Community Health Collaborative hosts fourth quarter meeting
Community Partner Spotlight is Heartland Community College

[December 09, 2024] 

Representatives from community organizations met at Lincoln Memorial Hospital (LMH) for end of year updates as part of the Community Health Collaborative (CHC) on Thursday, December 4. The mission of the CHC is “to create the best quality of life possible for Logan County residents.” The CHC meets quarterly and is open to anyone interested in its mission.

Community Partner Spotlight

The Community Partner Spotlight this quarter was Heartland Community College (HCC) presented by Jennifer Kirby and Chris Downing. Located in the Illini professional building in front of Walmart, the HCC Lincoln campus offers traditional undergraduate classes for students who want to complete general education requirements as part of a four year degree. Kirby reported that HCC also offers work-ready programs such as a CNA program which can be completed in eight weeks. The CNA program currently has two sessions during the academic year with plans to add more. HCC has started a MG Welding certificate at LTEC, a 16 week micro-certificate leading to employment. Work-ready classes are beginning in January.

HCC also offers community programs such as their peer recovery support specialist program. Free GED preparation courses are offered at the HCC center, including pre and post-testing. GED classes have multiple start dates throughout the year. HCC also wants to be a host for community organizations offering meeting space with conference room seating for 20, but options for up to 30 or 40. In addition, HCC offers continuing education for personal enrichment. Booklets may be requested through their website. At HCC, students can find support with scholarship opportunities, academic advising, FAFSA completion, local free tutoring, and local student counseling services. Regular classes start January 13 and express enrollment is available. HCC is looking for instructors for their CNA programs.

Downing reported that HCC is working on a 5-year plan at Lincoln Center specific to the Lincoln campus. They have recently completed an environmental scan. Some goals for the strategic plan are to address barriers. The first barrier to be addressed is that a potential student may believe they are “not college material.” Second are the barriers presented by the ideas of college and corresponding challenges of enrollment, and third, the barrier of financial challenges. A number of scholarships and financial aid packages are available for students to avoid financial burden. HCC has an advisory council that meets twice a year.

Community Health Updates

Molly McCain, Community Health Coordinator for LMH, reported that the Community Health Implementation Plan is available for public view. The priorities for this plan are cancer, healthy weight, and mental health. Plans to address these priorities include forming a cancer coalition, continued free cancer screening, free anti-racism training, free community nutrition courses offered by a doctor, trauma-informed care training, the LMH Market, a Mental Health Coalition, mental health literacy kits, ongoing mental health text message campaign for high school students, and Trailblazers. Trailblazers Walking challenge will resume during the winter months from 10-1 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Lincoln YMCA. The October walking challenge resulted in 2446 miles walked during that month.

Coalition Updates

The Substance Use Prevention Coalition recently presented results of the Logan County Environmental scan during their meeting. They will use that information to figure out an action plan to address what has been identified.

The Breastfeeding Promotion Coalition is starting a Breastfeeding support group that will begin at Lincoln Parents’ Center on January 14 at 10 a.m. They hope to reactivate the task force with new members and ideas in the new year.

The Youth Mental Health Coalition/Butterfly Project will host the 11th Judicial Circuit virtual meeting of the region’s partners on February 3 with guest speaker Rocio from Immigration Project. The dates of the 2025 regular meeting dates are March 3, May 5, July 7, September 15, and November 3. Butterfly Project Case Manager Abby Behrens also assists with the Railer Reach Out text campaign.

Logan County Parks Coalition hosted the second Pumpkin Smash with five times as many pumpkins as last year. Approximately 100 pumpkins were dropped off at Madigan Park, as well as two barrels at the Lincoln Park District and two barrels at the Lincoln Community Garden Project. The Pumpkin Smash keeps pumpkins out of landfills and provides food for wildlife.

Chestnut Health Systems (CHS) is wrapping up fall youth prevention education at area schools. They are currently sending out prevention posters and other materials to area schools. A communication campaign is being developed, as well as substance use early interventions for schools.

CHS also administers Impact with Youth Project in Logan, Mason, and Madison counties for all ages of children and youth. Services and scholarships are offered to youth impacted by familial substance use. Outreach that started last year to different organizations includes providing share closets, share kits, and backpacks with school and hygiene supplies. CHS is providing books to public and school libraries, including picture, chapter, and workbooks for different ages with information and support for children with familial substance use. CHS provides curricula for substance use prevention. They can fund activities for parents and children together and peer mentoring initiatives. CHS continually updates the Logan County Resource guide available at
www.logancountyresources.org.

Recovery Oriented Systems of Care brings services into the community and is currently working to break the stigma of the language surrounding substance use. They have created a stigma reduction campaign which began with distributing alternative vocabulary for substance use disorder.

Senior Life Solutions has added a staff counselor so they are now able to offer senior counseling four days a week up from 3 days. Senior Life Solutions counseling offers support for grief, loneliness, and mental health for seniors on Medicare. Referrals can be made by phone or by email.

Parish Nurses have representation in a number of churches around the county. Services are specific to the congregation and may include offering referrals and blood pressure checks.

Carmen Lanham of Family Guidance Centers reported the organization has 28 service counties, but is based in Springfield. The goal of the organization is to fill the gaps in substance use prevention services, for example, in alternative schools. They can provide materials and resources and they update a weekly blog.

Memorial Behavioral Health has a new system administrator, a role that has been vacant for nearly a year. Memorial Behavioral Health wants people to know about the 988 crisis number and the Mobile Crisis Team, both of which are available to respond to crises 24 hours a day.

Iliini Central High School is utilizing grants from CHS Impact with Youth Project to supply care kits and backpacks to students in need. They are also using grants for coats and winter gear for students. Illini Central has a peer mentoring program. Recently, they administered a personality test and organized peer groups and mentors according to personality traits. The guidance counselor reminded participants that school breaks can be very hard for students when school is their safe space.

Lloyd Kirby from WLCN encouraged CHC partner organizations to let him know about upcoming events for the WLCN community calendar, website, newsletter, and morning announcements. Kirby hosts a public affairs show on Thursday afternoons. Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch is on every month. Recently, Kirby has been addressing the rise of crime in Logan County, hosting local law enforcement on his shows. He is looking for local businesses to sponsor PSA Crimestoppers spots. He also continually seeks community members to join him for his shows to promote community events.

SIU Family Medicine community health workers help community members find resources. Community health workers from SIU are interested in networking and collaborating with CHC partners.

Community Risk Reduction (CRR) is an organization that works to prevent and reduce fires and repeated EMS calls. Information is available at www.illinoiscrr.com. CRR offers classes for fire prevention awareness and assessment at 8 hours each. Classes are strongly recommended for youth and mental health workers. Peoria and Joliet fire departments have reduced calls and fires in public housing after community education campaigns. CRR can work with EMS and the unhoused. Youth Fire Setting classes teach standards of care assessment for youth who have threatened or who have successfully set fires. Next steps may be education, counseling, mental health intervention, and/or law enforcement intervention. The next classes are scheduled for the end of February in Champaign. More information is available at www.FSI.illinois.edu.

Covid and flu shots are available at the Logan County Health Department. RSV vaccines are available for those over 64. Shingles vaccines are also available with a health department goal to offer vaccination in nursing homes. The Health Department will be beginning a program to bring vaccines to community members who are homebound.

United Way sponsors the 211 line, which is a resource directory. Additional resources can be listed with the directory. The 211 line gets about 230 calls a year. The United Way also coordinates with the Dolly Parton Imagination library. Logan County has seen 368 children graduate from the program since 2020. This year 7,900 books have been sent to local children.

Hope on Fifth is working with Continuum of Care in Bloomington and is in the running for grant funding. One veteran lives there currently. Hope on Fifth continues to seek grant funding. There is building space available for meetings especially for service organizations.

Girls on the Run, based in Springfield, serves over 15 counties. The program director is looking for Logan County Schools to participate. Chester-East Lincoln participated in the past year.

Birth to Five is a statewide program supporting early childhood. The organization is working through their action plan connected to their Needs Assessment. Birth to Five can work with children under the age of 8 including mental health and other uplifting early childhood services.

The Butterfly Project provides in-home services to children ages 0-18 who have been exposed to abuse. They use a dyadic model which means children receive therapy with a caregiver. The abuser must be out of the home. There is not a waitlist in Logan County for services currently. April Garcia is the program supervisor. The Butterfly Project is hiring for a therapist to work in their service area.

The WIC nutrition program is available through the Logan County Department of Health for children ages 0-5 and pregnant and breastfeeding women. Anyone who qualifies for state health insurance qualifies for WIC. Remote services are also available.

The next CHC meeting is scheduled for March 6, 2025.

[Stephanie Hall]