Strengthening Chicago's Youth (SCY) Blog

If Strengthening Chicago's Youth (SCY) were to sum up its mission in one word it would be CONNECT. We hope to connect individuals, ambitions, organizations, and agendas surrounding youth violence prevention. Here, we hope to connect our inspiration and conversations with yours. We encourage you to use this blog as a space for open dialogue, debate, and brainstorming to realize community-based solutions to youth violence and the various factors playing into it. Please visit our website for more information: http://www.scy-chicago.org/

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SCY’s Pies!!!

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager, with help from the SCHROA Team! 

I’m a firm believer that “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” We work really hard here at Strengthening Chicago’s Youth, as do our colleagues in the larger Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research, Outreach, and Advocacy (SCHROA) Center. But sometimes, you simply have to slow down and smell the pie.  

While having a brief discussion with members of the SCY Team, our colleague Rodolfo walked over.  

“Would anyone be interested in some pumpkin pie?”

Now, let me take a moment to interject here that our colleague Rodolfo is a great baker. Kudos to him for always offering the tastiest wares to the SCY Team. 

I wasn’t sure about my coworkers, but the answer for me is always yes. We sauntered over to the area of our floor occupied by Healthy Communities. Our colleagues at Healthy Communities help children thrive by bringing a community of care to kids in the community, ranging from amazing partnership programs with Chicago schools, to the new Lurie Children’s Mobile Health Unit. 

As we stood around for a minute eating pie, we began talking, and laughing.  I’m a firm believer that laughter is one of the greatest bits of self-care that you can offer yourself. As we continued chatting, I began asking my coworkers, 

“What’s your favorite pie, and from where?” 

 Initially, the responses seemed to break down into 2 camps:

“Pumpkin Pie from Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits” said Rodolfo De Jesus, Community Outreach Specialist for Healthy Communtites, and baking extraordinaire. Gabi Sanchez, Program Asst. with SCY agreed that BBPS was the best, but she craved a different flavor; “Chocolate Pie!  So good!”  

However, several others felt that Hoosier Mama Pie Company is the way to go. 

“That’s a really hard question,” said Leslie Helmcamp, Associate Director of Policy for SCHROA and Policy Manager for SCY. After a few moments of contemplation, “Orange Cream Pie...with the Pecan Crust. I didn’t think I’d like it, but it’s really good! Hoosier Mama makes a really good pie!” 

“I’m not that into pie. It’s not my first choice,” said Kate Spitzer-Cohn, Program Coordinator for SCY. “My brother makes an amazing pumpkin cheesecake for the holidays. It is absolutely amazing.”  

Kate proceeded to taste the pumpkin pie we were all noshing on.

“Just doesn’t do anything for me, but Hoosier Mama has an amazing pie there.  It’s a Chocolate Chess pie. It’s like a brownie pie. So good.”  

Former SCY team member and current Employee Volunteer Coordinator Antonette Rabor, said that her favorite pie was Key Lime.  “I need to feel it right here,” she said enthusiastically, pointing at the hinge of her jaw bone.”  

Lindsey Arenberg, Child Advocacy Project Manager agreed that Key Lime needed to be tart, and hit your taste buds in just that perfect way.  

“My favorite pie is Raspberry Rhubarb Pie from Cranes Pie Shop in Saugutuk, MI.”  We proceeded to have a conversation about the savory pies at Hoosier Mama Pie Shop. I made note of some suggestions that I will certainly have to try out in the future. 

Sana Yousuf, Outreach Evaluation Specialist, deviated from both of the aforementioned groups. “I love Pumpkin Pie,” she said, and suggested that she loved to enjoy a good slice of pie from First Slice Cafe in Andersonville. “First Slice has an amazing Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Pie!” 

“Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Pie?!?!?!?” Kate asked with raised hands and eyebrows. 

SCHROA Associate Director, Emily Golbeck, went full on chocolate with her response. “Chocolate Silk Pie...from either Boston Market, or made by my mom.  Preferably by my mom!” 

Finally, there were a group of respondents whow didn’t need a special place to get their pie, as long as the flavor was on point. Cassandra Otoo and Linda Gordon agreed down the line that some good Apple Pie hit the spot. “Apple Crumb Pie from the grocery store.”  

“...with Breyers Vanilla Bean Ice Cream” Linda added. After some discussion, they also both agreed that nothing beat a home baked apple pie. “A big slice of apple pie, with some vanilla ice cream, and then go straight to sleep!” 

As it was Friday, and everyone was angling to finish up their tasks for the day and head out to enjoy the weekend, I caught Administrative Coordinator Angel Alcazar heading towards the door. 

Does cheesecake count?” Angel asked, to which I responded “No!” 

“Hmm...Sweet potato pie. It can be from the grocery store. I don’t really know anyone that makes a really good sweet potato pie.”  

“I make a great sweet potato pie,” Linda interjected. I’ll teach you!

It’s amazing how food, sometimes the simple discussion of food, can bring people together.

Also in the holidays, it never escapes my mind that there are many people in the city who won’t have enough food to eat tonight, let alone have the pleasure of indulging over the holidays. Every year, my friends and I collectively try to take time to give back to our communities, and to the city as a whole.  

For everyone, based on a variety of factors, that may look a little different from person to person. That may be donating money to your favorite charity or nonprofit organization (Giving Tuesday will be here before you know it), or giving the most precious commodity, time, to your organization of choice. Thrillist recently published a great list of How to Volunteeer in Chicago This Holiday Season. 

I hope your next week is stress free, and light. I hope that the time you have to offer to others is equaled by the time you offer to yourself. Have a great one!

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Exploring Firsthand Accounts of Gun Violence and the Trauma Surrounding Them

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager.

Earlier this week, on the SCY Facebook page, we shared an excellent article by Nissa Rhee (@NissaRhee) over at The Trace, published in partnership with WTTW, Chicago’s PBS station.  If you’re not familiar with the Trace, they are an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to expanding coverage of guns in the United States. We believe that our country’s epidemic rates of firearm-related violence are coupled with a second problem: a shortage of information about the issue at large.

The article featured several of Lurie Children’s staff, including the SCY Executive Director Rebecca Levin, Dr. Colleen Cicchetti, Executive Director of the Center for Childhood Resilience, housed here in Lurie Children’s, and Dr. Karen Sheehan,  Gorter Family Professor of Healthy Communities at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and SCY Medical Director.

The story highlighted how a shortage of trauma support compounds the harm done to Chicago youth affected by gun violence.  I highly encourage you to read the article here. 

Additionally, the article introduces the new WTTW digital series on gun violence, Firsthand: Gun Violence.  The series explores gun violence as seen through the eyes of Chicagoans with firsthand experience. 

We want to thank our friends at The Trace for this amazingly informative article, and a special thank you to Nissa Rhee for digging deep on this one.

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Seeing Trauma Behind The Headlines

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager.

If you’re anything like me, when you think of Halloween, you think of the basics: spookiness, youth in costumes trick-or-treating, Halloween parties...and candy!  Copious amounts of candy.  Perhaps you like to watch scary movies.  This year, we set a record for the snowiest Halloween ever, which all but guaranteed I would spend the evening on the couch with Netflix.  

I watched Sherlock Holmes if you were wondering. 

What many of us don’t expect to hear, or experience, is the shooting of a youth while she is out engaged in one of the aforementioned activities.  Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened here in our fair city, as breaking news emerged of a 7-year-old girl being shot while trick-or-treating in the Little Village neighborhood.  

As so many questions swirled around the event, even more disheartening was the news that a 15-year-old was being charged with attempted murder in the shooting. 

As our Executive Director, Rebecca Levin, mentioned in her letter this past week in our newsletter (you should go here to sign up for the newsletter if you’re not already on our list), the tragic shooting of an exceptionally young youth is made all the more tragic because it may have been committed by another young person. 

“Hurt People Hurt People”

It’s a refrain that you hear often when working in the violence prevention spectrum.  As we learn more about the effects of trauma and adverse childhood experiences on adolescents, we know that the aformentioned statement is exceptionally true.  

As Rebecca went on to say, 

“Exposure to trauma for these young people as well as others across Chicago, can play a large role in the cycle of violence. Both of these individuals deserve better and SCY will continue to work with partners to help provide those opportunities.”

Here is a short informational from healthychildren.org on how trauma can play role in the cycle of violence.  

Additionally and coincidentally, SCY will be having a training on November 13, 2019 on Grappling with the Impact of Trauma: Building Resilience of Youth. Unfortunately, as I type this, the training is already filled to capacity with a growing waitlist.  However, I encourage you to look at the amazing work being done by the Center for Childhood Resilience, our colleagues here at Lurie Children’s who will be facilitating the upcoming training. 

We are constantly striving to do our best to help make Chicago the most amazing city it can be.  Part of that is breaking the cycles of violence and trauma whenever possible, and as “Becky” mentioned, working with partners to help provide whatever opportunities necessary in the process. 

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Get to Know the Team: Meet Gabi

In the past year, the SCY/PAACT team has grown in many ways. We hope to familiarize partners with who is on the team and what they do – in the hopes of making SCY better conveners for community organizations. 

1) Hi Gabi! Thank you for taking the time to share a bit about yourself. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your background?

HI! My name is Gabi, I am the newest full-time staff member with SCY, but I started as a graduate level intern in June of 2018. I was born in California but have lived on the South Side of Chicago for as long as I can remember. I am an alum of three CPS schools, graduated from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School (Go Dolphins!). I went to The University of Iowa for undergrad where I majored in Health and Human Physiology with a concentration in Health Promotion and a minor in Spanish. From there I went on to graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago where I earned my Master’s in Healthcare Administration in May of 2019. Prior to working with SCY I worked with children as a counselor and later as the site director of the Hyde Park JCC Summer Camp. Through that experience I found out I wasn’t destined to be a teacher, but that I did want to contribute to making sure every child in Chicago had the chance at a healthy happy life 😊.

2) What do you do every day at SCY?

My days at SCY vary. As the program assistant I do a lot to support the staff on our team. I order supplies, update our website, help Kirstin prep for trainings and quarterly meetings, I helped with intern onboarding and management, but I work on whatever projects the staff needs help with.

3) What has been your favorite training or quarterly meeting?

I have two favorite trainings. The first was Saleh Freedom’s training on Human trafficking, I didn’t know much about human trafficking initially and I felt not only informed but more equipped to identify people who may be victims of trafficking and what to do in those cases. The other training was Becoming a Man’s (BAM) training on healthy masculinity. This was a great chance to learn about some of the work BAM does, while also learning about ways to model and encourage healthy masculinity.

4) What struggles do you encounter while trying to make an impact in the community?

I don’t know if it’s just the time we’re living in, but one of this issues I struggle with when it comes to making an impact in the community is the sheer volume of problems that need to be addressed. There is a plethora of issues I’m passionate about and sometimes just the number of problems in the news on any given day feels daunting. I remind myself sometimes to try and look past  the trees so I can see the whole forest, and that many of the problems are entwined so any efforts are helpful.

5) How do you keep your energy up in the typical work week?

I try to avoid caffeine, so to keep my energy up I try and workout after work!

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Get To Know the Team: Meet Leslie

In the past year, the SCY/PAACT team has grown in many ways. We hope to familiarize partners with who is on the team and what they do – in the hopes of making SCY better conveners for community organizations.

1)         Hi Leslie! Thanks for spending a moment with us. Can you introduce yourself and tell us about you and your background?

My name is Leslie Helmcamp. I am the Associate Director with SCY. I joined the SCY team in July 2017. My main work focuses on our state and local violence prevention policy and systems change efforts, and developing and growing the Juvenile Justice Collaborative, a care coordination project for justice-involved youth.

I’m a native of Houston, Texas. I spent half of my life growing up in Houston and the other half in Austin, Texas.  My professional life has been centered on addressing social justice and economic opportunity issues. During college I was fortunate enough to study abroad in Ecuador (and spent a short time in Spain) to learn Spanish. I was able to use my language skills to work with the immigrant community for more than eight years in central Texas. It was fulfilling work which led me to pursue broader policy work in hopes of making change on a larger scale. After pursuing my master’s degree in public affairs, I spent eight years working on economic opportunity policy issues, including increasing college access and success for low-income students, reducing student loan dependence, and improving workforce development and adult education.

2)         What drew you to violence prevention work?

There are probably multiple influences that drew me to violence prevention work. Too many to include here. I tend to navigate to policy and systems change work that address the social and economic issues where I live. I jumped at the opportunity to join SCY because I believed in its mission and its vision that violence is preventable and there is work to do to support the Chicago communities most affected by violence.

I also bring to the work a belief that guns don’t belong in our homes or communities at easy disposal. I remember the shock and outrage I felt when I was in high school and learned that a young exchange student from Japan was shot by a homeowner when the young man mistakenly went to the wrong house for a Halloween party in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It didn’t make sense to me that a young person could lose their life so senselessly to gun violence.  

3)         Which of SCY’s Five Focus Areas do you feel that you have the most impact on?

This is a difficult one. I think many of our past successes have touched on a variety of our focus on five efforts, including supporting passage of the Gun Dealer Certification Act, changing the CPS student code of conduct to improve how schools address alcohol and substance use, and recent efforts to support a broad coalition of advocates to reduce barriers to housing for people with criminal records.

4)         What do you wish everyone knew about SCY?

SCY can be a great collaborator on a wide variety of topics and issues related to health, violence prevention, schools, community, housing, the justice system, and more. We know that solving the complex problem of violence requires more than just a single person or organization, that’s why we connect people, communities, and agencies to work together to identify solutions.

5)         Do you have any hidden talents?

I don’t know if this counts as a hidden talent, but I know how to play basketball and was once the MVP of a basketball tournament even though I was on the losing team. (Try to figure that one out!)

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Marijuana and it’s impending legalization is a hot topic

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager.

Looking in both the local Chicago weekly’s, The Chicago Reader and The Red Eye, marijuana and it’s impending legalization is a hot topic.  Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a class sponsored by our friends at Safe Kids Chicago.  The topic of the class was vaping and cannabis, and the presenter was Dr. Michael Wahl. 

According to his biography page on the University of Chicago website,

Dr. Wahl is an attending emergency physician at University Northshore HealthSystems and also provides acute care medical toxicology consult services for the system. He is the Medical Director of the Illinois Poison Center and is responsible for the medical oversight of the statewide poison control center and its staff of approximately 26 individuals. The Illinois Poison Center receives over 78,000 calls annually and partners with healthcare, EMS and law enforcement agencies to help reduce the incidence and injury from harmful substances.

Dr. Wahl is primary faculty with the Toxikon Consortium (partnership between Cook County Health and Hospital System, UI Health, and the Illinois Poison Center).  Toxikon’s mission is to provide excellence in clinical care, training, education, and research related to the medical toxicology.  The consortium trains 100 – 150 medical and pharmacy residents and students each year in the care of the poisoned patient.

Interests include acute care toxicology, new and novel drugs of abuse, response to emerging public health threats and reducing the harm from the opioid epidemic.

I will cut to the chase and say it was by far one of the most interesting and informative classes on both vaping and cannabis that I have attended. I like to believe, due to my attendance to several other classes on the topic, my knowledge on marijuana is fairly good.  

After going over the basics of vaping and cannabis (varieties, how it is consumed, price, what we have to look forward to once the recreational legalization of marijuana begins in Illinois in January), there were a few points that Dr. Wahl began to make that caused my ears to perk up. 

Marijuana is much more potent than it used to be.  

In the words of Dr. Wahl, “This ain’t your father’s weed.” 

According to an article on the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s website, The Problem with the Current High Potency THC Marijuana from the Perspective of an Addiction Psychiatrist,

The primary problem with the current available cannabis in dispensaries in Colorado is that the THC content is not like it used to be. Prior to the 1990s it was less than 2%. In the 1990s it grew to 4%, and between 1995 and 2015 there has been a 212% increase in THC content in the marijuana flower. In 2017 the most popular strains found in dispensaries in Colorado had a range of THC content from 17–28% such as found in the popular strain named “Girl Scout Cookie.”2 Sadly these plants producing high levels of THC are incapable of producing much CBD, the protective component of the plant so these strains have minimal CBD. For example the Girl Scout Cookie strain has only 0.09–0.2% CBD.

The flower or leaves that are generally smoked or vaped are only one formulation. We now have concentrated THC products such as oil, shatter, dab, and edibles that have been able to get the THC concentration upwards of 95%. There is absolutely no research that indicates this level of THC is beneficial for any medical condition. The purpose of these products is to produce a high, and the increased potency makes them potentially more dangerous and more likely to result in addiction.

You can find the rest of the article here. 

In all honesty, the only reason I knew what “shatter marijuana” is is due to a Chance the Rapper song, Hot Shower, in which he proclaims 

“Smoking on some shatter, got me higher than a ladder.”

Indeed. 

While I don’t have the exact statistics that Dr. Wahl presented, there is a myriad of articles in the academic community about strains and potency, and many medical professionals are saying that potency will present an issue moving forward. 

However, towards the end of his presentation, Dr. Wahl mentioned something that I had never heard before, and made my ears immediately perk up:

“Cannabis-Induced Psychosis”

Now this was something I had never heard of, at least that I can recall.  He went on to explain what it is, and how it is being seen by more medical professionals, and that there is debate on whether the cannabis consumption is only exacerbating already existing conditions that may have gone unnoticed, or if this condition is something wholly different.  I truly enjoyed Dr. Wahl’s insight, and he did go on to say,  “And this isn’t in the same vein as “Reefer Madness,” which we know wasn’t real. This is something real.”  

As a parent, I found all of this information very interesting and enlightening, and yes, a little scary.  I have twin 14-year-old daughters, and I plan on discussing this information with them soon.  My daughters, to my knowledge, have not experimented with drugs, and I want to make sure they have the best possible knowledge when contending with things like peer pressure. 

As has been said, “Knowledge is power,”  and I feel much more knowledgeable about this topic, and will certainly be doing more research on the topic of both vaping, and how it relates to cannabis usage.  

If you’re a parent, do you feel exceptionally knowledgeable about vaping and cannabis use?  What things do you still feel that you need to learn or want to know?  Let us know down below in the comments, and we can use that information to guide future blogs.  

Resources: Lurie Children’s Hospital Evidence-Based Position Statement In Opposition to Legalization of Possession and Use of Marijuana for Non-Medical Reasons by Adults in Illinois

Kidshealth.org: Marijuana for Teens

Medical Marijuana for Children with Cancer? What Providers Think - December 12, 2017

Cannabis Use and Long-Term Cognitive Impact Among Adolescents

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Get to Know the Team: Meet Jen

In the past year, the SCY/PAACT team has grown in many ways. We hope to familiarize partners with who is on the team and what they do – in the hopes of making SCY better conveners for community organizations.

1) Hi Jen! Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Can you share a bit about yourself and tell us a little about your background?

Sure! I got my undergraduate degrees in theatre and marketing from Miami University and a masters degree from DePaul in early childhood education and development.  Professionally, I’ve work on youth programming at nonprofits including the Broadway Youth Center, Old Town School of Folk Music, and Howard Brown Health Center.  Since 2011, I’ve been supporting youth and family-centered programming at Lurie Children’s and in my current role of Associate Director of Community Programs & Initiatives my work spans across SCY and Adolescent Medicine at Lurie.

2) Which of SCY’s Five Focus Areas do you feel that you have the most impact on?

Can I pick two? I really think that “Sustained investment in children and youth” and “Sustained investment in strong communities” go hand in hand.  I am hopeful that the work that we are collaboratively doing with community agencies, youth, and families will build a strong foundation for lasting support for Chicago’s young people.

3) What struggles do you encounter while trying to make an impact?

I have had the privilege of doing direct advocacy work and education in a number of communities across the region. When providing this support I’ve encountered a number of systemic barriers which negatively impact these collaborations.

4) What is the best part about working in youth-centered work?

It is an honor and a delight to support and collaborate with youth.  The young people that I’ve been lucky enough to support have been great teachers and continue to hold me accountable.  The youth that we support are also thoughtful and hilarious which always makes things more enjoyable!

5) Describe yourself in three words.

Oh man, this is so hard! I guess…passionate, thoughtful, and creative?

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It’s Friday, and fall...let’s talk about it all!

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager. 

1) Strengthening Chicago’s Youth Annual Survey

Have you taken the SCY Annual Survey?  

No??? 

Why not? 

Share your feedback through Strengthening Chicago's Youth’s (SCY) 2019 Annual Survey! 

This survey is intended to assess SCY’s strategies, activities, communication, and partner resources. Your feedback will give us a window into what we’re doing great, and what we can do better. 

Additionally, this survey will help us to determine priorities for violence prevention, policy and advocacy, and future strategies and activities.

Completion of the questionnaire is voluntary, you may skip any question, and there are no right or wrong answers. The survey is anonymous, which means we will not be collecting identifying information about you. When you have completed the survey, you will also have the option of entering a raffle for a chance to win one of five $50 Visa gift cards. I consider that a win/win! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. 

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2) SCY Quarterly Meeting

This meeting will focus on the connection between justice reform and violence prevention. The topics explored will include addressing policies and systems that create racial disparities and providing better support and resources. A panel discussion and action-oriented breakout groups will examine how changes to the juvenile and criminal justice systems can result in less involvement for youth and help make communities safer.

Join SCY and partners across Chicago to explore the role you and your organization can play in addressing these issues, discuss asset-based solutions, and promote the health and healing of all Chicagoans.

SCY Quarterly meetings are also a great time to meet, network, and collaborate with like-minded individuals from across the city. You never know who will be in the room.  I do know that we have a fabulous panel planned, and I will be there.  Be sure to stop me and say hello.  

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3) Time Vaping Article

It goes without saying that vaping is a hot button topic right now. 

If you are a dedicated reader of our blog, you’ll recall the article I wrote previously on e-cigarettes, vaping, and Juul.  

Additionally, Dr. Maria Rahmandar of Lurie Children’s spoke at a press conference with Senator Dick Durbin, shining a special focus on the dangers of vaping, and speaking from firsthand experience at the increase of adolescents that Lurie Children’s has seen as a result.  

Now, an amazingly insightful and well written article was recently released by Time magazine.  

How Juul Hooked Kids and Ignited a Public Health Crisis

As our Executive Director Rebecca Levin wrote in her letter this week in the SCY Newsletter:

“As part of SCY's work on substance use prevention, the topic of vaping and electronic cigarettes is a growing concern. The Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery has recently provided information and advisories regarding vaping related illness. SCY hopes that by sharing these recommendations with partners we can help keep Illinois and Chicago youth healthy and informed.”

Suggested Listening: The Juul Paradox

What's better: promoting e-cigarettes to help smokers quit, or restricting vaping so teens don't pick up a new nicotine addiction? 

Listen to the podcast HERE.

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4) Spooky Ooky Kooky Contest

What is your favorite fall non-alcoholic drink?  

SCY’s project Preventing Alcohol Abuse in Chicago Teens, as a part of their I Got This! campaign have announced the Spooky Ooky Kooky Contest. 

Whip out that recipe, and you could have the chance to win a $25 gift certificate in our new fall mocktail contest.  

Winners will be chosen and taste-tested by Strengthening Chicago’s Youth staff.  

Entries can be posted now on either Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook using the hashtag #SpookyNotSpiked.  

Also, be sure to follow I Got This on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! 

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Finding Your Voice As A Youth Advocate

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager. Dion was a public school teacher, spending 2 years teaching middle and high school in Alaska, and 2 years in Chicago Public Schools. 

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling down to Springfield, IL for the Illinois Students Against Destructive Decisions annual conference, Dome Shift. 

It was a fabulous weekend filled with a mix of workshops, team building, and networking with SADD chapters from around state. The Preventing Alcohol Abuse in Chicago Teens “I Got This” Outreach Team went down there to meet with all of the fabulous young minds, hand out swag and offer insight into youth advocacy, and to support their fabulous mission there at SADD. 

One of the workshops that was offered during the event was a teen advocacy “Finding Your Voice” workshop presented by Kellie Henrichs, Development and Program Manager of Prevention First, accompanied by her colleague Jody Heavilin. 

What is Prevention First? 

Kellie and Jody work in the Prevention First Alcohol Policy Resource Center.  According to their website,

“Prevention First’s Alcohol Policy Resource Center provides training, education, resources, and tools on evidence-based alcohol policy strategies to municipalities, local officials, law enforcement, and community coalitions focused on underage drinking in communities throughout Illinois.” 

Kellie and Jody presented information to the attendees on “helping participants understand the power of their voice and how to use their voice to create change and create a healthier environment.”  

I’m a huge fan of students getting an education on advocacy, methods of advocacy and using their voice for change in society. This is exactly what I taught as the Program Manager of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence while facilitating The Student Voices Programs, and more specifically the ICHV Activist Institute. 

Kellie and Jody offered some great tips that you can view here. Their tips are especially helpful if you plan on talking to your city council/or town board.

Arrive to the City Council/Board meeting early - you may have to sign up to provide testimony.

Prepare in advance what you want to say. You are there to educate, not ask for the passage of a bill or ordinance.

You will likely have a 3 to 5 minute limit to speak. The meeting may be recorded or televised.

You will need to share your full name and address to the council/board.

Speak from the heart. Share what you’ve seen or experienced. Educate on how underage drinking prevention policies/ordinances will positively impact you and your community.

Be sure to visit the link above to get additional tips from Prevention First.  

As an “advocacy educator,” I always encouraged my students to meet their representatives. I feel like that is a crucial first step: Meet that person, shake their hand, and introduce yourself. Here in the city, that first person is generally the alderman of a ward.  From there, when problems arise, you have a pre-existing connection. I feel like that always makes things easier.  

But yes, allow me to trumpet Prevention First’s message:

Your Voice Matters!

Use it! Frequently! This message isn’t limited to underage drinking prevention, but extends to any problem you may see in your community, whether it is lack of businesses, or potholes. You have to advocate for yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you!

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Can We Talk About Back to School Essentials and the New Sandy Hook Promise PSA?

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager. Dion is the former Program Manager for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.  Prior to that, Dion was a public school teacher, spending 2 years teaching middle and high school in Alaska, and 2 years in Chicago Public Schools. 

Disclaimer: ** Please note that this PSA contains graphic content related to school shootings that may be upsetting to some viewers. If you feel that this subject matter may be too difficult for you, you may choose not to watch this video. **

Every time that I sit down to write about gun violence, I take a deep breath...more like a long sigh.  Because I know that whatever I say, it will fall on ears (or eyes as you have it) in so many various ways. 

Not everyone will accept the message the same way.  

Additionally, gun violence as an epidemic in the United States is a vast topic.  It has so many facets, I could set out to write a book, and still surely not adequately touch every aspect of the topic.  

But I hope that we can all agree that the topic of this video is terrifying, tragic, and exceptionally sad. 

Now, if you’re not familiar with Sandy Hook Promise,

Sandy Hook Promise is a national non-profit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.

Based in Newtown, Connecticut, our intent is to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation by providing programs and practices that protect children and prevent the senseless, tragic loss of life. Source: Sandy Hook Promise.org

I’ve heard this PSA referred to my multiple news outlets as “shocking,” and yes, I will admit that it can definitely be described that way.  However, I would also describe it as “honest.”  I think we have to grapple with the fact that this has become our reality.  This is what many children have faced, in many high profile instances here in the United States, at the hands of fellow classmates who were easily able to obtain weapons.  

I’ve had the opportunity to meet multiple survivors of school shootings, and this is very similar to what they describe; chaos and fear, not knowing where to turn, and hiding when and wherever possible, hoping that the assailant wouldn’t come their way.  

I have twin teenage daughters who live in Florida.  I can remember all too well the terror that shot across my mind when I received the first push notification of an active school shooter in a Florida school.  

Additionally, as a former teacher, I have done lockdown drills with my students. My time in the classroom was just before the full implementation of the A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) approach now espoused in classrooms, but there was something especially heart breaking about discussing with 14-year-old high school freshman how the smallest people in the room should hide in the cabinets and closets of the classroom, while the others would huddle in the back corner of the classroom, or under the desks as far away from the door as possible. 

“What are you going to be doing during the lockdown Mr. McGill?” “My job is to lock the door and cover the glass as best and fast I can, and to make sure that no one comes into this classroom.” “We’re lucky we have a veteran as a teacher.  Would you really take a bullet for us. Mr. M? “ :: long pause ::  Well, that’s my job. In the Army, we always do our job.”  

Yes, that was a real exchange between a student and I.  I can remember her name, and picture her face as I sit here now.  As a soldier, I was always taught that the job came first, duty, and you do your job, and I loved my students...every stinkin’ last one of them.  I wouldn’t have been able to look myself in the mirror if I allowed something to happen to them...if I failed at my job. 

But, I often would think of my coworkers.  20-somethings with bright lives in front of them, who always wanted to teach.  How can you place that burden on your average teacher?  And yes, I can recall conversations amongst staff in the building on the days of those drills, or when we’d get news of a school shooting elsewhere (I was a classroom teacher on December 14, 2012, the day of the Sandy Hook shooting). We would talk about how the drill went, and what our true role was if that should ever happen...to mitigate casualties as best as possible.  Weird to have to think about, right? 

And yet, we have to remind ourselves that these events are preventable. According to the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, in March of 2019,

US firearm homicide rates were 25 times higher and overall homicide rates were 7.5 times higher than rates in the other high-income countries (2015).  92% of all women killed by guns and 97% of all children aged 0-4 killed by guns in high-income countries were US residents.  White firearm homicide victimization rates were 12 time higher than rates in other high-income countries.  Compared to these other countries, for US residents in high-gun states, firearm homicide victimization rates were 36 times higher and for US residents in low-gun states, firearm homicide victimization rates were 13.5 times higher.  The article, “Violent death rates  in the US compared to those in the other high-income countries, 2015” by Erin Grinshteyn and David Hemenway appears in Preventive Medicine 2019; 123:20-26

We have to remind ourselves that we can do better. 

In February of 2019, our friends at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health put out a paper, Policies to Reduce Gun Violence in Illinois: Research, Policy Analysis, and Recommendations. 

I suggest you read it.  

We are not powerless, and research is being done to find solutions to this problem.  

Which brings me to another point of this discussion.  

While the media has over the past few years spent a lot of time discussing, and this PSA does an amazing job of highlighting, the issue of school shootings in America....

...here in Chicago, gun violence looks very different, and this is something that 100% cannot get lost in the discussion. A colleague made an interesting point which I will do my best to paraphrase,

“The fear that school children all across America feel when they’re entering into their classrooms after hearing about the latest shooting, is the same fear that children across our city feel just walking from their front door to the bus stop, or from school home.”  

As a born and bred Chicagoan, I know that fear is palpable.  I’ve felt it myself, and I’ve seen it in my students.  As the Program Manager of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, I visited schools all over the state, and had pointed discussions with youth about their thoughts and feelings about gun violence. 

That fear is real, and it affects each and every youth who lives in a community where gun violence, and other types of violence, is a permanent fixture of the landscape. 

On September 25th, there is a really in Washington D.C. to demand action be taken to #EndGunViolence across our nation.  People from all over the country, Chicago included, will be converging to demand our legislators take action to decrease this epidemic.

I encourage you to check out the website endviolencetogether.com, and if possible, hop on one of the buses leaving Chicago to be a part of the event.  Sign up for a bus leaving out of Chicago, by completing and submitting this form HERE, or contacting St. Sabina directly.  

Also, call your legislators.  If they support common sense gun legislation, thank them.  If they don’t, or have been sitting on their actions, demand action now.  We can’t wait.  

I will leave you with this news segment I came across while doing some research.  The reactions of the news crew speaks volumes. 

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Strengthening Chicago's Youth (SCY) Blog turned 6 today!

We're super excited that we've been able to bring you all great information, insight, and commentary for the past 6 years.  As our team has grown, and our mission ever expanding, we look forward to the next 6 years.  We encourage you to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  We also have a brand new website coming in October, so be on the lookout for that.  The future is bright, and we couldn't be happier! 

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Get To Know the Team: Meet Linda

In the past year, the SCY/PAACT team has grown in many ways. We hope to familiarize partners with who is on the team and what they do – in the hopes of making SCY better conveners for community organizations.

1)   Hey there Linda! Thanks for taking some time to let us get to know you a little bit better. Can you introduce yourself and tell us about you and your background?

Hello, my name is Linda Gordon the Outreach Coordinator for PAACT and SCY. I’ve been with Lurie for about 14.5 years now. Been working in the field of prevention for about 5 years.

2)   What struggles do you encounter while trying to make an impact in the community?

I love what I do and the people I serve. However, one challenge that I’ve encounter with attempting to make an impact are the health disparities within the social determinants of health in the African American communities.

3)   What is the best part about working in youth-centered work?

The best part about working in youth centered work is to see them make a change for the better within their own community.

4)   Describe yourself in three words.

Resilient Black Woman

5)   With mental health often a topic discussed on the team, what is your favorite form of self-care?

Exercise.

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Get to Know the Team: Meet Megan

In the past year, the SCY/PAACT team has grown in many ways. We hope to familiarize partners with who is on the team and what they do – in the hopes of making SCY better conveners for community organizations.

1)     Hi Megan! Thank you for taking the time to share a bit about yourself. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your background?

Hi! I’m Megan, the Data Specialist for SCY. I’ve been working with crime/violence data for most of my career, aside from the recent year that I spent in Armenia where I developed a domestic violence prevention resource for youth in the villages.

2)     What do you do every day at SCY?

I work on all data-related things for SCY. I spend a lot of time analyzing data for our Juvenile Justice Collaborative diversion program. We’re trying to continually improve the program and measure its effectiveness so that we can expand and leverage our resources to reach more youth.

I also provide our partners with data assistance, maintain SCY’s Violence Data Catalog, and carry out SCY’s annual survey, which is one of the ways we get feedback from our partners.

3)     What has been your favorite training or quarterly meeting?

Every SCY event I’ve attended has been extremely beneficial and interesting- we always seem to have very knowledgeable and fascinating speakers. I was captivated by the Sexual Exploitation of Children training as it was a topic I previously knew very little about. I also got a lot out of the Program Evaluation training and the Data Quarterly Meeting since I was able to apply so much from those topics to my own work.

4)     If someone asked how data could help Chicago communities, what would you tell them?

I think data is imperative to ensuring that all our communities in Chicago are safe and healthy. We can use data to uncover inequities and to find areas where things seem to be going well so that we can implement strategies that work into other communities. Data is an essential supporting piece to the greater story- little can ever be accomplished without it.

5)     How do you keep your energy up in the typical work week?

I enjoy my work and find motivation through my accomplishments. But, I make time to have fun outside of work, too- by catching up with a friend, going dancing, or watching documentaries- this refreshes me so that I’m poised to do my best when I come in to work. A plant-based diet definitely helps, too! :)

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The Joyce Foundation & 25 Years of Gun Violence Prevention Research Grant Making

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager.

For you loyal readers, you’ll recall that a few weeks back, I wrote about the Joyce Foundation and a recent study they did, in which they reached out to experts and academic researchers in the fields of violence prevention, public health, and crime policy, to get their takes on the “best evidence-informed ideas about how the federal government can reduce gun violence.”  If you missed that post, go here to read it.  

However, if you’re familiar with the gun violence prevention landscape, then you certainly wasn’t surprised by that study.  In fact, The Joyce Foundation has been funding research on gun violence prevention for 25 years. 

To quote the Joyce Foundation’s About Us page:

The Joyce Foundation is a nonpartisan private foundation that invests in public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.

We support policy research, development, and advocacy in five areas: Education & Economic Mobility, Environment, Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform, Democracy, and Culture. Joyce focuses its grant making in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and partners with funders to explore promising policy solutions in other states or at the federal level.

The Joyce Foundation has budgeted 2018 charitable distributions of $50 million on assets of approximately $1 billion.

The Joyce Foundation was established in 1948, and in 1993, launched their Gun Violence Program, which has gone on to be known as the Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform Program. Since 1993, the Joyce Foundation’s support for gun violence prevention research has been a “consistent through-line in their program’s grant making strategy,”  and represents about one-third of their total spending. 

Recently, the foundation released a report that highlights the impact of their $32 million investment in gun violence prevention research.  As the Joyce Foundation said in a recent news release,

During a time when few other private funders invested and federal funding was nearly non-existent, Joyce’s support has helped produce some of the most seminal research findings on gun violence prevention, building and sustaining the field.

We encourage you to go on over and check out the report.  We are appreciative to the Joyce Foundation for the work they have done, and continue to do.  If you work in the philanthropic sector, this report is a roadmap for how you can invest your money to build on what we already know, and “enhance our shared commitment to public health and safety.” 

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Let’s Talk About Juul

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager.

Brianna Soukup / Press Herald via Getty Images file

It seems that Juuls (pronounced “jewels”) are a hot topic of conversation currently.  Over the past week, I’ve found myself engaged in several conversations of the topic.  Don’t know what a Juul is?  Well, let me help ya...

Juul is a brand of electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette.  Juul vaping devices are very compact, and look very much like a USB drive.  The Juul device fits small Juul pods, which come in a variety of flavors.  One pod is the equivalent of 20 cigarettes.  Juul vaping devices are often compared to the iPhone, in that they entered an already existing market, but quickly gained in popularity, and are viewed as a “chic” and “cool” product.  

Unfortunately, Juul products have become immensely popular among teenagers.  This has raised concerns in the public health community that long-term declines in youth nicotine use are being reversed.  According to the CDC in October of 2018, 

Use of JUUL by youth in schools, including in classrooms and bathrooms, has been widely reported. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, and JUUL contains among the highest nicotine content of any e-cigarette on the U.S. market. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm a child’s brain development, which continues into the mid-20s.

“The popularity of JUUL among kids threatens our progress in reducing youth e-cigarette use,” said Robert Redfield, M.D., director of CDC. “We are alarmed that these new high nicotine content e-cigarettes, marketed and sold in kid-friendly flavors, are so appealing to our nation’s young people.”

According to the Surgeon General of the United States, youth e-cigarette usage is a public health concern.  Nicotine can effect development of the adolescent brain, as well as being heavily addictive. Unfortunately, there isn’t a complete knowledge of all the ingredients in e-cigarettes, so there is a lot of concern about what other potentially detrimental effects e-cigarettes could have. 

Recently, Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in Illinois filed a lawsuit against Juul labs, alleging that the company intentionally targeted teenagers with a deceptive marketing campaign.  It appears that this is just the tip of a long conversation about e-cigarettes, and exactly how this particular public health threat should be dealt with.  

Coincidentally, I came across a great podcast segment specifically about Juuls on The Journal, a podcast done by the Wall Street Journal.  The segment, entitled The Juul Paradox, does a brief but interesting dive into the challenges that Juul poses to public health officials.  I highly recommend giving it a listen.  If you are a parent, have you talked with your youth about e-cigarettes and vaping?  As we know, Juuls are appearing inside of schools all over, including middle schools, and have provided a collection of problems for school administrators. If you haven’t had a conversation with your youth about e-cigarettes, this weekend is a perfect time to initiate that conversation.  As a parent myself, I make sure that my daughters know the health risks of engaging in smoking, both cigarettes or e-cigs, and know that choosing to smoke is counter to their goals.  

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The Time for Action is Now

This week’s blog is written by Dion McGill, SCY Communications and Community Outreach Manager.

Sometimes, it's hard to know exactly how to react in the face of tragedy.  As our Executive Director, Rebecca Levin, said in our newsletter earlier this week, 

"It is unacceptable that mass shootings are common enough in this country that I have come to have predictable emotional responses after working on gun violence prevention for almost two decades - sometimes I get fired up and frustrated, and other times I get down and discouraged." 

Additionally, it is unacceptable that mass shootings have become a common occurrence in this country, particularly considering that this is not a phenomena we see mirrored in other countries similar to the United States. 

Like many others across the nation, our hearts go out to all those affected by the tragedies in El Paso, and Dayton, and to all those affected by violence here in Chicago, with 55 wounded and 7 killed by gunfire here in our fair city. 

And as it has been said, thoughts and prayers, well-wishes and sweet sentiments, are not enough.  We must honor those affected by gun violence, not only this past weekend, but in the many tragedies we've seen over the years, with action. 

As Becky also said in our newsletter this week, "While we must all continue our long-term work to fight racism and support our youth, families and communities, we can also take action today."

Let me double down on that statement:  We can also take action today.  Please allow me to up the ante: We must take action today. 

Please contact Senate Leader Mitch McConnell at 202-224-2541 to ask him to call the Bipartisan Background Checks Bill (HR8) for a vote. Also, for more suggestions about what you can do this month, check out the Stand up for Safer Gun Laws Recess Toolkit. 

Finally, as an educator, I am constantly encouraging people to do their research.  So much has been written over the last week about contributing factors to violence, and about those things that are not determining factors.   I would encourage you to read up, and start conversations with friends about these topics.  I'm a firm believer that action often starts with conversation.  Start having those conversations today. 

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Public Health: Reconciling Two Vastly Different Fields

In this blog, SCY Summer Intern Kelly Fan writes about her thoughts and experiences on studying two contrasting subjects. Kelly is a rising senior at the University of Illinois at Chicago on the pre-med track and is pursuing a dual degree in Sociology and Biological Sciences.

Three years of undergrad have taught me a lot, and one idea that’s been conveyed to me through studying two contrasting fields – sociology and biology – is that, though they may contradict each other in various ways, their differences can actually productively support one another.

Sociology disrupts the idea that many facets of life are rooted in biology. Gender and race, for example, are constructed and reproduced through social institutions rather than being innate characteristics of individuals. To many people, especially those with stronger life science backgrounds (like myself before deciding to pursue sociology as a major), the idea of social constructs seems rather abstract and maybe even nonsensical. How could something so apparent, like one’s gender, be decided by something other than nature?

Indeed, when we think of what determines someone’s gender, we often think of biological markers, like hormones, genitalia, and chromosomes. However, gender’s implications in society extend far beyond biological qualities. Socialization has played a significant part in the construction of expectations for men and women, the inequalities between genders, and even the physical and mental characteristics of individuals. Gender division in the United States cannot be explained with biology alone. The same thing could be said of race; historical foundations for the creation of different racial categories and racial inequalities are often overlooked. Determining who is white, for one, may seem self-explanatory. In reality, a series of court cases among other historical events helped shape the United States’ categorization for race. In 1923, for example, an Indian man argued that he was white because he was a member of the Caucasian race, but the court rejected this notion and instead rescinded his citizenship (United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind).

In general, sociology places great emphasis on disrupting essentialism – the idea that certain facets of society (like gender and race) are innate and solely biological. Upon taking my first sociology course, I was intrigued by this notion; it felt as though I was being asked to place skepticism upon a field of study that I had so much belief in throughout my entire life.

Yet, I could not ignore what seemed to me to be glaringly indisputable facts of biology. Men and women do have different chromosomes and different races do have physical characteristics that distinguish them from one another. I struggled to grapple with these contradictions and to find a balance between the two fields. It seemed difficult to study one without becoming doubtful in the other.

Eventually, I came to realize that sociology does not dismiss biology as a legitimate field of study, but rather that it critically analyzes the field of medicine and biology as systems of authority that have the power to affect populations. Yes, men and women have different chromosomes and genitalia, but what about people whose chromosomes aren’t either XX (female) or XY (male)? Different races have different health outcomes, but is this an issue of biological predisposition or of systemic inequality?

Course material taught in biology classes surrounding gender are binary-oriented. The in-betweens and binary non-conforming situations are rarely discussed. I was shocked when I learned in a sociology class that doctors would perform surgery to alter the genitalia of babies whose genitalia did not meet the standards for “normal” males or females. When I learned of the prevalence of intersex people – people whose sex chromosomes or other sex characteristics differ from typical male and female categorization – I was astounded that my biology courses had framed these conditions as rare and abnormal, when in reality, many intersex people are able to live healthy lives. Moreover, they are about as common as people with red hair.

Fascinated by this topic, I brought it up in a meeting with one of my advisors at the UIC College of Medicine. He was a faculty member who was working towards redesigning the medical school curriculum. To say I was disappointed when he asked me to clarify what “intersex” meant is an understatement. If this man, who has the potential to impact the medical education of future physicians, does not know what “intersex” means, what are the odds of medical students being educated on sexual minority issues? What other important topics would be left out of the curriculum?

Biology is extremely important in medicine and in the advancement of health sciences. It allows for an understanding of the human body that translates into applications for medicine. Biology itself, however, often does not address topics of population disparities, and it is frequently taught in a way that ignores or mis-frames minority issues.

Majoring in sociology has taught me not to distrust biology, but rather to recognize the importance of biology and medicine as tools for helping or hurting populations. Medicine holds a level of authority that allows it to greatly impact peoples’ views and understandings of health; people place a great amount of trust in scientists and doctors. Perhaps the bridge between sociology and biology – a field that addresses both medical and population concerns – is public health. Public health draws from various fields of research and uses both scientific and sociological methods to confront population health problems. Looking at certain health issues through a public health lens can help answer questions of who is being most affected by an issue, why they are in that position, and how this affects them on a physiological and social basis.

While sociology and biology are seemingly disparate topics, they have the ability to be utilized simultaneously to address both medical and social topics. The prospect of navigating both fields used to intimidate me, but now it excites me. Through learning more about public health, I am able to see how medicine and sociology can intersect in a way that does not contradict either field and instead fosters a better understanding of human health and society.