Southland RISE celebrates 5 years of violence prevention and recovery efforts in Chicagoland

FRANKLIN COSEY-GAY, PHD, MPH: In 2019, inspired by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's hospital working group, Chicago HEAL, the University of Chicago Medicine and Advocate Health Care formed Southland RISE, which stands for Resilience Initiative to Strengthen and Empower.

Gun violence and the resulting trauma to families and communities is a public health crisis. Addressing root causes and long-standing inequities that increase factors for violence requires engaged communities, collaboration and sustainable programs.

OYINKANSOLA OKUBANJO, MD: Supporting community organizations that are working every day to understand the needs of their communities­ - who better to lead the way in helping to keep young people and their families safe, engaged, and empowered? Over the past five years, Southland RISE has awarded small grants to more than 50 community organizations on the South Side. Whether that focus is on youth housing, mentorship, healing through the arts, or building skills and job placement, these organizations are vital to building resilience, encouraging healing from within our communities.

CLINTON BOYD JR., PHD: We believe that when you improve outcomes for Black men and boys, you strengthen Black women and girls, families and the community at large. With the funding that Fathers, Families & Healthy Communities receive from Southland RISE, we were able to deliver transformative services to Black fathers to improve their quality of life and make a positive impact in the lives of their children, families and communities.

GLENDA L. LASHLEY, LCSW, CADC: The greatest strength of our program lies in the capacity to address the summer slide phenomenon in any city communities by offering captivating, age-appropriate books to children and implementing an engaging summer reading program.

KIM MIILLER, PSYD: Meeting the needs of survivors of violence requires more than care for their physical wounds. Our trauma recovery support begins with developing a relationship with patients and their families at the bedside. We can connect them to resources and wrap-around services that include social and behavioral health services, individual and group therapy, and psychiatric consultation. We also share information about additional services provided through our hospital's trauma recovery programs and the community outreach partners we work with.

KENNY WHITE: Several of my patients have received support through the Southland RISE Emergency Relief Fund including help with renting, housing relocation, utilities, and even grocery support. I remember one of my patients who was unable to work due to gunshot wounds and lost her job. Generous funding provided by Southland RISE lifted a financial burden off my patient's shoulders.

TINA COOPER, LCSW, CADC: The Southland RISE Street Outreach and Hospital Response Training Curriculum brings together the perspectives, lived experiences and professional knowledge of hospital frontline and street outreach staff. We at Metropolitan Family Services, Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, worked with staff from both hospitals and street outreach to design a learning experience that builds trust and community, creates mutual understanding, and encourages an open dialogue.

JORDAN PENMAN: The trainings create spaces to gain a better understanding of our different roles, responsibilities, and day-to-day work, and this has improved communication between our hospital's trauma recovery and community outreach staff members.

LATANYA AYTCH: I came away from the training with a better understanding of how hospital response and violence recovery staff support patients, and how I can use what I learned and the new connections I made with hospital staff to connect my clients and their families with resources.

FRANKLIN COSEY-GAY, PHD, MPH: We know that what we're addressing when it comes to community violence is just the tip of the iceberg. It's connected to structural issues, resources, economic disinvestment, poor education opportunities, and policies and practices tied to race and racism that go back multiple generations. What's inspiring about Southland RISE is the coordination that this initiative has generated between hospital-based violence intervention groups, as well as community violence interventionists, which include street outreach professionals, victim advocates and case managers.

These are individuals who possess the social and cultural capital through their lived experience to connect to survivors of violence and their families to much needed resources. Have incredible people at the frontline that look like you, that come from your community, that understand not only the interpersonal trauma, but structural trauma.

Using a healing-centered trauma approach is important. Through Southland Rise and the resulting partnerships, we're supporting both the immediate and long-term needs of our community ecosystem of care.

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