney File No. 18 6423

Attorney Code. 40342

Case Number: 2019 CH 09458 TJSC#: 44-1618

Case # 2019 CH 09458 I3249100