City of Chicago makes fruitful efforts to eliminate food deserts

Nia Arnold is a guidance clerk at one of Chicago Public School’s 11 selective enrollment high schools. The closest grocery store to her school has always been Jewel Osco, nearly three miles away. Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market recently opened four blocks away. Before Wal-Mart opened, Arnold’s school was in one of the many food deserts on Chicago’s South Side.

“As soon as the bell rings, kids go to McDonald’s, Golden Fish and Chicken, or White Castle,” Arnold said.

The United States Department of Agriculture defines a food desert as “a census tract with a substantial share of residents who live in low-income areas that have low levels of access to a grocery store or healthy, affordable food retail outlet.” 

U of C students join South Side community activists in fight for trauma center

Community activists have been fighting for the University of Chicago Medical Center to re-open its Level 1 trauma care center for years, but the pressure from U of C students has forced the administration to listen.  

Students for Health Equity hosted a teach-in Tuesday on U of C’s campus to answer questions and debunk myths about the trauma center campaign. Group members say their different perspective gives them the ability to effect change.

“The administration listens to us with a different ear,” said Duff Morton, a graduate student and Students for Health Equity member. “When we take risks, the administration overreacts, and it benefits the campaign.”

Chicago works to close the breast cancer race gap

The mortality gap in breast cancer between black women and white women in Chicago has decreased for the first time in twenty years.

In 2007 black women were dying a rate 62 percent greater than white women. That disparity dropped to 40 percent between 2008 and 2010, which translates to 25 black womens’ lives saved.

“We’ve saved 25 women, 25 mothers and 25 friends,” said Teena Francois-Blue, associate director of community health initiatives.

Now a new study, released at the Chicago Urban League, is outlining the inconsistency of treatment across the state of Illinois, as well as plans for the future.

Financial abuse—when domestic violence is more than just physical

When most people think of domestic violence, they think of physical abuse—black eyes and broken bones. But there is another form of abuse that is more difficult to spot, advocates for battered women say: financial abuse.

“The whole dynamic of an abusive relationship is about power and control, so often it’s economic reasons that keep women with their abusers,” said Hillary Douin, counselor at the Howard Area Community Center in Rogers Park. “They have no housing, employment or resources, so if they leave they would be homeless.”

Some examples of financial abuse include prohibiting the victim from getting a job, taking the victim’s wages, or withholding bank records and account information. It is a subtler tactic that domestic abusers use to exert control over their victims, advocates say.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and advocates are highlighting the issue of financial abuse. Some warn that financial abuse is even more prevalent than physical abuse.