The document summarizes the work of Cook County PLACE MATTERS, an organization that aims to promote health equity in the Chicago area by addressing social determinants of health like education and unemployment that are impacted by structural racism. It discusses how residential segregation has led to health inequities among different racial and socioeconomic groups. The organization seeks to build power among residents to create policy changes and hosts events to discuss these issues and their health impacts.

1. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @CCPLACEMATTERS WATCH VIDEOS AT YOUTUBE.COM/CCPLACEMATTERS
Social Injustice Is Killing People in Chicagoland…
Cook County PLACE MATTERS Promotes
Health Equity in the Chicago Area
COOK COUNTY PLACE MATTERS APRIL 2014
The mission of Cook County
PLACE MATTERS is to change
the policies and practices fueling
the inequitable distribution of
power and resources in Cook
County that result from
structural racism. Our aim is to
increase health equity by
addressing education,
unemployment, violence and
other social determinants of
health.
Bonnie Rateree (L) John Owens (R) being interviewed February 4
th
by Vocalo 90.7FM radio’s “Practically
Speaking” Host Audra Wilson (Center).
Cook County PLACE MATTERS’ Jim Bloyd, John Owens, and
Bonnie Rateree described their work in Bronzeville and Harvey
challenging the lack of neighborhood resources needed for health in
an interview on Vocalo radio, 90.7 FM on Practically Speaking with
Audra Wilson during a half-hour interview. Listen to the entire show
online at http://tmblr.co/ZLTJEw17CS6WV.
Make Your Voice Heard!
You can support health equity.
Cook County PLACE MATTERS
seeks to build collective power
among residents in order to make
the policy changes necessary to
advance a health equity agenda. In
2014 we will continue to:
 Convene discussions on the social
determinants of health and
structural racism
 Present films such as “Are We
Crazy About Our Kids?”
 Educate elected officials
 Expand our social media presence
 Highlight community voices and
local health inequities through
video at YouTube.com/ccplacematters
 Develop our policy agenda,
including minimum wage/tipped
wage issues in support of
Restaurant Opportunity Centers
Chicago
 Work together with 19 PLACE
MATTERS teams working across
the United States
Please contact Jim Bloyd, Team Lead
Email: placematterscookcounty@gmail.com
Phone: 708-633-8314
“…when I was about 12 years
old, I said I wanted to grow up
to just take care of all the
people in the community: the
old folk and the little kids.
And protect them. I finally got
the job that I really, really
dreamed for.” “We’ve been
able to feed everybody in the
neighborhood [Harvey, IL]
from that community garden.
The children asked me when
we first planted it, well, how
are we going to stop people
from stealing our food, Miss
Rateree? And I was like it’s
real simple. We plant enough
for them.”
-Bonnie Rateree, Master
Gardener and Director of the
Harvey Community Center
talking about the power of
community gardens.
Discussion of food, neighborhoods
and power available online.

2. LIKE US ON FACEBOOK.COM/CCPLACEMATTERS P. 2
COOK COUNTY PLACE MATTERS SPRING 2014
“Health Equity is
social justice in health.”
[Braveman, et.al.(2011) American
Journal of Public Health p.S150]
*94% of Black
residents and 83% of
Hispanic residents of
metropolitan Chicago
live in ‘low
opportunity’
communities.[Luce, et al
(2005) Segregation of Opportunities]
* Latinos, Blacks and
Asians in suburban
Cook County die from
diabetes at rates that are
from 90% to 145%
higher than that of
whites.[CCDPH]
* People living in
Chicago and Cook
County suburban areas
with a median income
greater than $53,000
per year had a life
expectancy that was
almost 14 years longer
than that of people
living in areas with a
median income below
$25,000 per year.[Jt. Center
et.al. (2012), PLACE MATTERS For
Health In Cook County]
WHAT’S NEXT? Join us for a preview screening of a new film “Are We Crazy About
Our Kids? The Cost/Benefit Equation.” The documentary—to be televised nationally in the Fall--
explores the economics of investing in high quality early care and preschool. Early child
development pays for itself several times over. So what is holding us back?
Date: Thursday, April 24, 2014 Admission: Free
Time: 6:30PM
Location: South Holland Public Library, Large Meeting Room
Address: 16250 Wausau Avenue, South Holland, Illinois 60473
Graphic: Ngozi T. Oleru, Ph.D., Public Health Seattle & King County, November 7, 2011
Cook County PLACE MATTERS believes it is unjust that a person’s zip
code, race, or income predicts how long they will live. Yet, that is the
present situation. Cook County PLACE MATTERS echoes the World
Health Organization in stating that social injustice is killing residents of
metropolitan Chicago. Because of patterns of residential segregation,
differences in neighborhood conditions are the fundamental causes of
health inequities among different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic
groups.
Steering Committee: Daniel Block, PhD, Chicago State University; Jim Bloyd, MPH, Cook County Department of Public Health; Sheila
Castillo, MUPP, Latino Health Research Training and Policy Center, University of Illinois at Chicago; Sheelah Muhammad, DN, Food Justice
Activist; Johnnie L. Owens, Jr., Center For New Horizons; Kathryn Saclarides Bocanegra, LCSW, ENLACE Chicago.
Communications Workgroup: Natalie Chadwell, Southland Resident; Bonnie Rateree, School Board Member, Harvey-Dixmoor #147
Intern: RaeGina Covington, Educator, Former NPR journalist, Nursing student

3. SEX EDUCATION SUPPORTS HEALTH AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS WWW.COOKCOUNTYPUBLICHEALTH.ORG