CACHET - CEC Core

1. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE (CEC): ABSTRACT
The Mission of the Community Engagement Core (CEC) of the ChicAgo Center for Health and EnvironmenT
(CACHET) is to engage local Chicago communities (community residents and key stakeholders) in
neighborhoods with known and potential environmental sources, pollutants, exposures or health risk in an
iterative process to identify priority environmental hazards of concern within their neighborhoods and align
these concerns with CACHET research activities and promote long-term partnership. Engagement at the
neighborhood level in Chicago is particularly important given the historical patterns of land use and industrial
activity that have contributed to increased environmental exposures in certain areas of the city, particularly on
the South and West sides. Identification of the environmental hazards of concern that may contribute to
adverse health outcomes, as well as development of research, advocacy, and implementation strategies to
address these matters, involves building and maintaining collaborations with local community groups that are
best positioned to know these hazards. To accomplish this, the CACHET’s CEC builds on solid relationships
established during the initial round of funding, with community groups in Southeast (SE) Chicago (community
of Hegewisch, East Side, South Deering, South Chicago, and Bush and Jeffrey Manor neighborhoods)
historically one of the largest steel manufacturing areas of the world; and, community organizations serving
Little Village, the home of the former Crawford and Fisk coal-powered power plant. These areas are two of the
most polluted areas in the country. We will also build on newer relationships in Altgeld Gardens (the home of
Hazel Johnson, noted for her contributions to environmental improvement efforts and founder of People for
Community Recovery in 1982); and the 19th Ward, areas characterized with various environmental concerns,
infrastructural challenges, limited access to resources, and locally relevant contexts. To enhance the impact of
the CEC moving into the next round of funding, the CEC will (1) pivot and reorganize CEC co-leadership to
maximize engagement; (2) invest in additional engagement mechanisms; (3) prioritize the production of
community-engaged research (CEnR) outcomes; and (4) enhance bi-directional communication across
CACHET research cores and institutions. The CACHET CEC allow us to leverage the scientific expertise and
strong community partnerships of our two large institutions—the University of Chicago (UofC) and UIC—with a
long history of collaboration and commitment to decreasing environmental exposures, improving health
outcomes, and supporting public health efforts in communities that face elevated environmental challenges.

Grant Number: 5P30ES027792-08
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Briseis Aschebrook-Kilfoy