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Health Fair on the Block Offers Information, Screenings, Window Into Elev8

By Ed Finkel on Friday, July 2, 2010

Address: 79th And Racine, Chicago, IL

Several hundred residents of Auburn Gresham and surrounding neighborhoods gained healthcare knowledge, availed themselves of basic clinical services, and learned about LISC/Chicago’s Elev8 program from 43 vendors during the Health Fair on the Block, held June 10 on the 1100 block of West 79th Street.

“We are now on the street doing things like pelvic exams for women, and blood testing and screening,” said Carlos Nelson, executive director of Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corp., which partners with Perspectives Charter Schools in implementing the health clinic, after-school programming and other features of Elev8.

“The exciting thing is that the services we are demonstrating are the same types of things you would find at a health clinic,” Nelson said. “People are walking away finding out what their sugar levels are and what their blood pressure is, rather than just information."

“The Auburn-Gresham community was once known as a health desert,” added Kasheika Brown, health corps worker (through AmeriCorps) at Perspectives. “By bringing healthcare resources, our residents will receive services they would not otherwise have.”

Among the new vendors in attendance were CVS Caremark, which tested blood pressure; the Women’s Health Foundation, which provided information on safe sex and condoms; and a farmer’s market offering fresh produce, Brown said. Other vendors included Walgreens, Association of Black Cardiologists, American Pharmacists Association, Chicago Women’s AIDS Project, and the American Kidney Fund.

Tenisha Jones, the Elev8 director at Perspectives, said she works to build partnerships and spread the good word. “My goal is to bring all the key elements of Elev8 out to the community,” she said, adding that she was “especially proud” to bring the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center for the first time.

The center, which works with sexually abused children, coordinates caseloads with the state’s attorney, police and medical facilities, said Cerina Marlar, community relations and training coordinator. “We hope they can come to one place, tell their story and start to heal,” she said. “We don’t want kids to have to tell their stories over and over.”

CVS offered everything from bottled water to Q&A with a pharmacist from the drugstore chain’s Minute Clinic about medications, mail-order services, and health savings programs, said Tom Ashworth, director of community affairs.

The Women’s Health Foundation shared information about an adolescent health research study that’s delving into how well teenage girls understand the changes and challenges of puberty, said Anna Albrecht, director of wellness initiatives.

“The more education they have, the more they know and respect,” she said. “We would love to have peer educators and train students from Perspectives so they could dispel some of the myths and some of the marketing” about things like feminine hygiene products that don’t work as well as advertised.

Keeping Elev8 Funded
Students at Perspectives seem very appreciative to have their clinic through Elev8, staffed by Access Chicago Health Network, said Sharon Anderson, a nurse practitioner. “The experience so far has been awesome,” she said. “The kids are welcoming and warm. They know it’s their clinic. … You need healthy kids to have healthy minds.”

On the day of the fair, Perspectives students asked people to sign petitions calling for continued funding of Elev8, which provides everything from tutoring to mosaic arts programs during the after-school hours, said eighth-grader Christopher Criddell.

“We’re trying to show that people care about Elev8, so we can keep it funded,” he said. “We’re trying to get people to understand the program and get their signatures to support it. … It’s a great program that should be in more schools.”

As the health fair concluded, Perspectives students who participate in the martial arts and hip-hop dance after-school programs backed up Criddell’s assertions with on-street demonstrations of their talents that were well received by youngsters in the next-door Lots of Love preschool program.