APA Illinois relaunched the Pro Bono Services Program in the fall of 2018. In July 2019, Chaired by Jaemi Jackson, AICP, and Vice-Chair Tim Gustafson, AICP, the committee and a group of dedicated and talented APA-IL volunteers facilitated the first Pro Bono Project in more than a decade. The project involved working closely with Proviso Partners for Health to host an emerging community needs and visioning workshop for a Community Health and Wellness Hub in Maywood, Illinois (group photo below).

(photo above, from left to right by Holly O'Connor: Dorothy Brown, Seaway Bank and Trust; Susanne Schnell, PP4H and Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago; Teresa Fourcher, SCB; Viktor Schrader, Oak Park Development Corporation (APA-IL); Tanvi Parikh, SOM (APA-IL); Elbert Whitfield, SCB; Jaemi Jackson, City of Highland Park (APA-IL); Tim Gustafson, Epstein (APA-IL); Aaron Cook (APA-IL); Dr. Lena Hatchett, PP4H and Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine; Diane Gormely-Barnes, HNTB (APA-IL); Caren Kay, SB Friedman (APA-IL); Lorenzo Webber, PP4H and Proviso Township Youth and Family Services; Jennifer Koehler, Loyola Medicine)

The APA-IL Pro Bono Services Committee launched a Call for Projects in February 2019. The Committee received 15 applications for projects throughout Illinois. Using a 4-part evaluation and scoring guide, the Committee rated project proposals based on:

1. Pro Bono Planning Committee capacity

2. Agency Staff or Elected Official support

3. Stakeholder/Community support

4. Equity

Based on evaluation scores and discussion within the Committee, Proviso Partners for Health (PP4H), was chosen as the 2019 APA-IL Spring Pro Bono Project. PP4H is a community-driven, multi-sector coalition that promotes health equity, economic development, and food justice in the Proviso Township communities of Maywood, Bellwood, Broadview, and Melrose Park located in west suburban Cook County.

(photo above by Jaemi Jackson, AICP)

On the evening of July 17, 2019, members from the APA-IL Pro Bono Services Program and PP4H hosted an emerging community needs workshop to elicit ideas and visions for a Community Health and Wellness Hub in Maywood, Illinois. This community-driven Hub would offer a variety of businesses, services, nonprofit programs, and entrepreneurial opportunities centered on health and wellness and grounded in the goal of economic equity. Thirty-five Maywood residents and community stakeholders attended the three-hour visioning workshop. The workshop program included a review and discussion of health hub case studies and facilitated breakout sessions inviting participants’ ideas on local business and entrepreneurship, mixed use development, and criteria for possible locations for the Health Hub in Maywood.

The workshop provided the seeds for an emerging vision for a Health Hub in Maywood. Participants expressed interest and enthusiasm in participating in future workshops to co-design plans for the Hub. PP4H and its community partners will continue to convene Maywood residents to get a broader understanding of the community’s needs and to refine a vision and action plan for the Health Hub. The full workshop summary report can be found here.

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