Program Overview
Live Healthy Chicago (LHC) is a collaborative that implements initiatives to improve the wellness of seniors and high-risk populations experiencing COVID-19 health disparities and food insecurity. The initiatives span 20 majority Black and Brown target communities in Chicago. Forty Acres Fresh Market; MAAFA Redemption Project; My Block, My Hood, My City (M3); Rush University Medical Center; and West Side United have partnered to build LHC.
LHC has distributed over $2 million in community-based grants to organizations that are implementing immediate and recovery strategies. Noticing a gap in federal funding to undocumented communities, LHC distributed another round of funding in Q2 to four organizations that prioritize undocumented Chicagoans.
Program Outcomes
January through June, Live Healthy Chicago grantees distributed more than $109,000 in financial assistance to individuals. Notably, the distribution size grew by eight times for quarter two compared with quarter one.
As of June 2021, the Live Healthy Chicago initiative has served 288,801 individuals. The four organizations serving undocumented Chicagoans have served nearly 50% of all individuals reached (132,062). We have seen our impact grow substantially in quarter 2.
In just over two quarters, we have provided over 2 million meals across the 20 priority neighborhoods. One of our grantees supporting undocumented Chicagoans has been largely responsible for the food delivery in quarter 2.
In quarter one and quarter two, our grantees recruited ~380 volunteers and new staff to aid the delivery of services across their programs. These volunteers and new staff are vital to support the dramatic expansion of many of these programs. We have seen how the need for food, financial assistance, and other support has increased during the pandemic, and these grantees have grown to meet that need.
