$5M in health and education projects approved for Illinois
Communities throughout Illinois will get $5 million in federal funding for health and education projects, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin's office has announced.
The Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Durbin is a member, approved the projects.
The 2011 Appropriations bill for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations, according to a release Thursday from Durbin's office, includes funding for the following Chicago-area projects:
• Alexian Brothers Hospital Network, Hoffman Estates: $375,000 in funding to expand the emergency room radiology department and purchase equipment upgrades at the St. Alexius Medical Center. This expansion is necessary to serve the rapidly growing patient population in the area.
• Chicago Public Schools: $500,000 in funding to develop a pilot program utilizing mentoring services and case management for middle and high school students to prevent youth violence in Chicago. The partnership between Chicago Public Schools and the University of Chicago Crime Lab will provide mentoring services and case management to up to 600 middle- and high-school students living in some of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods and will complement CPS’s current violence prevention efforts.
• Chicago Public Schools: $150,000 in funding to initiate a city-wide effort to reduce childhood obesity among students by increasing access to healthier foods. CPS will develop a city-wide effort aimed at reducing childhood obesity among students by increasing their access to healthier food. The funds would be used to implement a pilot project to expand comprehensive nutrition education and physical activity programs for students, provide access to teacher training curricula on health and nutrition, and purchase equipment to help schools serve fresh chopped fruits and vegetables.
• Community Health, Chicago: $150,000 in funding for renovation and equipment for a new dental clinic in Englewood. This clinic will provide dental services to uninsured individuals in this underserved, high need community.
• Cristo Rey, Chicago: $250,000 in funding to analyze and improve the college performance of recent graduates of Cristo Rey high schools. Cristo Rey Network schools serve economically disadvantaged students in urban environments with low rates of college success. Funding will be used to expand and advance an ongoing study of Cristo Rey graduates' postsecondary performance and design programs to ensure their students complete high school prepared for college.
• Easter Seals, Joliet: $200,000 in funding to support the construction of a Medical Diagnostic, Treatment, and Research Center. The Center will focus on the needs of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families by providing early diagnosis, training for parents and professionals, occupational and speech therapy, behavioral services, clinical counseling and parent support groups.
• Garfield Park Preparatory Academy, Chicago: $300,000 in funding to strengthen after-school programming for students and improve job training for parents. Garfield Park Academy is a charter school run by the Chicago School of Psychology that provides after-school services for children and educational and vocational services for parents.
• Jackson Park Hospital, Chicago: $250,000 in funding to renovate the hospital’s OB/Gynecology Labor and Delivery Department to improve access for pregnant women. Current facilities, serving over ten communities, do not have central air conditioning or private restrooms.
• Lake County Community Foundation, Waukegan: $250,000 in funding to expand social service programs assisting the quickly growing Latino population access health care, housing, and economic opportunities.
• Little Company of Mary Hospital, Evergreen Park: $400,000 in funding to construct the Women’s Center for Life and Health. The Center will provide increased maternal, labor and delivery, obstetric, and neonatal services. Current facilities are outdated and will not handle future patient growth.
• Loyola University Nursing Building, Maywood: $400,000 in funding to construct Loyola’s Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. The facility will train professionals to meet the growing demand for nurses and nurse educators in Illinois.
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