Community Health Collaborative Networking Meeting Hosted by Lincoln Park District
Several organizations offer updates on work being done in Lincoln and Logan County

[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.

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.

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.

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.

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 [phone] 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]