Community Health Collaborative
Networking Meeting Hosted by Lincoln Park District
Several organizations offer updates on
work being done in Lincoln and Logan County
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[March 08, 2024]
The
Community Health Collaborative met for its quarterly meeting at the
Lincoln Park District on Thursday, March 7. Molly McCain, Community
Health Coordinator for Lincoln Memorial Hospital (LMH), conducted
the meeting beginning with updates about LMH programs.
The Trailblazers walking program is still meeting at the YMCA to
walk indoors from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Wednesday until March 27.
Anyone may walk for free in the YMCA gym until the end of March.
There is a new walking challenge slated for the month of May. If
participants walk 39 laps around the LMH trail, they can win a
T-shirt.
The Community Health Needs Assessment timeline is in the Focus Group
stage for the months of March and April. Many of the conversations
McCain has been hosting in the focus groups revolve around mental
health and substance use. Following the focus groups, the Internal
Advisory Committee will meet during May and June.
The Community Health Survey was conducted in February with 428
people completing the survey, mostly women between the ages of 40
and 55 from Lincoln. The top concern was teenage substance use and
the second was student mental wellness.
The Substance Use Prevention Coalition (SUPC) update was delivered
by Grace Irvine of Chestnut Health Systems. She reported on harm
reduction initiatives including the usage numbers, current as of
January, for the items available for free at the harm reduction
vending machine at Family Custom Cleaners. Since its placement the
vending machine has dispensed 547 doses of Narcan, 506 fentanyl test
strips, and 424 xylazine test strips. The Logan County Health
Department has given away 425 doses of Narcan and continues to
replace them. The SUPC is in the process of its Environmental Scan
to identify the risk factors in the community that could contribute
to youth substance use.
Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) has a subcommittee group
that has planned a free screening of “Generation Found” at Lincoln
Grand movie theater on March 16 at 2:00 p.m. Jeannette Davis invited
agencies to set up booths on site at the screening. After the movie,
ROSC plans to conduct a dialogue about the issues presented in the
film. There is also a screening at the Arlee Theater in Mason City.
The movie shows what communities are doing to support substance free
youth and is also available on Prime video.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Mar/08/images/ads/current/siu_sda_022924.png)
Additional reports from McCain about LMH programs and
partners included the Breastfeeding Promotion Coalition, which is
not meeting at this time. Chairperson Dana Oltmanns is meeting with
coordinators in Springfield to try to get the local coalition
restarted. There will be additional updates in the coming months.
A Mental Health Texting Campaign for high school freshmen is being
planned. A focus group of high school students will be organized to
determine content and collaboration in April. Parents in the
community health survey focus groups have been excited to hear about
this initiative. The texting campaign will start with freshmen and
potentially expand to both older and younger students.
Logan Parks Coalition has planned Earth Day events for next month.
On Saturday, April 20, Kickapoo Park will have free white oak
seedlings for community members to take home and plant. The same
morning the Lincoln Park District will host a Forest Therapy session
at Memorial Park from 10-11:30 a.m. Registration is required and the
cost is a donation to the Lincoln Park District Foundation. Earth
Day is April 22 and LMH is planning to plant one of the white oak
seedlings on its campus. There is also a planting day scheduled at
David W. Schroeder Community Garden from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Mar/08/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
Kara Davis, director of nursing at the Logan County
Health Department, is meeting with school nurses and a
representative from Who We Play For (https://www.whoweplayfor.org/),
an organization that offers ECG screening to detect heart defects
and prevent sudden cardiac arrest in athletes. Lincoln Community
High School has already committed to offering the screening to each
high school athlete. The screening takes about 10 minutes and costs
about $20 for an individual, which schools or parents may cover. Mt.
Pulaski High School and Lincoln Junior High are also participating
in the screening. Parents can register their children online and do
not have to be present for the screening. The scan is available for
students in grades 6-12. The Health Department plans to schedule a
day for additional grade schools and private schools to take
advantage of this screening.
The Logan County Health Department is giving away sharps collection
red boxes through a grant from the state. This initiative keeps
sharps out of the landfill. The Health Department will likely
continue to offer red boxes after the grant expires because it is an
inexpensive service. Needles of any kind are accepted- insulin, B12,
intravenous drugs- and red boxes may be picked up at the Health
Department.
Youth substance use prevention initiatives include flyers to do a
direct mailing to students and to post on school websites. This year
is an Illinois Youth Survey year, and all Logan County schools have
signed up to participate. Mt. Pulaski High School is the only school
to have not completed the survey, and they are scheduled for April.
The “Too Good for Drugs” curriculum designed for 6th and 7th graders
is being taught this spring at Lincoln Junior High School. Resource
directory cards are available to promote
www.logancountyresources.org. This community resource website is
getting a facelift and adding updated information about area
agencies. It also includes a Parent Resource Guide.
Memorial Behavioral Health continues to promote the phone number 988
for call, text, or chat for anyone who is struggling or needs to
talk to someone. People have called for substance use, mental
health, loneliness, and just to get support for the day to day.
Youth primarily use the text feature. 988 has fielded nine million
calls nationwide since its inception. Central Illinois has a local
operator for 988, so calls are fielded in the region. Memorial
Behavioral Adult Case managers are looking for more individuals to
serve.
Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance has a new
representative in Logan County. She is located at the Heartland
Community College Lincoln campus and working on building connections
in the community. This organization works with funding and grants
for trade school and job training.
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Senior Life Solutions provides
social, medical, and mental health support for those over age 55
or on Medicare. It is located at LMH and currently is operating
off of a waitlist, but applications are still being accepted.
Julie King of the Christian Village reported that two support
groups are available to the community. There is a Caregivers
Support Group which meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month at the
Oasis. This group is composed primarily of caregivers for those
with dementia. A new Griefshare support group is starting March
8 at the Christian Village for anyone who has suffered a loss.
Loss is loss whether it is a loved one, a job, a pet, or loss of
personal independence. Griefshare provides support for anyone
going through the grief process. King also reported that memory
support is returning to the Christian Village. They are planning
to open an assisted living facility for those with memory loss.
King encouraged anyone looking for information about senior
living or support for seniors to contact her. With her 29 years
of experience, she knows many in the industry and can help with
connections.
The Center for Youth and Family Solutions provides counseling
and parent education. They are seeking information about a teen
gang happening right now in Lincoln.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Mar/08/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_021424.png)
A representative from the Department of Public Health
for Sangamon and surrounding counties talked about the children's
services provided. They serve kids from birth to 3 years old, and
will provide developmental and other evaluations, as well as
information for parents. They provide play-based speech,
developmental, occupational, and physical therapies. They support
nutrition and will provide support for vision and hearing loss.
Children with high lead levels are automatically qualified for
service and there is a lead nurse on staff. Referrals can come from
a parent or a pediatrician. To make a referral call program manager
Roberta Gaines at (217) 535-3102 extension 378.
Allison Baker, Program Coordinator for the Park District, gave an
update on spring and summer activities at the Rec. They are planning
for summer sports, and registration for youth T-ball, baseball, and
softball is open until March 29. There is an open house on April 6
to register for swim lessons, pool parties, summer camps, fitness
classes, and more. Baker said they are trying to focus on middle
grades for fitness and programming because sometimes this age group
is overlooked. This year the Park District will host flashlight
Easter egg hunts for ages 8-12 at 7 p.m. and ages 13-17 at 8 p.m. on
March 16 on the Park District driving range. Fitness Manager
Jennifer Prather is always working on adult programming and fitness
offerings. Pat Hake from LCHS brought high school students for
pickle ball and other short term recreational leagues to the Rec for
a nominal fee. It was a successful program, so more leagues are
being planned.
Patti Schonauer of the United Way explained the service provided by
the United Way sponsored phone number 211. The 211 line provides
24/7 availability “to access free and confidential community health
and human services.” Clients may call for resources for financial,
medical and other help. The United Way is in the process of trying
to get funding for a statewide 211 service, which many states
already have. Informational postcards about 211 are available.
Illinois has a new 211 coordinator. Community needs are tracked and
often people are looking for housing, cheaper rent, etc.
The United Way also has a program that studies the cost of living
and looks for gaps in resources to see where needs are, particularly
for people who are working, but struggle to make ends meet. It looks
for gaps in services, for example, where there are libraries or a
lack of them or where there is public transportation or not. There
is a great deal of data that is useful for writing grants and
identifying gaps in services. Schonaur has links to this data for
interested organizations.
The United Way also sponsors the Dolly Parton library, and the state
pays for half. Approximately 700-710 kids in Logan County
participate in the program. Reading books with parents and
caregivers leads to better language skills and success at school for
children.
Senior services of Logan, Mason, Menard offers services of all kinds
including in-home care, emergency home response, fall detection, and
others. The service is not income based, but asset based. The goal
of services is to help to keep people in their own homes. They do
referrals to IATP for durable medical equipment. IATP just received
a 2.5 million dollar grant. They are continuing to provide tablets
to seniors for social connection, and laptops for those with low
vision. They help provide smart home products for those with low
vision and dementia, for example, door locks that can be unlocked
with a fingerprint.
The Gateway Foundation has been expanding its Bloomington location
and is planning an open house for Thursday, March 14.
Salvation Army representative Ruth Sutton explained the types of
services provided by the Salvation Army. They help people in crisis
and with disaster relief. There is also a food pantry and free
clothing available at the Lincoln office on Kickapoo Street.
Jeannette Davis from ROSC explained the aims of ROSC. Their goal is
to build up a supportive community for those with substance use or
mental illness. They take a holistic approach to recovery. The ROSC
Council meets the third Thursday of every month via Zoom. This
meeting is open to anyone who wants to get involved and the meetings
are also recorded and posted to youtube. They have a subcommittee
group that meets at Hope on Fifth Street (the building which was
formerly St. Clara’s Manor). Hope on Fifth continues to work on
getting the building ready to provide services. ROSC also has goals
of working on stigma reduction and educating about harm reduction.
ROSC has cards listing all local recovery meetings with a QR code
with links to other recovery resources.
Carol Mills from the Parish Nurses program reported that the parish
nurses meet together, but mostly do things at their own churches.
One nurse works with Hope Grows providing services for children.
McCain concluded the meeting with a reminder of the free colorectal
cancer screening kits available at LMH on Tuesday, March 12 from 9
a.m. to 12 p.m. The next SUPC meeting is Thursday, March 14 at 9
a.m. at LMH. The next CHC meeting will be June 6. Anyone interested
in creating the best quality of life possible for Logan County
residents is welcome to join the LMH Community Health Collaborative.
[Stephanie Hall] |