Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

The Carolyn Adams Ticket for the Cure (TFTC) is an Illinois Lottery specialty ticket where 100 percent of profits go toward breast cancer research, awareness, and education in Illinois. Launched in 2006, the ticket was renamed in 2011 in honor of former Illinois Lottery superintendent Carolyn Adams, who helped write the legislation for TFTC before losing her battle to breast cancer. Since 2006, the ticket has raised over $15 million in grant funding for medical research centers and community organizations across the state, which is distributed by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Tickets cost $3 and are available for purchase at over 7,000 Illinois Lottery retailers statewide. Visit the Illinois Lottery website for more information, and read on to learn more about two recent grant recipients, Chicago’s Anixter Center and Cass County Health Department.

Anixter Centeranixter.org

Navigating breast cancer screenings, physician appointments, and treatment plans can be daunting for anyone, but those who are Deaf, DeafBlind, or hard of hearing often face additional challenges when it comes to communicating with their health-care providers or receiving proper care. That reality has been compounded in recent years, partially due to the pandemic.“There’s been a shortage of interpreters who work in medical settings and mask use has made communication even more difficult,” says Karen Aguilar, vice president of communication access at Chicago’s Anixter Center.

Founded as an orphanage in 1919 by a group of friends in honor of a friend who’d lost several children to the influenza pandemic, Anixter currently serves Chicagoans living with disabilities and behavioral health needs, and—through their Chicago Hearing Society division—those who are Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing. Their Ticket for the Cure grant serves that latter clientele by funding a patient navigator, breast cancer education videos in American Sign Language, community workshops, and other outreach activities.

The program’s navigator works with clients from their first screenings through the end of their cancer journey, helping them make appointments and understand terminology while acting as medical advocates. “It’s so important that the patient understands their physician,” Aguilar says. “That’s important for hearing people, but many hearing people are equipped with the knowledge of what’s going to happen at a medical appointment. For a Deaf person who might not have that experience of overhearing certain medical terms as they grow up, it can be very new to them.”

Anixter’s work remains vital, because ultimately, for these patients there’s much more than miscommunication at stake. “Poor communication between patients who are Deaf, DeafBlind or hard of hearing and their physicians, nurses, and techs can lead to misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and poor assessments,” Aguilar says. “And a lack of communication feeds into misunderstandings that we want to make sure are removed.”

Cass County Health Departmentcasscohealth.org

County health departments play important roles in their communities, but for residents of medically underserved areas, such as Cass County, Illinois, they can be particularly vital resources for personal health care. Located in central Illinois, the county is predominantly farmland and the nearest hospital is a 40-minute drive away. In 2005, the Cass County Health Department became recognized as a Federally Qualified Health Center, allowing them to address the lack of medical services in the area with the creation of two full-service doctor’s offices (which operate on a sliding-scale basis), and a home health and hospice program.

With their Ticket for the Cure grant, the health department has boosted its breast-cancer-related outreach and education for clients of all ages and walks of life. Cass County’s population is relatively small—at about 13,000 people, it’s roughly the same as Chicago’s Armour Square neighborhood—but it’s exceptionally diverse. That’s partially due to food-processing company JBS USA, which employs many immigrant workers at its Beardstown meatpacking plant.

“Most rural health departments focus solely on rural health, but we’re looking at it from the angle of making sure we’re able to communicate and provide services in English, French, Spanish, and Burmese, which are the dominant languages in Cass County,” says Cass County Health Department director of health education Andrew English.

Their team is also mindful of the varying cultural attitudes toward breast health among the people they serve. They work closely with the local immigration center and respected community leaders on education and outreach initiatives, such as recruiting and training community members to serve as breast health ambassadors and offering women’s health-care events in several languages. Additionally, they meet with clients to empower them in navigating the health-care system, and access screenings, referrals, and sometimes—through a partnership with a local transit company—rides to medical appointments in neighboring counties.

“We’re here because we have a passion, and we really want people to do things that will increase their likelihood of remaining healthy,” English says. “We’re putting that message out into the community to get people to not just wear a pink ribbon, but to act.”

Read More

There’s a vibrant Black-led cycling scene on the south and west sides that often rolls under the radar

For part three of the Reader’s series talking with local sustainable transportation advocates, we checked in with a few of the Black-led bike clubs and organizations that are part of the active group-ride scene on Chicago’s south and west sides. 

While those involved in Chicago’s group bike ride scene are often stereotyped as white north siders, in truth it’s much more diverse. In recent years, growing numbers of Black Chicagoans have been taking part in large recreational and social rides as a way to get physical activity, promote public safety and neighborhood unity—or just to have a good time.

Major Taylor Cycling Club Chicago (MTC3), named for turn of the 20th Century Black bike-racing legend Marshall “Major” Taylor, is the city’s oldest Black-led cycling organization. Membership is open to all, and the group’s stated mission is to promote good health through rides geared towards cyclists of all ages and abilities, from folks getting back into biking for the first time since childhood to elite road riders. 

MTC3 club captain Shawn Conley says MTC3 takes inspiration from Taylor, a man who kept a positive attitude despite facing brutal headwinds in a segregated sport. “We sometimes ride past the Major Taylor murals and gravesite [in south-suburban Glenwood], and we discuss his significance as a person of color who fought oppression and racism,” Conley says. He added that group rides offer members a chance to “enjoy each other’s company while combating heart disease and diabetes,” illnesses that disproportionately impact Black Americans.

One of MCT3’s key events is its annual Memorial Weekend Grand Prix at Big Marsh bike park on the southeast side. Held over Memorial Day Weekend, this year’s festivities included three days of rides of various lengths, including an excursion to an ice cream shop near Whihala Beach in Whiting, Indiana. 

We Keep You Rollin’is a health and wellness group that centers underserved communities in Chicago. It was founded in 2015 by Deloris Lucas, a longtime resident of the Golden Gate neighborhood in the city’s far-south Riverdale community area (located near the Altgeld Gardens housing project). Known as “the Bike Lady of Golden Gate,” Lucas has successfully advocated for bike lanes and Divvy stations in that part of town, and she’s currently pushing the city and state to build an off-street path along highway-like 130th Street—a major barrier to biking in the area. 

WKYR teaches safe cycling to kids and leads trips for people of all ages to natural areas like Beaubien Woods, just east of Altgeld.”WKYR teaches safe cycling to kids and leads trips to natural areas like Beaubien Woods, just east of Altgeld. “Our mission is ultimately to help create a more livable, sustainable and vibrant community,” Lucas said. The group’s centerpiece 2022 event was the 7th Annual WKYR “Lucas Legacy” Bike Ride & Wellness Pop Up. Held on July 30, with dozens of sponsors, community organizations, city agencies participating, drawing over 100 attendees. 

South Side Critical Mass is a predominantly Black spinoff of the huge Chicago Critical Mass bike parade that has gathered in Daley Plaza on the last Friday of every month. Though Chicago Critical Mass has grown more diverse since it started a quarter century ago, it still draws a majority white and north-side crowd, and while they ride to all corners of the city, they’re more likely to end at north-side destinations.

SSCM volunteer Danielle McKinnie says that the group’s rides aim to expose raiders to “hidden gems” on the city’s south side while supporting neighborhood businesses. “Our visibility in the community, while wishing onlookers a ‘Happy Friday,’ gets drivers used to seeing bikes in the streets, makes underserved communities safer, and promotes a biking culture,” she said. “We demonstrate the need for biking infrastructure like protected bike lanes and trails.”  

SSCM hosts their annual Wear Orange in June in honor of Hadiya Pendleton, who at age 15 was fatally shot in 2013 in a Kenwood park while standing with her friends (she was later mentioned in Barack Obama’s State of the Union address that year) plus others who lost their lives to gun violence. The ride, which drew more than 70 participants in 2022, visits Hadiya Pendleton Park in Grand Boulevard and ends at her family’s business, the New Look Restaurant. “This allows us to show the family love, celebrate Hadiya’s life and support the business,” McKinnie said.

We’ve just scratched the surface of the south and west side cycling scene. Here are some additional Black-led bike groups and community organizations that host rides to check out:

Black Joy RideChicago Century ClubEquiticityHoldTheLaneStreets CallingThink Outside da Block

Read the previous story in our series here: https://chicagoreader.com/city-life/on-the-right-track-the-high-speed-rail-alliance-aims-to-make-trains-a-more-practical-option-for-getting-across-chicago-and-the-nation/.

Coverage funded by The Darrell R. Windle Charitable Fund and Polo Inn.

Read More

Is death life’s greatest mystery? Or would we just like it to be? (Therefore, ghosts, devils, heaven, hell, organized religion, and Halloween candy.)

Those are not among the five major questions that serve as an organizing mechanism for the Field Museum’s expansive new exhibit, “Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery,” however much they hang in the air.

The actual questions are these:

What is death?Answer, more or less: depends on how you define it.

What will happen to my body?Probably won’t be a fossil. Most likely, buried or burned. Ecologically correct but less popular choice: served up as another creature’s dinner.

Do I have to die?Um, yes.

How will my death affect others?Most animals won’t notice.

The big question—What will happen to my spirit? (And what is the spirit, anyway?)—is posed, but basically ducked.

Designed to be “a safe and welcoming place for visitors to get curious,” the exhibit presents “all the different answers offered by the natural world as well as human cultures through time,” according to a museum press release.

“Visitors will see that these questions don’t necessarily have just one answer, but many,” exhibition developer Ben Miller says in the statement.

Translation: there’s a lot here about the rituals various cultures have developed to help people cope.

“Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery”Through 8/27/23: daily 9 AM-5 PM (last admission 4 PM), closed Thanksgiving and Christmas, Field Museum, 1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Dr., 312-922-9410, fieldmuseum.org; exhibition included in the Field’s All-Access Pass, starting at $32 for Chicago residents

So, anodyne enough for a G or PG rating. Not surprising since museums are fighting their own dinosaur status and school field trips are vital to their survival. Still, there’s plenty of interesting stuff, all drawn from the museum’s vast collection. The Field, with its 40 million objects and specimens—stuffed, pinned, floating in preservative—is our own spectacular temple of the dead.

The exhibit’s scariest element might be the ominous musical soundscape that covers nearly the entire 7,500-square-foot space with an aura of foreboding. Unlike the few items prefaced by warning signs—a series of illustrations depicting a decomposing body or a chance to sniff the scent of human death—it’s not something you can choose to avoid.

Would you rather be buried or cremated? Visitors can tap a touch screen to record their answers for comparison with the hive mind. On opening day, cremation was winning, 56 to 44 percent. This, in spite of a display titled “All about cremation, as told by chickens” that included the sparse remains of said birds after they’d been incinerated, hydrolyzed, freeze-dried, or transformed into a diamond.

According to the exhibit, “Life [though not exactly your life] goes on after death, and could not without it”—a situation illustrated by a model of a “whale fall,” in which a mob of underwater creatures feast and set up housekeeping on the body of a sunk dead whale. The human version of this circle-of-life outcome: a “green burial” pod that turns a decaying former person into tree food.

Model depicting the sunken body of a whale and the new ecosystem it creates. This model is included in the exhibition “Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery” at the Field Museum. © Field Museum, artwork by Blue Rhino Studios, photo by Edgar Lopez

Some creatures are good at holding off death. Among them, the tardigrade, represented by a blimp-like model 4,000 times its actual size, which is the width of two human hairs. Tardigrades are the most resilient creatures on earth, capable of surviving dehydration and starvation, able to live underwater and in outer space, and, we’re told, klutzy cute.  

Unlike tardigrades, human lives are highly dependent on their environment. In one of the exhibit’s potentially most interesting sections, the point is made that in the United States, “the best predictor of your life expectancy is where you live.” When I was there, however, its main feature, an interactive map that was supposed to allow visitors to check specific locations, was, well, dead. (At press time, a museum spokesperson said it should be operable now.) 

Decomposition can be stopped by processes like mummification, but to get a good look at that, you’d need to exit Death, enter the Inside Ancient Egypt exhibit across the great hall, and descend to the lower level of the museum, where, in an appropriately tomblike environment, actual mummies are displayed.

 The Death exhibit does not include any real human bodies.

Speaking of bodies, the immortal Mae West has been given the exhibit’s final wall text quote: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” Visitors have a chance to add their own words as they exit, by completing this statement on a blackboard: “Before I die I want to . . .”

Answers I saw included “get a pet snake,” “fall in love with myself,” and “pass the NY bar.”

So, yes, life goes on. Probably still better than the alternative.

Read More

During the Rock’s promotional tour for Black Adam, a fan sent their baby toward him, through the hands of many strangers. Everyone cheered as the baby, swaddled in pink, landed in his massive arms onstage. Such is the cult that has formed around the man born Dwayne Johnson, now peaking with the cinematic scale-up of a DC Comics side character.

Johnson previously rejected a Black Adam cameo in Shazam! 2, despite the character being canonically familiar as a Shazam villain. It would be an “incredible disservice” to the character, he said, oozing the same hijacking side-quest energy as when he entered, then exited, the Fast & Furious world with an odd, bloated spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw. That movie made big money, and Black Adam will too. The Rock is very popular.

Is his new cult chapter any good, though? Not really. Somehow one of its major problems is that the Rock isn’t in it enough. When he is, he doesn’t speak enough, and when he speaks, he’s doing a stoic fish-out-of-water ancient-man bit that’s a worse version of Dave Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy. The CGI set pieces of the fictional, vaguely Middle Eastern city of Kahndaq are dreary and boring. There’s a political parable in there somewhere—something about strongman fascism that maybe, accidentally or not, suggests that there’s a good version of the stuff, but it isn’t cooked well enough to come through. The action occasionally entertains.

The rest is a muddle of virtually nameless side characters doing exposition and failed gags. Pierce Brosnan is wasted in what feels like a lot of scaffolding for future DC movies, or TV shows; rarely do we feel like we are experiencing the thing itself, but rather a setup for a different, later event, which will probably not be the real thing either. PG-13, 124 min.

Wide release in theaters

Read More

Being a fan of Italian horror prog rockers Goblin can be massively rewarding and profoundly confusing. Famous for mind-bendingly complex tunes as well as their scores for late-70s films by the likes of Dario Argento and George Romero, Goblin dissolved in the early 80s, and since they began re-forming a couple decades ago they’ve existed in multiple parallel versions and under several names. When they played onstage in 2009, using the handle Back to the Goblin, it was the first time they’d done so in 32 years. Goblin’s studio lineup shifted radically and often, and their various latter-day touring incarnations have been similarly protean, led by different original members or newcomers. This can lead to unpredictable quality in Goblin-associated performances. 

These various versions of Goblin arose from the band’s initial 2000 reunion, which reopened some old wounds. In 2001 keyboardist Claudio Simonetti began touring with his horror-music tribute band, Daemonia (later called Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin), which he’d formed in the late 90s. I saw this incarnation of Goblin in 2013, and I wasn’t fully satisfied by the nu-metal edge that the newbies in the group brought to its sound. In 2017 I saw my fave modern Goblin show so far, which included the entire original lineup minus Simonetti and added the band’s second organist, Maurizio Guarini—he’d come into the fold in the mid-70s, right after they recorded their classic score for Argento’s Profondo Rosso. 

Sadly, original Goblin guitarist Massimo Morante—a crucial part of their heavy, fuzzy sound—passed away earlier this year. Herculean bassist Fabio Pignatelli and jazzy drummer Agostino Marangolo have carried on as Goblin Rebirth (with the help of some new recruits), and Simonetti is once again touring as Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, this time backed by members of Portuguese band Black Mamba. In live footage from 2019, this configuration looks a bit like your uncle and auntie after an embarrassing industrial makeover, and to my ears they still overdo the thrashy guitar tone and conventional shredding (as much as Goblin are beloved by metalheads, they never really did that back in the day). All that said, Simonetti is in fine form, dueling with himself on multiple keyboards—his equipment sounds more modern than the gear he used in the 70s and 80s, but it still generally evokes the right feel. 

For this show, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin will perform their score to Argento’s 1977 masterpiece Suspiria, a beloved flick saturated with florid evil—the perfect sort of spookiness we all crave around Halloween. I saw the Daemonia lineup do the same show at Metro in 2014, and their sound was improved over the previous year’s gig—they even helped me get past the awkwardness of standing for an entire film, and I didn’t mind that they were louder than the dialogue. It was amazing to experience such cinematic synesthesia live. I’ll always secretly wish that the surviving original members of Goblin would make peace and join forces to play Suspiria again. But that day will probably never come, so this Goblinophile will take what he can get and love it—even if (in true Suspiria fashion) it’s somehow the musical equivalent of wriggling around in a room full of barbed wire.

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin The band perform their score to Suspiria. (They’ll play the same show at the same venue on Thu 12/15.) Fri 10/28, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport. General admission tickets are sold out, box seats are still available for $390. 17+

Read More

Much like its purported star—heartthrob Harry Styles—British director Michael Grandage’s adaptation of Bethan Roberts’s 2012 novel is wantedly handsome and genially bland. The titular policeman, Tom (Styles), is courting school teacher Marion (Emma Corrin), while also falling in love with museum curator Patrick (David Dawson). The story of the trio’s relationship is revealed in retrospect when several decades later a sickly Patrick (Rupert Everett) comes to live with retirees Tom (Linus Roache) and Marion (Gina McKee) at their seaside cottage. Tom and Patrick had enjoyed a torrid affair (to the filmmakers’ credit, there are no coy cutaways when it comes to the steamy sex scenes) until Tom and Marion wed and she realized that something was going on between the two men. I won’t divulge the circumstances and eventual revelation that account for the queer misery which inevitably befalls them, but it’s undeniably cliche; perhaps it says something about the current state of things that another elegant item of such suffering might be considered passé. But Styles isn’t so bad, and it’s nice to know Everett—whose opportunity to be a leading man was sidelined by homophobia after he came out in 1989—collected a paycheck. McKee plays her part with subtle pathos; it’s Dawson, however, who steals the show, adding something not found in Styles’s sedate performance. Still, the film treads water rather than breaking new ground. R, 113 min.

Limited release in theaters,streaming on Prime Video

Read More

For more than 20 years, George Clooney and Julia Roberts have been making affable, generally palatable movie magic together. They make sense together, in the grand old Hollywood tradition of romantic comedies in which a striking, spitfire leading lady is paired with a slightly older but still wildly roguish leading man. The pair banter and quip, spit and spar, but as the credits near they inevitably share a closedmouthed kiss. The two lovers try so hard to be apart, but in the end, they just can’t ignore chemistry. 

That, in short, is pretty much the plot of Ticket to Paradise, Clooney and Roberts’s latest romantic team up. There are twists and turns of course—the divorced pair’s once straitlaced daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) has decided to up and move to Bali and marry a guy she’s known for 37 days, Roberts’s character has a too-nice pilot boyfriend (Lucas Bravo), and there’s an incident with a dolphin, to name a few—but ultimately much of Ticket’s run time is spent waiting for the other romantic shoe to drop for the elder couple. To say whether it does or not would be a spoiler, but Ticket To Paradise is a traditional rom-com in every sense of the word, so it’s pretty easy to guess. 

Much like its Balinese setting, Ticket To Paradise is perfectly pleasant. The entire cast is fun if somewhat comedically underutilized, and you learn a surprising amount about Indonesian wedding culture, which is a nice bonus. Much like a vacation, though, Ticket To Paradise’s impact is fleeting. It’s a fine enough movie to fritter away a couple hours with, but don’t expect it to stick around in your consciousness for too long. PG-13, 104 min.

Wide release in theaters

Read More

Everything was fine in Inisherin yesterday. And there’s no reason to think that this remote island off the Ireland coast changed overnight. Especially for Pádraic, played by Colin Farrell, who we first meet as he strolls down the country roads to meet his best friend Colm, played by a brooding Brendan Gleeson, before heading to the pub. But when the good-hearted Pádraic finds a cold Colm, there’s no denying the island is different. Pádraic, confused by Colm’s distance, leaves for the pub with his head down, and even the bartender notices something awry. Once Colm finally arrives at the pub, he insists that Pádraic leave him alone (forever), saying, “I just don’t like you no more.”

The fallout between the former best friends is amplified by the orbiting cast of eclectic islanders, including Dominic, played by Barry Keoghan, and Pádraic’s sister Siobhan, played by Kerry Condon. This brutal, bleak depiction of friends drifting apart consumes the small community, rendering Inisherin unrecognizable by the end. This is typical director Martin McDonagh, and it works once again. 

The Banshees of Inisherin is an elegy to friendship. McDonagh masterfully crafts this grim reflection on the most cutting form of heartbreak, finished with furnishings of whimsical dark comedy and unrivaled banter between Gleeson and Farrell. (This film gifts us another look at the explosive chemistry between the two men, who starred in McDonagh’s beloved directorial debut, In Bruges.)

Farrell delivers a career-defining, heart-wrenching performance as Pádraic, chronicling not only a dissolving friendship but also capturing the character’s budding despair. And this despair steadily consumes the two characters and the island as heartbreak is mangled into resentment and bitterness. But Pádraic refuses to abandon this friendship, and in retaliation to Pádraic’s appeals, Colm threatens to cut off his fingers with garden shears. And he means it, giving Pádraic the finger. Told in isolation, The Banshees of Inisherin is a momentous fable that’s tethered to a familiar agony, and in the end, there are astonishing consequences. R, 109 min.

Limited release in theaters

Read More

The Carolyn Adams Ticket for the Cure (TFTC) is an Illinois Lottery specialty ticket where 100 percent of profits go toward breast cancer research, awareness, and education in Illinois. Launched in 2006, the ticket was renamed in 2011 in honor of former Illinois Lottery superintendent Carolyn Adams, who helped write the legislation for TFTC before losing her battle to breast cancer. Since 2006, the ticket has raised over $15 million in grant funding for medical research centers and community organizations across the state, which is distributed by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Tickets cost $3 and are available for purchase at over 7,000 Illinois Lottery retailers statewide. Visit the Illinois Lottery website for more information, and read on to learn more about two recent grant recipients, Chicago’s Anixter Center and Cass County Health Department.

Anixter Centeranixter.org

Navigating breast cancer screenings, physician appointments, and treatment plans can be daunting for anyone, but those who are Deaf, DeafBlind, or hard of hearing often face additional challenges when it comes to communicating with their health-care providers or receiving proper care. That reality has been compounded in recent years, partially due to the pandemic.“There’s been a shortage of interpreters who work in medical settings and mask use has made communication even more difficult,” says Karen Aguilar, vice president of communication access at Chicago’s Anixter Center.

Founded as an orphanage in 1919 by a group of friends in honor of a friend who’d lost several children to the influenza pandemic, Anixter currently serves Chicagoans living with disabilities and behavioral health needs, and—through their Chicago Hearing Society division—those who are Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing. Their Ticket for the Cure grant serves that latter clientele by funding a patient navigator, breast cancer education videos in American Sign Language, community workshops, and other outreach activities.

The program’s navigator works with clients from their first screenings through the end of their cancer journey, helping them make appointments and understand terminology while acting as medical advocates. “It’s so important that the patient understands their physician,” Aguilar says. “That’s important for hearing people, but many hearing people are equipped with the knowledge of what’s going to happen at a medical appointment. For a Deaf person who might not have that experience of overhearing certain medical terms as they grow up, it can be very new to them.”

Anixter’s work remains vital, because ultimately, for these patients there’s much more than miscommunication at stake. “Poor communication between patients who are Deaf, DeafBlind or hard of hearing and their physicians, nurses, and techs can lead to misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and poor assessments,” Aguilar says. “And a lack of communication feeds into misunderstandings that we want to make sure are removed.”

Cass County Health Departmentcasscohealth.org

County health departments play important roles in their communities, but for residents of medically underserved areas, such as Cass County, Illinois, they can be particularly vital resources for personal health care. Located in central Illinois, the county is predominantly farmland and the nearest hospital is a 40-minute drive away. In 2005, the Cass County Health Department became recognized as a Federally Qualified Health Center, allowing them to address the lack of medical services in the area with the creation of two full-service doctor’s offices (which operate on a sliding-scale basis), and a home health and hospice program.

With their Ticket for the Cure grant, the health department has boosted its breast-cancer-related outreach and education for clients of all ages and walks of life. Cass County’s population is relatively small—at about 13,000 people, it’s roughly the same as Chicago’s Armour Square neighborhood—but it’s exceptionally diverse. That’s partially due to food-processing company JBS USA, which employs many immigrant workers at its Beardstown meatpacking plant.

“Most rural health departments focus solely on rural health, but we’re looking at it from the angle of making sure we’re able to communicate and provide services in English, French, Spanish, and Burmese, which are the dominant languages in Cass County,” says Cass County Health Department director of health education Andrew English.

Their team is also mindful of the varying cultural attitudes toward breast health among the people they serve. They work closely with the local immigration center and respected community leaders on education and outreach initiatives, such as recruiting and training community members to serve as breast health ambassadors and offering women’s health-care events in several languages. Additionally, they meet with clients to empower them in navigating the health-care system, and access screenings, referrals, and sometimes—through a partnership with a local transit company—rides to medical appointments in neighboring counties.

“We’re here because we have a passion, and we really want people to do things that will increase their likelihood of remaining healthy,” English says. “We’re putting that message out into the community to get people to not just wear a pink ribbon, but to act.”

Read More