Get Involved with Advocacy Action Opportunities
At Health & Medicine, we come together in a number of ways to advance policy and our mission of building power and
momentum for health equity and social justice. We advance this mission through progressive public health policy reform,
best practices research, leading convening of public health partners, and collaborative practice.
We often have action opportunities for people to get involved with issues related to our policy priorities.
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We invite you to join us and make a tangible impact on issues of health equity that affect us all.
Current Campaigns
Fund Public Health
The Fund Public Health campaign demands a public health system capable of meeting our public health needs and eliminating health inequities.
Having well-funded and robustly staffed health departments is critical to advancing health equity and public health. For too long, elected officials have underfunded and under-staffed our health departments, ill-prepared for pandemics, heat waves, and the day-to-day public health problems we face. This must change.
The Fund Public Health campaign works to advance the following priorities:
- $25 million more in the FY2025 City of Chicago Corporate Fund budget for the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH). Here’s the letter to Cook County officials with 80+ organizations signed on.
- $23 millions more in the FY2025 Cook County Corporate Fund budget for the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH).
- Both City and County officials must fix the HR problems and slow hiring processes that plague both CDPH and CCDPH
Our two letters to local officials have now had 80+ organizations signed on:
Read our letter to Chicago officials
Read our letter to Cook County officials
Health departments need increased funding to hire staff to advance health equity and both protect and promote public health. As examples, funds could be used to hire community health workers, sanitarians, communicable disease case investigators, lead risk assessors, community health assessment and planning, and emergency preparedness.
The stakes are high. As one example of a health inequity that requires action, there is an 11-year life expectancy health inequity between Black Chicagoans and others. Health inequities, by definition, are unfair, unjust, and remediable. But the remedies require, in part, public health staff to work on the various interventions to support public health.
Illinois Aging Together Campaign
Sign on as a supporter of Illinois Aging Together!
Sign on to express support for the Illinois Aging Together campaign and our legislation, Aging Equity Act (HB 1237, SB 2032), which will create a planning commission to develop a Strategic Action Plan for Aging Equity in Illinois.
Illinois Aging Together is a statewide movement for aging equity in Illinois. The vision is for state government to develop and adopt a long-term strategic action plan for aging that cuts across departments, programs, policies, and sectors to move toward aging equity across the life course.
This planning will be accompanied by a shift in public narrative and understanding regarding aging by redefining and reframing the value, meaning, and purpose of life as we all age.
The Illinois Aging Together campaign is a bottom-up campaign, and we need your support to get legislation, or an executive order passed that will form a diverse and inclusive planning group with stakeholder input for the strategic action plan for aging equity. Sign on below to show your support for the campaign and legislation as well as to learn about opportunities for engaging in this movement for aging equity.
Solidarity Summit for A People’s Agenda
Purpose
We are organizing a Solidarity Summit for A People’s Agenda that, at its core, is seeking to bridge the divides between recent migrants, existing Black, Latine, and other marginalized peoples who are seeking human basics: health care, food, shelter, education, and good jobs.
The problems we face in education, housing, transportation, employment, health care, and other critical issues demand our attention now more than ever. The call is upon us to stand in solidarity, to advocate for justice, and to champion human rights for all. The Solidarity Summit aims to cultivate A People’s Agenda that not only addresses the unique concerns posed by the influx of newcomers but also interconnects these solutions with existing social challenges, such as those faced by low-wage workers, unhoused individuals, and uninsured individuals—as well as the pervasive injustices of racism and xenophobia.
A Call to Action
In the vibrant landscape of the Chicago area, we find ourselves at a critical juncture in history. We are facing the challenges brought about by decades-long disinvestment in our communities. These problems only become more critical as we seek to meet the needs of the recent arrivals. To address these complex issues and build a resilient community, we invite you to join us in organizing and planning a Solidarity Summit for A People’s Agenda. Read our full call to action letter here.
The Solidarity Summit is not an effort to develop a new immigration coalition or organization, nor is it meant to replace the efforts of existing immigrant rights groups.
Interested? Join the planning committee.
Organizations who wish to join the steering committee can sign on here. Want to learn more? Email us at SolidaritySummit@hmprg.org.
Endorsers of the Solidarity Summit
A Just Harvest
Center for Community Health Equity at Depaul University and Rush University
Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health
Collaborative for Health Equity Cook County
Community Renewal Society
Health & Medicine Policy Research Group
Metropolitan Tenants Organization
Mobile Migrant Health Team
MiMedico
Radical Public Health
Rudy Lozano Library Committee
San Lucas United Church of Christ
Student National Medical Association
Trinity United Church of Christ
Questions?
Contact us at SolidaritySummit@hmprg.org.