Health gap between blacks and whites in Chicago widens

Here's a link to a very discouraging article in the Chicago Tribune that reveals that a study conducted by the Sinai Urban Health Institute shows that the health gap between whites and blacks in Chicago is getting WIDER!

Institute director Steve Whitman, whose work has compared breast cancer disparities in Chicago and New York, said the health of African-Americans in Chicago fares worse than blacks elsewhere.

"The underlying issue here is racism and poverty," Whitman said. "In Chicago, it's exacerbated by segregation. Black people in Chicago are forced to live in neighborhoods where there are no stores to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, where schools are failing, where they don't have parks to exercise in and where they tend to go to segregated health facilities that are poorly funded and, in different ways, failing."

This is what we have been trying to say at Breakthrough! And why we are raising $15M to build the Breakthrough FamilyPlex to provide a health clinic, fitness center, sports and arts programs, early childhood education and after school tutoring. We are also bringing fresh produce into the neighborhood and beginning to grow our own vegetables. It is urgent that we get this project done and continue to strengthen our work at Breakthrough.