Program Focus: Building a Healthy Legacy in the Chicago Southland

The South Suburban Chicago (IL) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated and the Chicago Southland community are enriched by programs that provide vital health information and initiatives that focus on issues that are of best interest and concern to people of color. The Health and Human Services Facet has developed, and in collaboration with the First Ladies Initiative, is implementing a program entitled Date With a Doctor. This program consists of a series of community forums/workshops at which a variety of health and wellness topics pertinent to the African-American community are discussed and free services made available. Examples of topics include “How to Navigate the Health Insurance Maze”, “Managing Your Meds”, “Stress: A Hidden Killer” and “Children’s Oral Health”. In partnership with Walgreens and the University of Chicago Hospital, free screenings for HIV/AIDS, blood pressure and glucose were provided, as well as free flu shots. Participants were given appropriate counseling/information relative to their screening outcomes.

SSCC has also entered into a partnership with Gift of Hope designed to enhance the chapter's and the community’s knowledge and to deepen involvement with the issue of organ and tissue donation in the African-American community. A chapter member is a designated Gift of Hope Ambassador.