HEALTHY CHICAGO EQUITY ZONES

The Healthy Chicago Equity Zones initiative deploys hyper-local strategies to confront the social and environmental factors that contribute to health and racial inequity – with the ultimate goal of closing Chicago’s racial life expectancy gap. Efforts have begun with community leadership of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, including outreach and engagement during 2021 focused on increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates, and evolve to confront factors that contribute to health and racial disparities, including healthcare and social service access, food access, housing conditions, community safety, and the physical and built neighborhood environment.

Funding has been divided among six regional lead organizations that will provide backbone financial, administrative, and project management support in each of the Equity Zones. The regional leads are required, in turn, to subcontract with at least one community organization in every neighborhood within their region to guide planning and action on local priorities. These Regional Leads are:

• Far South: Phalanx Family Services

• Near South: Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation

• North/Central: Swedish Covenant Hospital

• Northwest: Northwest Center

• Southwest: Southwest Organizing Project

• West: Rush University Medical Center (on behalf of West Side United)

In addition to the funds initially allocated for vaccine equity initiatives, CDPH anticipates future awards so the Healthy Chicago Equity Zones can apply the same targeted, community-driven approaches to other local priorities.