http://willconnect.org/stories/posts/ WILLConnect Feed http://cdn.atlas.illinois.edu/will.illinois.edu/images/ipmlogo6.png http://willconnect.org/stories/posts/ http://willconnect.org/stories/urbana-schools-expand-nutrition-education http://willconnect.org/stories/urbana-schools-expand-nutrition-education Sean Powers Sun, 13 May 2012 19:29:37 -0500 stories Snack time in elementary school may have once been a break from the day’s lesson, but now it’s part of it in the Urbana School District.. (Funded in part by a grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation) Snack time in elementary school may have once been a break from the day’s lesson, but now it’s part of it in the Urbana School District. Christy Crouch teaches kindergarten at Thomas Paine Elementary School in Urbana. During a visit to the class, her students prepared to bravely go where some of them have never gone before - snack time with a plum. “We’re going to try something that maybe some of you have had, but maybe some of you haven’t,” Crouch tells her students. "I’m going to show you what it is and I’m going to tell you its name. We are going to have something called a red…” The class responds: “Plum!” Twice a week, students at Thomas Paine try a different kind of fruit or vegetable, and then have a discussion about it, as part of an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Schools are chosen for the program based on the number of students eligible for free and reduced lunches. Ms. Crouch's students look on as she points to a poster labeled ‘We Predict.’ She instructs her students to make educated guesses about the makeup of a red plum – is it sweet or sour, or does it have seeds or is it seedless? By the end of the discussion, most of the students correctly predict that a red plum is sweet, but they are nearly split on whether or not it has seeds. Then comes the moment of the truth....the taste test… “So, when you actually tried your plum, was it sweet or sour?” Crouch asked her class. “Sweet and sour!” responds the class. “So, it was sweet and a little bit sour,” Crouch said. “Did it end up having a seed? “Yes!” the kids say. In another part of the building, fourth grade teacher Brianna Garrett introduces a plum to her students, but it seems to be less of a surprise to them. Garrett said she tries to come up with different ways to expand nutrition education in the classroom. “For my older kids, I’m really trying to promote more of a healthy lifestyle more or less than just having a snack,” Garrett said. Garrett, who also teaches physical education, said she likes to emphasize the importance of exercise through different games and activities. “I separated my class into six groups for the different groups of the food pyramid. In the middle of the gym, I had note cards scattered all over that had different foods,” Garrett explained. “I did a different physical activity. You either had to run, hop to the middle of the gym, pick up a card that matched your food groups. So, if you were grains and you got a cereal card, you could run it back to your team.” Thomas Paine’s Principal, Sandra Cooper, said exposing kids to many different types of healthy foods at a young age can have a profound impact on them later in life. “We have to start now where it becomes just part of their life,” Cooper said. “Just like we teach them to say please and thank you, it’s just part of their life and they know what is good for them versus making unhealthy choices.” The Urbana School District has made subtle changes to the school lunch menu – more chicken wraps, salads, and fresh fruit. It is not yet clear how that is going over with students, but school officials say they hope the fruits and veggies program encourages kids to eat what is on their plate, rather than tossing out food that is good for them. In the school cafeteria at Thomas Paine Elementary, a group of fourth graders sit together during lunchtime. Chris Cross is 5’2 and roughly 145 pounds. He eats two hamburgers and pours syrup all over his eggs. He said he needs to lose weight, especially if he wants to one day become a professional basketball player. “I want the Heats to draft me, and then I’m going to switch to the Lakers,” Cross said. “I’m not retiring until I’m 70 years old.” Cross, who acknowledges that he is overweight, said he is going on a diet to get in better shape for his sports activities. “I’m afraid of getting symptoms, like diabetes and stuff like that,” he said. “Most of the things I like are sugary snacks. I can have like second servings, but I have to watch if it’s healthy or not.” Cross said the food changes at Thomas Paine Elementary - both in the classroom and in the cafeteria - should help him make the changes he said he needs to make. Educators in Urbana have noticed students are also talking more about healthy eating at home. One such student is Chris Cross’ friend, Nick Probst. “My dad is eating healthier, and I know that I’m going to be like him if I keep on eating this junk,” Probst said. “So, I just want to thank him for reminding me about that and I hope he stays on his diet.” Jill McPike helps coordinate the fruits and veggies program at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Urbana. Twice a year, she surveys parents of King students to determine how well the program is working. “One family started eating kiwi because the student had it here,” McPike said. “I’ve also had a parent who has said their child is more interested in looking at the fruits and vegetables when they go shopping. That comes back to us, telling us that the program is working.” “I’ve been in education now for 20-plus years, and I guess thinking back I don’t think I really felt like it was the school’s responsibility to be teaching kids these kinds of things,” said Jennifer Ivory-Tatum, the principal at King Elementary. “As a classroom teacher, we always taught about the four food groups, and you taught the children the food pyramid. You gave them basic nutrition information, but not to the level of what we’re doing today.” Ivory-Tatum’s school has taken a slightly different approach to the fruits and veggies grant by tying lessons to the calendar. For example, each day in April, in conjunction with the Illinois Marathon, students tried a different healthy snack designed to boost energy for things like biking and running. “People have to go the extra mile to put those values in kids early because if we can do it when they’re in elementary then hopefully it will carry with them as they get older and go to middle school and high school and when they have their own families,” she said. That is a projection that could make an eggplant, honeydew, or a red juicy plum less of a mystery even to a hungry grade school student. Related Links: Initiative Encourages Biking, Walking to School (Related) Annual C-U Event Pushes People to Bike Ride (Related) Hospital Offers Employees Incentives to Stay Healthy (Related) Unit 4 Tries to Stay Ahead of Nutrition Standards (Related) Champaign County Schools Adopt Anti-Obesity Initiative (Related) Champaign Middle School Adds Exercise Machines (Related) Education Health Food http://willconnect.org/stories/nationwide-initiative-encourages-biking-walking-to-school http://willconnect.org/stories/nationwide-initiative-encourages-biking-walking-to-school Sean Powers Sun, 06 May 2012 15:00:08 -0500 stories There is a nationwide effort to make walking and biking to school safer and more appealing, but threats to federal funding and concerns over child safety issues could hamper it. (Funded in part by a grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation) A nationwide initiative known as Safe Routes to School is designed to make walking and biking to school safer and more appealing. But threats to federal funding and concerns over child safety issues could hamper it. On a clear, sunny afternoon, Emily Svendsen walks a couple of blocks from her home in Urbana to Wiley Elementary School. She lives in an area of town where there are no sidewalks. Her house is located on a cul-de-sac. Still, she makes sure her kids walk to school. Svendsen is part of a network of parents in the neighborhood who take turns escorting as many as 10 kids to and from school each day. “It’s still a school bus,” Svendsen said. “We’re just a walking school bus.” Svendsen picks up her daughter from Wiley Elementary, along with several other kids. They say walking to school is a highlight of their day. “It’s usually really nice in the mornings. The cool crisp air and the frost crunching under my feet,” Erin Minor said. “I really like it. It’s just that you can get some good exercise, especially when it’s a nice day,” Isaac Lee said. “I like it because I get to spend time with my friends, and I don’t like driving in the car as much as I do walking in the mornings,” Fia Svendsen said. Fia’s mom, Emily, said in addition to the peace of mind that comes from knowing that these kids are safe, she’s made some great friendships with other neighborhood parents “You don’t really get that same sense when you’re sitting in your car, waiting for your child to come out and run to the car, but also it’s just building exercise into your day, getting fresh air on a regular basis. I just love that neighborhood school feeling, you know?” Svendsen said. To help maintain that feeling, the federal government doles out $183 million to states as part of the Safe Routes to School program...$21 million of which went to Illinois this year. The money helps support infrastructure projects and bike safety campaigns. But no matter how much money goes into efforts like a “walking school bus,” there may be some resistance from people concerned about safety. Brandy Clegg lives about a mile from Wiley Elementary. She usually drives her eight-year-old son to school. But a couple days each week, a parent of one of her son’s friends watches as the two kids walk to school. Clegg doesn’t talk to many of the other parents in the neighborhood, and doesn’t have a large network of parents to rely on like the Svendsens do. Still, she admits a “walking school bus” sounds like a good idea, but she has concerns about letting her child walk to school every day. “I worry about somebody kidnapping him. I worry about cars running him over and hitting him. We have older kids in the neighborhoods that I don’t trust. They can be mean, and the whole bully issue,” Clegg said. “I know what it’s like to be that parent and want to protect to the 9th degree,” said Rose Hudson, a coordinator for the C-U Safe Routes to School Project, an effort in Champaign-Urbana to promote physical activity. “You know, it’s just kind of natural, but you have to look at the other side and it’s like are we overprotecting them to the point of health risks?” Hudson said she hears stories from parents all the time about why they don’t want their kids walking to school. She worries not doing more to boost physical activity among youth will add to the country’s obesity epidemic. “You know, I think the big thing that people need to think about is that the habits that you instill in your kids when they are young are the habits that are probably going to stick with them into adulthood,” Hudson said. An analysis of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s nationwide travel survey conducted by the National Center for Safe Routes to School found that in 1969, 48 percent of elementary and middle school students walked or biked to school. But by 2009, that figured dropped to 13 percent. While safety and convenience are two reasons parents drive their kids to school, distance can be an issue. While in Urbana, students tend to go to school close to home, in Champaign they can usually attend any Unit 4 school regardless of where they live. That can create obstacles for students who want to bike to school, but live too far away to do it. Gabe Lewis is a transportation planner with the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission. He worked with Stratton Elementary School in Champaign to find solutions to the distance issue. He says the kids there want to walk to school, but they just need a safer environment to do it. “We have some strategies to combat that where one thing is a park and walk program where parents can park a short distance from the school and the parent and child can walk the rest of the way to the school,” Lewis said. Lewis said to help out with the park and walk program, an enhanced crosswalk will be built east of the school thanks a recent Safe Routes to School grant. Nearby, Eureka Street will also get a block of new sidewalk, and Neil Street will get permanent speed flash back signs. Meanwhile, the wheels are in motion for a regular bike education course at Champaign’s Booker T. Washington Elementary. Physical education teacher Derrick Cooper envisions renting out bicycles for all of his K- 5 students, and then going over basic safety tips before allowing them to ride on the school’s blacktop. “I’m really into doing non-traditional things like that. I started a yoga unit that was highly successful that I don’t see other elementaries really picking up on and really doing. I’m just all about the life-long activities,” Cooper said. “After they leave me, after they leave this program at Washington, how are they going to stay active?” And that’s the big question…how are these kids going to stay active? Safe Routes to School is intended to play a big part in that. The U.S. House of Representatives considered a bill this year to eliminate federal support for the program. Congressman Tim Johnson (R-Urbana) is a member of the House Transportation Committee. He introduced an amendment to preserve the funding, but it failed in committee. “I think that in terms of our effort to try to curtail childhood obesity, to provide safe routes to schools, to provide for a bike friendly, walking friendly nation, that these cuts send a very wrong message,” Johnson said. But Congressman John Shimkus (R-Collinsville) said with the nation’s economic problems, the country could - for now - go without funding Safe Routes to School. Shimkus represents the southern part of the state, but he is running for re-election in a new congressional district that includes parts of Champaign County. “I do understand how Safe Routes to School is probably pretty important to a university community that prides itself on its abilities, but it’s not that big of a deal in 33 counties in southern Illinois,” Shimkus said. “We’re rural. We’re small. We use buses and cars.” Geographical challenges aside, Margo Pedroso with the Safe Routes to School National Partnership said rural communities do have a stake in Safe Routes to School funding. “Forty-one percent of it actually goes to small towns in rural areas,” Pedroso said. “They often struggle with a state highway that runs through the middle of town, separating kids on one side from schools on the other. And even though drivers are supposed to slow down, they often don’t. And small towns don’t have the tax base to do these kinds of infrastructure projects on their own, and they don’t have the resources to bus kids.” Pedroso said road improvements that are part of this funding could help alleviate such safety concerns. Meanwhile, Champaign and Urbana have so far been awarded more than $630,000 in federal funding under the Safe Routes to School program over the last few years. The fate of the program – at least in the immediate future – rests with a special Congressional committee that is working on crafting a Transportation bill. “Our children are our treasures. I’ve participated in Safe Routes to School,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. “It’s an important safety program, just like the transit safety program is, and it’s one of our top priorities. I can’t even conceive that they would eliminate the money to get children safely to school.” LaHood has said it is unlikely Congress will pass a final transportation bill until after the November elections. The conference committee begins formal negotiations May 8. Whatever happens to Safe Routes, a community’s interest in that “neighborhood school feeling” may just be the ultimate test over whether the “walking school bus” maintains legs of its own. Related Links: Annual C-U Event Pushes People to Bike Ride (Related) Hospital Offers Employees Incentives to Stay Healthy (Related) Unit 4 Tries to Stay Ahead of Nutrition Standards (Related) Champaign County Schools Adopt Anti-Obesity Initiative (Related) Champaign Middle School Adds Exercise Machines (Related) http://willconnect.org/stories/annual-c-u-event-pushes-people-to-bike-ride http://willconnect.org/stories/annual-c-u-event-pushes-people-to-bike-ride Sean Powers Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:22:33 -0500 stories Bike enthusiasts share their stories ahead of the annual "Bike to Work Day" in Champaign. (Funded in part by a grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation) Tuesday kicks off the annual "Bike to Work Day" in Champaign-Urbana. If you don’t own a bicycle or if you have a bike that’s gathering dust, then this might be the right day to release the kickstand and take off. As part of our series on efforts in the region to increase health and wellness, Illinois Public Media’s Sean Powers recently ended a long-time hiatus from bike riding to share the stories of people in the community who are passionate about cycling. Related Links: CU Bike to Work Day Hospital Offers Employees Incentives to Stay Healthy (Related) Unit 4 Tries to Stay Ahead of Nutrition Standards (Related) Champaign County Schools Adopt Anti-Obesity Initiative (Related) Champaign Middle School Adds Exercise Machines (Related) http://willconnect.org/stories/neighbors-meet-heagin-and-roger-burton http://willconnect.org/stories/neighbors-meet-heagin-and-roger-burton Crystal Kang Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:21:32 -0500 stories Crystal Kang interviews Urbana residents Heagin and Roger Burton. The fifth and final story in our Neighbors series is about the journey of Heagin and Roger, long-time residents of Urbana, Illinois. The couple have faced difficulties in foreign countries and raised three children. The overarching message focuses on a common issue among the youth - drugs. See below for the transcription of their interview with voice overs from Crystal Kang. "My name is Roger L. Burton. My name is Haegin Burton. And we lived Urbana, llinois since 1988, July 29." Heagin was born and raised in Seoul. She met Roger Burton, a Paxton, Illinois native, when he was in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and stationed in South Korea. "I was born in Seoul, Korea. And 1960, I met my husband. He was teaching me conversational English at that time. And then we became little further than just friend." "So that’s when I met my wife, and by golly, I decided right there and then that that was the woman I wanted to be with the rest of my life." The couple married and embarked on a life that would see them move often as Roger was stationed here and abroad. "And finally after 20 years, I retired from the service and have a wonderful life with this wife of mine. And she’s been through a lot, and I’m glad that she’s a book about it." In that book, The Girl with a Lotus in Her Hair, Haegin shares stories about the hardships she endured as a child and young woman. Her father had a mistress at home and physically abused his wife. While Heagin was still a baby, her mother disappeared. Haegin’s grandmother stepped in and sent her to live with a couple who cared for her until she was five-years-old. "It was kind of hard for me to understand what’s the whole situation was. But God has really led me up to today. You know, this kind of story is not that everybody’s ordinary story." The Girl with a Lotus in Her Hair is a story of resilience. Heagin says her grandmother taught her to love others and instilled compassion in her, which she extends to her neighbors today. "I think the good neighbor have to come out from you. The life I had living here anywhere we’d go, we had good neighbors." "Well a good neighborhood is, you know, you got to know your neighbor next door – to the left to the right. And say hi to them. And if they’re in the need, you see them out there trying to get a car started or something, offer your help." While the couple is content in their east Urbana home, they say illegal drugs are a problem. Two of their three children have struggled with addiction. One is “clean”. The other continues to struggle. "All the neighbors around here are concerned that their children is going to be exposed to drugs. And that’s a lot of what this book is about too is how our children got involved in drugs. The biggest message that I would say to parents that have children and of course it depends on their age. Children try to experiment. And the best way to combat that is to get them educated. Take them to places to show them what actually happens to people whether it be the Times Center or someplace where the guys go to get their free food or what have you. The other thing is show them how much that you have faith in God and show them that you do the right things. And the right things that you do, sometimes your children will follow." Roger Burton. The Burtons live in Urbana, Illinois. For Illinois Public Media, I’m Crystal Kang. Community Culture Housing Immigration People Urban Planning http://willconnect.org/stories/hospital-offers-employees-incentives-to-stay-healthy http://willconnect.org/stories/hospital-offers-employees-incentives-to-stay-healthy Sean Powers Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:03:56 -0500 stories Workers at one of the largest employers in Champaign-Urbana are being encouraged to stay physically fit through financial incentives. (Funded in part by a grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation) A growing number of companies across the country have started encouraging employees to stay healthy by offering financial incentives. Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, which is one of the largest employers in the area, is pushing for a healthier workforce through its Charge Rewards Program. First piloted in fall 2010, Carle employees can rack up points if they do things like trying a new healthy recipe, limiting their alcohol intake, or exercising more. Enough points earned within a year can be redeemable for discounts on health insurance premiums, cash back, or paid time off. Dr. Napoleon Knight is the medical director of hospital medicine and the associate director of quality at Carle. He helps oversee the incentive program. “We take care of people sometimes in their most vulnerable states,” Knight said. “My personal view is that we need to model some activities that other people would want to model in their lives as well.” Knight said he tries to set an example for Carle employees by living a healthier life himself. He said of the roughly 5,500 employees at Carle, about 2,000 take part in the wellness program. He said for a business or a hospital that pays for part of its workers’ health insurance premiums, the financial gains for the company through reduced benefits costs can be great. “If you’re taking three or four different medicines a day times x number of employees times x number of years, what you see is that really starts to add up,” he said. One of the Carle employees taking part in the hospital's wellness initiative is Sean Williams. He works in the marketing department. In early January at the age of 32, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. “They often call that adult onset diabetes,” Williams explained. Williams said he has always taken good care of himself, but since learning about his diagnosis, he has re-doubled his efforts. He said it can be a challenge finding the time to exercise with the demands at work. Back in the middle of February during an interview with Illinois Public Media, Dr. Knight mentioned that the hospital was considering a plan to boost physical activity during the work day by adding treadmills in different departments of the hospital. He said he was trying to identify a single department to test the idea out. Since Sean Williams handles media requests for Carle, he was listening to the interview with Knight. That is how he first learned about the hospital’s plans to add exercise equipment for employees. “I contacted Dr. Knight, and I was quick to volunteer,” Williams said. “He graciously sent on my request to those who were making the decisions on this.” Not long after Williams made his request, the hospital unveiled a treadmill in Williams’ department. In the couple of months since the treadmill was installed, Williams has walked more than 60 miles on it. Other people in his department also take turns using it. “So, on one of those days where I’m having a really tough time trying to get my blood sugar back down to certain levels, I go outside for a walk or I’ll go for a run or I’ll jump on the treadmill here at work,” Williams said. “It’s amazing how quickly my blood sugar comes down.” With Carle’s health incentive program, Williams has earned about 120 points. By the time he gets about a hundred more points, he will be eligible for $260 off his health insurance premium, or $260 cash back if Carle does not cover his premium. Another Carle employee taking part in the wellness initiative is Nursing Director Joan Plunk. She has accumulated 640 points. That puts her in the highest category of the rewards program. If employees have 600 points and get biometric screenings, which are covered by Carle, they can get $260 off their health insurance premium plus $100 in cash or 8 hours paid leave. If their health insurance premium is not covered by Carle, then they can get $360 in cash. Joan said with her work schedule, getting fast food was always a convenient option. Though it still is, she has dialed back. “If I have to eat fast food, I’ll choose like the grilled chicken and take the bun off and not have the mayonnaise,” she said. “Now, there are things that I really like, like French fries, but I eat them every now and then.” Joan said while Carle’s incentive program is still a new experience for her, she has been conscious about her health for some time – walking or swimming just about every day. “Well, to be honest it has been the last 10 years that I’ve become more into it selfishly, my own health versus taking care of other people and my family more,” she said. Joan is spending more time cooking healthy meals at home. On a recent weekend at her home, she spent time preparing a salad with ingredients, such as baked chicken, mushrooms, and craisins “It’s pretty simple, really,” she explained as she worked on the salad. “Then I’ll just add a handful of almonds.” Her husband, Tom, is a farmer, and is the on the road quite a bit for business. He admits he has not always maintained the healthiest of diets. Any food stop for him when he is out of town was usually fast food, but Joan now prepares most of his meals during the week. What she is learning about nutritious cooking from Carle is impacting her husband’s health. “Well, Tom liked to get fried chicken from the store, so now we bake chicken instead of you eating fried chicken,” she said, looking at him. “I used to eat a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken on the route,” Tom added. “So, you still have the foods you enjoy,” Joan said. “It’s just they’re prepared more healthy.” For the week, Joan said she will prepare Tom turkey slices, pot roast, or sandwiches. They have also substituted sugary soda beverages with coffee or water. “But what she’s not telling you is that I am a fan of cake,” Tom mentioned. Joan said she still makes sure her husband satisfies his sweet tooth. “Now you can make (healthier cakes) using apple sauce instead of the oil,” Joan said. A growing number of companies are offering financial incentives to boost employee health. The non-profit, National Business Group on Health surveyed more than 500 companies. It found as of this year, 68 percent of those employers offer cash, premium credits, and account contributions to their employees to encourage healthier habits – that’s up by 10 percent from a year ago. LuAnn Heinen is the vice president of the National Business Group on Health. She said companies are spending less on premiums by encouraging their employees to be healthy through various wellness programs. “So, we’re still spending a very small amount on wellness and prevention, and the companies that are increasingly interested in wellness are seeing a fairly significant return on the order of $2-to-$3 for every dollar invested,” Heinen said. Some companies have even penalized workers with premium surcharges or higher deductibles for failing to complete a required health management activity. Penalties were used by 20 percent of respondents in the survey this year – roughly double the number of companies that used penalties in 2009. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is mulling over the legality of the Affordable Health Care Act. Whatever happens, Heinen suspects there will continue to be a strong commitment to wellness. Related Links: Read the report released by the National Business Group on Health Unit 4 Tries to Stay Ahead of Nutrition Standards (Related) Champaign County Schools Adopt Anti-Obesity Initiative (Related) Champaign Middle School Adds Exercise Machines (Related) Health Business http://willconnect.org/stories/champaign-middle-school-upgrades-with-exercise-machines http://willconnect.org/stories/champaign-middle-school-upgrades-with-exercise-machines Sean Powers Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:59:29 -0500 stories Jefferson Middle School in Champaign recently added exercise equipment to its classrooms. (Funded in part by a grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation) Research at the University of Illinois suggests physical activity can boost cognitive health. To test that theory, Jefferson Middle School in Champaign recently added exercise equipment for its students. Marcelon Mosley, 11, walks on a treadmill in the assistant principal’s office at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign. Mosley started off using the treadmill about three times a week for about 30-to-45 minutes. He can come off as being very calm, expressing very little emotion, but he admits he isn’t always that way. He said there have been times when he has reacted strongly to other kids’ comments about him, or just hasn’t felt motivated enough to keep up with his school work. When the school began adding the exercise equipment at the start of the academic year, his teachers thought it might be easier for him to relax and focus by getting on a treadmill a few times each week. He explains that he determines the speed of the treadmill based on his level of anger. If he is in a really bad mood, he said he may double the speed from his normal two miles per hour. “When it goes faster, it calms me down cause I have so much energy that I want to break somebody’s neck or something, and then I just use up my energy walking on the treadmill,” Mosley said. Since he started using the treadmill at the beginning of the school year, Mosley admits that he is doing a better job now controlling his anger. His mom, Cheryl Moore, has even noticed a difference in his behavior. She credits that not only to the exercise, but also to what she and school officials are doing to hold Mosley accountable when he misbehaves or doesn’t turn in homework assignments on time. “I think that it’s kind of like a coalition basically with the parents and the teachers working together,” Moore said. “What’s that famous saying? It takes a village to raise a child.” Mosley - along with five of his other siblings – all have ADHD, and he is one of two of them currently medicated for it. His mother hopes to get him off of it by the time he’s in high school, but not if that compromises his performance in the classroom. “It’s hardest with Marcelon because actually out of all of our children, he takes the most amount of milligrams,” Moore said. “He’s very overwrought, and we try to let him do lots of exercise as much as she wants to. He just has tons of energy. It’s like the wild in his eyes. When he acts like that, we’re like, ‘Do you need to go outside and play a lot more?’” Students like Marcelon seems to benefit from this exercise equipment brought in by University of Illinois Professor Charles Hillman. Hillman said there is a positive relationship between physical activity and cognitive health. Hillman, who teaches kinesiology and community health at the U of I, has already explored this connection with pre-adolescents, young adults, and older adults. After approximately one hour of exercise, he found that these age groups showed improvements in cognition and achievement. “What’s good for children is good for young adults,” Hillman said. “What’s good for young adults is good for older adults. Being healthy and exercising and having a higher level of fitness relates to better brain health and better cognition. And so because of that, I believe we need to act early. ” Now, Hillman is doing the same research, but this time with middle school students. “Puberty changes a lot of things. It changes body. It changes hormone production, and it changes brain,” he explained. “And so it’s interesting to see during a time when kids are actively going through puberty, what these relationships are between fitness or health factors such as body mass and cognition in children.” Hillman and U of I Psychology Professor Neal Cohen are studying students at Jefferson over a three year period. They believe that being overweight may affect parts of the brain associated with attention, memory, and cognition. As part of their research, Jefferson Middle School agreed to install exercise equipment around the school – aerobic balls in classrooms, Marcelon’s treadmill, and bikes in the library. In the school library students take turns riding on the exercise bikes. Librarian Kim Anderson said it is a challenge identifying ways the library can support students other than through literacy, which is why when she first heard about the school’s exercise initiative, she jumped at the idea. “They are actually reading when they’re working out, and we also have a couple of iPads that we set up, so that they Velcro right onto the stationary bikes so they can flip through and either read a book online or work on one of the education apps,“ Anderson said. Some of the students say 30 minutes of physical activity during gym class isn’t enough time to stay active during the school day. Eight grader Paige Ducharme said getting more exercise has helped her concentrate. “Cause you get your brain – like not really moving – but you get more energy inside of you so you find yourself awake more and more energized to be able to listen and make your brain function more,” Ducharme said. Students using the exercise equipment is part of Principal Susan Zola’s larger vision. She also plans to transform the school’s multipurpose room into an exergaming room where students would be exposed to a combination of games and exercise. In the space, Zola envisions being able to grab a heart monitor, and do a cross country virtual tour in the mountains. “So, it’s like Wii on steroids,” Zola said. “We believe it will take our students health and wellness to a whole different level.” While Marcelon Mosely and Paige Ducharme are physically fit, Zola said there are students at Jefferson who do battle their weight and other related health issues. Zola believes physical activity should be a priority for all students – even those who just want to work up a sweat. "Wellness and students' well-being and where they land in terms of their healthy living impacts us all in the future," Zola said. "So, the stronger they are in terms of their hearts their spirits their minds their academics, the stronger citizens the stronger community members, the healthier our community will be as a whole." Related Links: More about Charles Hillman's research Unit 4 Tries to Stay Ahead of Nutrition Standards (Related) Champaign County Schools Adopt Anti-Obesity Initiative (Related) Education Health http://willconnect.org/stories/neighbors-meet-gloria-thompson-brown http://willconnect.org/stories/neighbors-meet-gloria-thompson-brown Crystal Kang Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:14:17 -0500 stories Celeste Quinn talks with Danville resident, Gloria Thompson-Brown. The second story in our Neighbors series focuses on Gloria Thompson-Brown, a long-time resident of Danville, Illinois. See below for the transcription of her interview, which includes voice overs from WILL's Celeste Quinn. “My name is Gloria Thompson-Brown. I moved to Danville in December 1963 coming from the state of Florida.” Gloria has lived in the neighborhood she calls home since 1994. “This is what they call the old part of Danville and what I mean by that is that Danville started from this area.” Gloria, her husband, Huey Lee Brown, and two of her grown children live in a house they rent on Robinson Street. Ask her about her home and she lights up. She likes the backyard and the enclosed front and back porches, and she loves the fireplace. Family photos and mementos are proudly displayed on the mantle. They rent the house through Section 8, which is, essentially, a voucher program administered by public housing agencies to eligible people with very low incomes. “I think I stayed in public housing 22 years and then a program called “Operation Bootstrap” – you pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, so to speak—enabled me to become a participant in the Section 8 program and that was in 1989.” While she lived in public housing and raised her children, Gloria worked for the housing authority. “I started to work in the office. It was Carver Park Houses and I became the Community Services Advisor on staff there. And that gave me a broad spectrum of knowledge on both sides of the fence – as a resident and a Danville employee. I feel so well-educated (laughs) if might say that – in speaking on housing issues.” Today Gloria Thompson Brown is the Resident Services Coordinator at Green Meadows Apartments a privately owned, low-income housing complex, “and one of my main jobs is to bring as many on-site services that’s conducive to the families there in that area. Residents have the right to live in safe, sanitary and decent living conditions.” Gloria is also an advocate for her neighbors and her neighborhood. Gloria’s neighbors get together and talk to the city about their concerns which have included dilapidated housing and prostitution. They may also write letters to the editor. Gloria says as a result, prostitution has been greatly reduced and problem properties cleared. She’s been in the neighborhood for about 16 years. The neighbors feel comfortable calling on one another, lending one another a hand when needed. They keep an eye out for one another and the safety of the neighborhood. When her husband’s bicycle was stolen, a neighbor saw it and returned it. Gloria can count on neighbors to help shovel snow or give her a lift, if she needs a ride. Another of her neighbors: "Has some young sons who know that my husband and I love fish. They go fishing and they’ll drop off fish if they don’t want to clean them. They know we’ll clean them and eat them, too.” Gloria Thompson-Brown of Danville, Illinois. Interviews People http://willconnect.org/stories/local-schools-see-deep-drop-in-white-students http://willconnect.org/stories/local-schools-see-deep-drop-in-white-students Pam Dempsey Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:36:01 -0500 stories Public schools in Champaign County have seen a loss in white student enrollment over the past decade. Officials attribute the shift in student demographics at the Champaign and Urbana school districts to national trends mirrored by Census data. (With additional reporting by Melissa Silverberg of CU-CitizenAccess) Over the past decade, public schools in Champaign County have seen a loss in white students, but none more so dramatic than in its two largest urban school districts. Officials attribute the shift in students to national trends mirrored by census data as well as more choices in private education. “In general, the county is becoming more diverse, and it’s not necessarily the case of white families leaving Champaign-Urbana,” said Jane Quinlan, regional superintendent for the Champaign-Ford Regional Office of Education. But a review of Champaign and Urbana school enrollment data shows the drop in white students over the last 10 years has far exceeded the drop in the overall student-age white population. The white enrollment drop comes at a time when districts in Champaign and Urbana have been striving to increase diversity among its students and staff. In Champaign — through policy, a 2002 federal consent decree and federal mandates — officials pushed the district to examine the education and services provided to minority students and redistribute students among the schools to ensure diversity. In Urbana, the district increased its minority staff to better reflect its student population. But during the same period, both school systems have lost a disproportionate number of white students. A review of this year’s enrollment figures supplied by the Illinois State Board of Education shows: — The Champaign school district has seen a nearly 30 percent decrease in the number of white students since 2002-2003, while the district’s overall enrollment has remained nearly the same. — The Urbana school district has had a 34 percent decrease in white students while its enrollment has dropped about 8 percent. ——In Rantoul’s city school district, white student enrollment dropped 36 percent while its overall enrollment fell only 4 percent. By comparison, the number of white children 18 and younger in Champaign County has declined 12.7 percent, from the 2000 Census to 2010. But enrollment and the number of white students has increased in at least at one private school in Champaign County: the High School of St. Thomas More. St. Thomas More, which opened in 2000, saw a nearly 60 percent increase in enrollment — from 220 students to 350 students from 2003 to 2011. In the 2010-2011 school year, St. Thomas More was mostly white, with four black students, according to state education data. Another private school, Countryside School in Champaign, also saw a 9 percent increase in enrollment from 2003 to 2011. While more diverse — 64 white students and 40 Asian-American — it has only eight black students. Demographic Shifts The Champaign school district is seeking a racial makeup in its schools that more closely mirrors the community’s racial profile. “Obviously the numbers aren’t reflective of our total population; the numbers in our school aren’t perfectly reflected of our entire community. So what are we missing?” said Lynn Peisker, community relations coordinator with the Champaign school district. “So we’re missing some of (the) traditional white families. So how do we reach out to them?” Last fall, district staff hosted focus groups with parents to better understand how they are receiving information about the school district as well as understand why some chose to leave. They also looked at how parents were getting information about the school district and found that the traditional methods — such as fliers — were not working. Nathaniel Banks, a former Champaign school district board member, said that the United States is changing demographically, but he said that doesn’t explain the entire shift in Champaign school district’s demographics. “When people in Champaign and Urbana think about public education, what they’re really thinking about is ‘Well, that’s where all the black kids go,’” Banks said. “There is that reality of white flight.” White flight is defined as the migration of white families due to fear or anxiety about increasing minority populations in certain areas. Greater than Other Districts But new district Superintendent Judy Wiegand said that other school districts similar in size to Champaign’s have experienced similar trends. She pointed to school districts in Danville, Springfield and Bloomington, all of which have fewer white students than 10 years ago. According to data from the state board of education, each of those school districts had overall enrollment falloffs of less than 10 percent between 2002 and 2012, but saw larger declines among its white students. Overall the number of white students in Bloomington’s school district declined 25 percent, 20 percent in Springfield and 19 percent in Danville. The loss in student population cannot be explained by home school enrollment. Parents are not required to register their children as home school students with either the regional office of education or the Illinois State Board of Education, Quinlan said. “You know there’s this piece regarding diversity that we talk about in our schools, and I work with our principals on and it’s that, ‘Do you see diversity as an asset?’” Wiegand said. “And if you do, how do you build on that asset versus how do you see it as a disadvantage and that’s something you have to address.” This is in deep contrast to what is happening to some of the other communities in the rural part of the county. Tolono’s Unit 7 school district saw a nearly 15 percent increase in white students while its overall enrollment grew 18 percent. St. Joseph’s grade school district saw a nearly 29 percent increase in white students while enrollment grew 32 percent. Mahomet-Seymour school district saw a 3 percent increase in the number of white students while the overall student population expanded nearly 8 percent. Not Just About Race Banks said that the changing demographics of Champaign-Urbana schools are not just about race. Families of greater affluence may move to other districts where they believe their children will get a better education. “It’s not just white families leaving the district,” Banks said. “It has a lot to do with income. Once families of means see their children will get a good education, they’ll stay.” Banks said that the public perception just hasn’t caught up to the reality yet, however. “I think it will start to turn around and it’s already turning around,” he said. “There’s plenty of evidence that Champaign schools are doing a pretty good job.” Although the district will still be working to close the achievement gap and other quantifiable problems for years to come, Banks said, a bigger issue is that of the perception in the community. “It’s the perception of the white community that we need to work on so that white families don’t automatically assume that just because black students are there that it is a bad system,” Banks said. Sociological studies have shown that people tend to want to stay with people who look like them, Wiegand said, but 21st-century education has to envelop living in a global society. “There’s a good chance that no matter what they do after high school, they are going to encounter somebody that’s different than themselves,” she said. “And how do they know how to interact and how do they know about different cultures. I think it’s just part of our education.” The Consent Decree: Then and Now Following several complaints filed by African-American families in Champaign in 1996, the Champaign school district entered into a federal consent decree with a court monitor in January 2002. Under the consent decree, several changes were mandated and committees were formed to examine the education and services provided to minority students in the district. Although the federal case was settled and the consent decree was ended in July 2009, many have said the district has not fully accomplished its original goals and still struggles to achieve equality. “We are better as a community for having worked through the consent decree, though we have not totally realized the original goals,” said Mark Aber, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois. “So from that point of view, you could say it was a failure. But we wouldn’t be as far as we are now if we hadn’t had the consent decree. It’s really a mixed bag.” Aber conducted a climate survey in 2000 to look at perceptions of racial disparities in the district and conducted a second survey in 2009, the results of which were released last year. The survey shows that, similar to in 2000 before the federal consent decree, African-American students, staff and families still see less fairness in the system and a need for improvement compared with their white counterparts. While Aber said he believes the decline in white students likely has several causes, dissatisfaction with the terms of the consent decree and the changes to the district have been a factor. “Some families moved to St. Joe or Mahomet because they weren’t happy with what’s happening in Champaign,” Aber said, remembering that in the early years of this issue there were several families and members of the board that thought it was a mistake to sign the consent decree and have the district take responsibility for what they saw as a larger societal issue. Enrollment numbers at private schools in Champaign County do not completely account for the change in demographics from the public schools, but they are one factor. “I think we have a very, in our community, the diversity is so great, we have a very large section of community that is consumer-oriented in terms of education,” Peiskar said. “You really want to explore all the options (and they) have a lot options available to them.” More of this story from CU-CitizenAccess Education Race Community Economy http://willconnect.org/stories/neighbors-meet-max-abandja-and-lester-berrio http://willconnect.org/stories/neighbors-meet-max-abandja-and-lester-berrio Crystal Kang Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:51:48 -0500 stories Crystal Kang interviews Shadow Wood residents Max Abandja and Lester Berrio of Champaign, Illinois. The fourth story in our Neighbors series focuses on Max Abandja and Lester Berrio, a married couple from Shadow Wood Mobile Home Park in Champaign, Illinois. See below for the transcription of their interview, which includes voice overs from WILLconnect.org producer Crystal Kang, a senior in the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Production help by University of Illinois graduate student, Azra Halilović. "My name is Lester Berrio. I’m from Colombia, South America. My name is Max. Last name is Abandja. I’m originally from Africa. The country of Gabon. Although I was born in France, but since my parents are from Africa. So I will say I’m from Africa." When husband and wife Max and Lester moved to Shadow Wood in 2004, the neighborhood’s racial and ethnic makeup was considerably more diverse. About half the families were Latino. Today, about 90 percent of the residents are Hispanic. Max describes the community as tight-knit. "What I like about the neighborhood is the fact that, since it’s very small, people know each other. And then they look out for each other. If someone notices anyone who doesn’t belong to this neighborhood wandering around we automatically, or something suspicious, we will alert the other person." Max and Lester have a small business cleaning houses. At the end of the work day, they’re happy to lend a hand to neighbors who face challenges applying for jobs, understanding legal matters and dealing with medical issues because they’re not native English speakers. They also share their faith by leading Bible studies. Here’s Lester. "We help a lot of our neighbors because they need to make doctors’ appointments. Sometimes, they don’t know what the results of the hospital are. And so they come. They knock. Sometimes, they are pregnant and they have a pain somewhere in the tummy. So they want us to call the hospital to see if there is something they can do at home or they have to go over to the hospital." The couple says residents would benefit from a community center and a storm shelter. Another concern? The rent keeps rising. "You know we don’t blame the front office because they’re just working for the owners. But the owners should be also injecting money to improving the look of the neighborhood. And so far we don’t see that." "Yes, I agree that we really need a community salon or something. A community center. So that we can have gatherings here. And also, one thing is that this place is too dark at night. The neighbors don’t have any front porch light and the city doesn’t have any either." While the crime rate has decreased in recent years, neighborhood safety is a concern for Shadow Wood residents. Most of the criminal activity comes from nearby, but outside the mobile home park. Despite their concerns, Max says they’re making the most of their living situation in hopes of a better tomorrow. Living in a mobile home is not something that I would dream. Or something that we would do for the rest of our lives. In fact, we made the decision to move here because it was cheaper. And then so we can save and eventually move to a home but more like Florida. So we need to get something cheaper to make that happen. And also to get project done in South America. Help the families overseas: her family, my family. So that’s the reason why we moved here. Max Abandja and Lester Berrio of Champaign, Illinois. For Illinois Public Media, I'm Crystal Kang. Commentary Community Crime Culture Immigration People Urban Planning http://willconnect.org/stories/neighbors-meet-thom-pollock http://willconnect.org/stories/neighbors-meet-thom-pollock Crystal Kang Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:44:37 -0500 stories Crystal Kang interviews Thom Pollock, executive director of Crosspoint Human Services and president of the New Holland Corporation The third story in our Neighbors series focuses on Thom Pollock, a long-time resident of Danville, Illinois. See below for the transcription of his interview, which includes voice overs from WILLconnect.org producer Crystal Kang, a senior in the College of Media at the University of Illinois. "My name is Thom Pollock. I have lived in Danville almost 16 years." Thom Pollock came to Danville from Chicago where he had served in Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA. Through his work at a mental health agency in the Edgewater/Uptown area he grew passionate about human services. Today, he serves as the executive director of the private, not-for-profit Crosspoint Human Services in Danville. "Crosspoint Human Services is a comprehensive agency in terms of human services. It not only serves persons with mental illness but persons who have developmental disabilities. Women and children who are in the midst of domestic violence. Women and children who are homeless. We have a daycare center. We have a program that covers seven counties that assesses children in their developmental stages of birth to three." Crosspoint Human Services provides a number of affordable housing opportunities for people in Vermilion County. "Crosspoint’s establishments are all over Danville. And we have 16 buildings. And we like to think of ourselves as the best neighbor on the block. So we maintain our properties very well. We make sure that the neighbors know who we are. And that in the event there’s a problem, feel free to call us. And in that way, I think we have had a very solid reputation about being a good neighbor." Like many cities in Illinois Danville has a high rate of vacant properties. Vacant properties can contribute to the decline of neighborhoods. But Thom says Danville has a strong sense of community and that holds neighborhoods together. He sees it in his neighborhood. "Recently, we had a little vandalism with our home. And one of our neighbors decided that they were going to travel up and down the alley behind our home and has done so almost on a daily basis at multiple times during the day to check to see that our home is okay. And that some folks that might be considered ne’er-do-wells are identified. So yeah, we look out for one another and have basically cleaned up the neighborhood." Thom’s home is in an old neighborhood, not far from downtown. In downtown Danville you’ll find an apartment complex that Thom and the city are proud of. Not long ago the apartments were run down and known for drugs and prostitution. Then Crosspoint Human Services, with Thom’s vision, took it on. After a long struggle they found the money and the expertise to rehabilitate the complex, now known as the New Holland. "It was rare to see historic restoration, green technology and affordable housing all put into one package. And we received national and state awards for that effort. When we first opened it up in 2005, I kind of thought that it was the newest neighborhood in Danville because all of a sudden 47 units were filled with families and kids. And it was just really neat to see school buses come up to what was once a building of ill repute and now it’s got a very solid, positive relationship to the community and to the town." Thom Pollock, who lives in Danville, Illinois, is executive director of Crosspoint Human Services and president of the New Holland Corporation. Community Economy History Housing People Urban Planning http://willconnect.org/stories/champaign-county-schools-adopt-anti-obesity-initative http://willconnect.org/stories/champaign-county-schools-adopt-anti-obesity-initative Sean Powers Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:36:36 -0500 stories Several schools in Champaign County have adopted a nationwide anti-obesity initiative, known as the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH). (Funded in part by a grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation) Several schools in Champaign County have adopted a nationwide anti-obesity initiative known as the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH). Carrie Busey Elementary in Campaign began the CATCH initiative in 2009. CATCH schools get state money from the Illinois Department of Human Services over a three year period. That support, which gradually decreases over the three years, is used to revamp lunch menus, add new gym equipment, or expand nutrition education in the classroom. Mariah Burt, who is a music teacher at Carrie Busey, has her class compose rap music related to health and wellness. Fourth graders Peja Rowan, Ariany Smith, and Lily Smith stand in front of the class, performing original songs about nutrition. They use body and vocal percussion, such as stomping their feet and beatboxing: “I love you. You love apples. Remix… We eat fruit…You should too…We also eat vegetables with you…That’s what you’re supposed to do.” Burt said the songs about nutrition that come out of her classroom don’t just stay in her class. “Sometimes a kid will be sitting at lunch and see another kid bring a candy bar and say, ‘Hey, remember the rap we did the other day, you’re not supposed to be eating that whoa food. You’re supposed to be eating the carrots of your platter because that’s a ‘Go food,”’ Burt said. “So, it really has become a part of who they are through the musical setting.” In the school’s cafeteria, there is a big poster outlining the three different food categories that the students learn about – ‘Go foods’ like fruits and vegetables are considered the most healthy; ‘Slow foods’ like yogurt and cheese should be eaten in moderation; and ‘Whoa foods’ like frosted cupcakes and candy are reserved strictly for special occasions. To avoid an overabundance of ‘Whoa foods,’ gym teacher Wendy Starwalt rewards students with prizes if they eat plenty 'Go foods' during lunch. She also said the school has designated days once a month for birthday treats. “It was hard for parents to understand why their child couldn’t bring cupcakes on their birthday, and we had to help our kids understand why that was happening,” Starwalt said. “So, now we’re three years into that already, and a lot of teachers on the actual birthday have come up with celebrations that don’t involve food.” Starwalt came to Carrie Busey a few years ago after teaching at Dr. Howard Elementary School in Champaign. That was the first school in Champaign County to test out the CATCH initiative. But after it ended, the school wasn’t been able to sustain it. Starwalt said that is because only a few staff members were trained to teach a curriculum centered on health and wellness, and those teachers - like Starwalt - left the school. To avoid that from happening at Carrie Busey, all employees went through CATCH training. Second grade teacher Elizabeth Well is in her second year of teaching the CATCH curriculum. A few times each year, she follows a prepared set of instructional course material that is designed for CATCH schools. During a recent classroom discussion, she talked about the importance of fiber. “Fiber cleans the places in your body where food passes, and fiber is great because it makes the chances of getting some types of cancer go away, “Well said. Well demonstrated how to make a high-fiber snack. “Now this is rice and corn flakes,” she said as she lift up a plastic bag full of Cheerios. “We know this is high fiber even though it doesn’t say in big letters like on Raisin Brand that it’s fiber because it is from wheat…and we learned fiber are things that are grown, but doesn’t come from an animal.” As the class makes their snacks, a couple of the students demonstrated their knowledge about fiber. “Well, it cleans your body and it also helps you to get healthier,” David Cardaronella said. “It lowers our chances of getting cancer,” Zakyah Billings added. When the bell rings, the kids head out, taking their bagged snacks. Well said after a year of teaching CATCH courses, she thinks more of her students are aware about what they are eating. “Honestly, as an adult after teaching this for a year, I’m a little more aware and conscious of what I’m eating and looking at the labels and cereal boxes and things like that,” she said. “So, it’s even helped me as an adult.” After school is over, about 40 kids pack into the music room. Music teacher, Mariah Burt welcomes the group to the first day of Dance Club. “Now you are all part of a healthy team and a healthy family that’s going to help each other feel good about what we’re doing and make sure that you help other people follow those directions,” Burt said. After going over the rules of Dance Club, Burt leads the class in some movements: “Five…six…seven…eight…stomp, stomp, clap, clap….one…two…three…four.” Out in the hallway right outside of the music room, a group of parents watch as 11-year-old Grace Rispoli teaches her peers the dance moves, mimicking what their teacher was just doing. “Stomp, clap, clap, stomp, clap,” Rispoli said. “Now, remember the thing is that even I forget the second stop. We have to remember that otherwise it won’t look the same, and we can’t clap first. We have to stomp first.” Nikiki Hillier, who is a program coordinator Program in the Division of Wellness and Health Promotion at the Champaign Urbana Public Health District, monitors the CATCH initiative in Champaign County. So far, five elementary schools in her area have taken part in CATCH: Carrie Busey, Dr. Howard, Unity West, Thomasboro, and Fisher. While Hillier said the work to educate kids about nutrition may start at the schools, it shouldn’t end there. “You don’t want to undermine everything that you’ve done all day at school by sending them home, and they’re having fried foods and pop for dinner,” Hillier said. “So, it’s very important that the parents are on their journey with us.” After all, once these kids grow up, it will be up to them to teach the next generation about what it means to make healthy choices, one step at a time. Related Links: More about the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) Chart of 'Go' 'Slow' and 'Whoa' Foods Unit 4 Tries to Stay Ahead of Nutrition Standards (Related) Dance Music Education Fitness Health Children http://willconnect.org/stories/unit-4-makes-lunch-menu-changes-ahead-of-federal-standards http://willconnect.org/stories/unit-4-makes-lunch-menu-changes-ahead-of-federal-standards Sean Powers Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:58:45 -0500 stories New federal standards for school lunch menus kick in this year, and the Champaign School District is trying to stay ahead of the regulations. (Funded in part by a grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation) The U.S. Department of Agriculture this year unveiled new nutrition standards for school meals. It’s the first major nutritional overhaul of its kind in more than 15 years. The Champaign School District is trying to stay ahead of new federal regulations taking affect this year and beyond. Mary Davis is the Director of Food Services in the Champaign School District. She and her staff prepare about 5,500 meals a day. In her year and a half on the job, Davis has introduced more fruits and vegetables, and by next fall fruits or vegetables will be required on every school lunch tray. Davis has even added tofu as another option for high school students, despite the added expense. “Tofu is quite high if you get a regular serving,” she said. “But we’re willing to take those costs on because this is the way we’re headed and we want to be ahead of other districts, ahead of any mandates and regulations that they may enforce.” The USDA currently requires schools to offer proteins, grains, vegetables, fruits and dairy. In the Champaign School District, elementary school students are required to have all five components, but students in other grade levels can pick three of the five components for their meals to meet federal mandates. Based on the federal requirements, a complete meal can be milk, juice, and vegetable, or it can be two Bosco Sticks and a milk, since that includes grains, dairy, and proteins. Kris Light Branaman has a son at Edison Middle School. She said her son talks about school meals the same way she did at his age. “That is to complain all the time about it,” Branaman said. “But I think that here they seem to have a good balance of choices. I know that’s one of the difficulties of adolescence is he has to make the choice, and there’s a lot of pre-packaged stuff that I hope doesn’t choose, but I know he probably will.” Stopping by some of the lunch tables at Edison, the attitudes about nutrition among the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders run the gamut. Tyler Thompson credits his parents for encouraging him to be healthy. “Like when they were younger they didn’t eat healthy, but now they’re eating healthy, so they’re like a role model to me,” Thompson said. “So, I’m just going to be a role model back.” But for some students, like Erika Sepich and Mackenzie Williams, nutrition isn’t a factor. They say their parents don’t really talk to them about why it is important to eat healthy. “It’s our body and if we want to eat unhealthy foods, then it’s on us,” Williams said. Mary Davis said offering healthy options can be one obstacle because of the added cost, but she said another challenge can be getting students to willingly eat the food. “Students are in a hurry,” she said. “They want to get outside, or they want to talk to their friends and they haven’t eaten until the bell rings. So, they’re throwing a lot of their food away, except for maybe their chocolate milk.” Davis said pushing for health and wellness is a team effort. At Carrie Busey Elementary School, she recently removed sugary items from the breakfast menu, substituting whole grains, bagels, and white milk for donuts, certain cereals, and flavored milk. But Davis said it is the teachers who must play an important role in encouraging students to appreciate nutrition. Carrie Busey physical education teacher, Wendy Starwalt is trying to get her students to think differently about nutrition. During a recent lunch period, she scans the lunches of kindergartners. She rates their meals on a sliding scale – ‘go foods’ like fruits and vegetables are considered the most healthy, ‘slow foods’ like yogurt and cheese should be eaten in moderation, and ‘whoa foods’ like frosted cupcakes and candy are reserved strictly for special occasions. Students who eat plenty of ‘go foods’ can win a prize. “I will make my way through and tell you the go food, the fresh fruit or vegetable, healthy food that I would like you to eat today to get your name in the raffle,” she said as she walked around the cafeteria. Starwalt began rewarding students for eating healthy three years ago. She gives out prizes, such as basketballs, pedometers, and a water bottle. “If I call your name you may pick one thing,” she tells them. Starwalts said based on conversations she has had with parents, many of her students are conscious about eating the ‘go foods’ not just at school, but at home. While the Champaign School District does sell ala carte items at the middle and high schools, it does not sell those snacks at the elementary schools. Meanwhile, vending machines are only accessible to students at the high schools. Even though some students may fall off track at times, Starwalt said what they learn about nutrition at a young age sets a foundation for the rest of their lives. “People used to only drink soda pop like on a Saturday night,” she said. “Well, now if you go to a high school, you’ll see soda pop all year, all day along, including Gatorade and Propel, which are just as full of sugar. We have to shift our kids to know that that’s a treat. If you’re going to have that, you can’t have that all the time.” Many of the nation’s schools are working to provide healthy meals. The Obama administration this year announced new guidelines for government subsidized free and reduced meals – of which more than half of Unit 4 students qualify. Among the changes, meals will have calorie caps, sodium will gradually decrease over a decade, and flavored milks will have to be nonfat. Some changes will be in place by the fall while others will be phased in over time. Related Links: Chart of 'Go' 'Slow' and 'Whoa' Foods School Lunches To Be Healthier: Have More Fruits, Vegetable What's Inside The 26-Ingredient School Lunch Burger? http://willconnect.org/stories/rents-rise-in-champaign-vermilion-counties http://willconnect.org/stories/rents-rise-in-champaign-vermilion-counties Pam Dempsey Sun, 25 Mar 2012 01:37:53 -0500 stories The income of residents in Champaign and Vermilion has not kept pace with the increase of rent and as a result affordable housing is becoming harder to find. (Former University of Illinois journalism graduate student Landon Cassman contributed to this report) The income of residents in Champaign and Vermilion has not kept pace with the increase of rent and as a result affordable housing is becoming harder to find. Census data from 2000 and 2010 and recent housing studies shows there are more renters, but that many can’t afford to pay fair market rent. The data and studies also reveal that the number of vacant units has skyrocketed. “The housing needs haven’t changed. In fact, they’ve gotten worse for the people who need them,” said Thom Pollock, executive director of Crosspoint Human Services. A comprehensive review of local housing studies, Census data and federal reports show that across Champaign and Vermilion counties shows that between 2000 and 2010, fair market rents for a two-bedroom apartment in the two counties have increased more than 30 percent. For Champaign County, it’s gone up from about $600 to more than $800 for a two-bedroom apartment. In Vermilion County, it’s increased from about $400 to $600 for a two-bedroom apartment in. Meanwhile, median household income has increased less than 20 percent – from about $37,600 in 1999 to $45,200 in 2010 in Champaign County and from about $34,200 in 1999 to about $38,200 in Vermilion County A review of the studies and Census data also shows: - The number of vacant housing units increased 43 percent between 2000 and 2010, from about 6,200 vacant housing units to nearly 9,000 vacant housing units . In 2000, about 7 percent of nearly 88,400housing units were vacant. In 2010, about 9 percent of 101,600 housing units were vacant. - Renter-occupied properties increased 20 percent over the past 10 years from 36,200 to 43,200 while owner-occupied properties increased about 8 percent from about 46,000 to nearly 50,000. - Minorities making up a disproportionate percentage of the renters and are concentrated in areas with low housing value and quality. While minority groups make up 29 percent of the total population, they make up 35 percent of the renters across the two counties. Officials from Champaign released a county-wide housing study as part a report to the city council in October that looked at housing needs across the county. The study found that nearly 12 percent of the county’s housing stock is substandard and over 10 percent of its households are “overburdened” – meaning households that pay more than 30 percent of income to rent and basic utilities. “Probably the biggest issue that it pointed to was the lack of affordable housing, rental housing, for extremely low-income people,” said Kerri Spear, neighborhood programs manager at the City of Champaign. “When you are earning less than 30 percent of the median family income, the ability for you to pay for your market rent in Champaign-Urbana is impossible.” College Students Lift Prices Local college students not only drive up the rental price in Champaign-Urbana, but typically get the best pick of rental units in the best condition, Spear said. “I think what we see here in Champaign-Urbana being a college community is that landlords can charge more because when you bring in two or three college students, each of them technically may be low-income, but they’re usually supported financially living elsewhere, Spear said “ And so, students can obviously pay more.” The county-wide housing study adjusted for the student population when assessing the area’s needs. “The effect of the student population in both the Cities of Champaign and Urbana is significant. If left in the housing need numbers, the students would be responsible for overstating need by nearly four times in the City of Champaign and by over twice as much in the City of Urbana,” the report stated. It added that the housing need is nevertheless still great in those Urbana and Champaign two communities as well as in Rantoul. The housing study found that the majority of the county’s lowest income population and minority populations are located within Champaign and Urbana, even with the student population removed. While these two cities grapple with higher housing cost, its neighbor, Danville, also struggles with providing quality affordable housing. Danville Housing Lower Priced, But Substandard A study by the City of Danville released in September showed that while housing in Danville is “very low-priced … much is in substandard conditions.” The Danville report states that nearly half of the homes in Danville were built before 1947 and homes built within the past 20 years make up less than 5 percent of the housing stock. “Old housing stock is in some cases an impediment (to fair housing choices) where city-wide depressed housing values limit reinvestment, maintenance and modernization and make new construction economically impractical," the report stated. “Too much of the affordable housing is in substandard condition,” the report stated. Gloria Thompson-Brown is a housing rights advocate and works to educate low-income residents on their rights and responsibilities. “Landlords have been lax in keeping their properties up,” Thompson-Brown said. “And when there are residents living in these (properties), if there are problems, they tend to blame it on the residents when landlords should be held more responsible for the upkeep of the properties.” Over the past decade, Danville lost just over 1 percent of its housing units, according to Census data. Renters make up about 36 percent of Danville’s housing market. Without residents, though, there is no rental business, Thompson-Brown said. “They’re the most important commodity in the business,” she said. “So I think they should be treated as such and know that (they) are needed here. And it should be a two-way street.” New Danville project gets awards The New Holland apartment complex in downtown Danville is a renovated five-story historic affordable housing project that has garnered several awards for its designs as well as large-scale energy-efficient geothermal system. “We decided to kind of push the envelope,” said Thom Pollock, executive director of Crosspoint Human Services and president of the New Holland Corp. “We wanted it to be green. We want it to be historically correct, and we wanted it at the end to be affordable for the tenants. And I think we achieved all three.” The nearly 50 apartments units in the building are subsidized and rents range anywhere 40 percent to 60 percent of fair market rent. Residents cannot make more than 60 percent of the area median income to live at the New Holland. Barbara Donaldson, 77, moved in to a two-bedroom apartment at the New Holland six years ago. Once a homeowner, Donaldson had sold her house before moving to Israel. But a series illness and subsequent operation cut short her plans for a permanent stay in Jerusalem and Donaldson moved home. “And so, just gradually, I was still working some after that,” she said. “But my strength in the recent years has kind of decreased because I’m not, of course, as you know, as young as I used to be.” With a depleted savings account and limited income, Donaldson’s housing options were stifled. “My options would probably be that I would be with one of my children,” she said. “That probably would be about it. Because at this point, at my age and so forth, I’m not able to really make a lot of money.” Donaldson said she was out hunting for a new place to live when she saw the New Holland and “thought in my heart, this is where I want to be.” “I love this majestic building,” Donaldson said. And that is what Pollock hoped to accomplish. “Affordable housing should be quality housing, safe housing. Something that you and I would like to live in,” he said. “And in this case that’s what we aim to do at the (New Holland) and I think we’ve achieved that.” Housing Economy http://willconnect.org/stories/pettigrews-story-about-her-life-in-rabbittown http://willconnect.org/stories/pettigrews-story-about-her-life-in-rabbittown Crystal Kang Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:36:00 -0500 stories Mary Ann Pettigrew shares stories of growing up in Danville. The first story in our Neighbors series focuses on Mary Ann Pettigrew, a long-time resident of Danville, Illinois. See below for the transcription of her interview, which includes voice overs from WILL's Celeste Quinn. "My name is Mary Ann Pettigrew, and I have lived at this address since 1962 when I bought this house." The neighborhood is known as Rabbittown. The name goes back to the 19th century - inspired by the large number of wild rabbits living in the area. Most of the neighborhood's homes -including Mary Ann’s- were built prior to the 1920s. Mary Ann grew up in a house her parents, John and Sarah Pettigrew, rented. There were nine children – six girls and three boys. Her father worked three jobs. "I grew up within about five blocks of the present location and went to school at St. Pat’s Catholic Church, which is a few blocks away. We always walked to school. They were wonderful neighbors. Established neighborhood. A close-knit neighborhood. Everybody watched out for the kids. If we did something wrong, we found out that our parents knew it before we got home." For a number of years, the house she and younger sister Pat Pettigrew call home today housed her parents and some siblings. Mary Ann spent a number of years working as a Registered Nurse for the Santa Fe Railroad, for an oil company in the Middle East and St. Francis Hospital in Peoria. She came back to Danville in the early 1970s and has lived at the house on Buchanan Street ever since. She’s seen many changes overtime – most recently the recession and slump in real estate. They have taken a toll on the neighborhood. "We’ve had some young people move in. But I think the biggest issue is that some of the homes that have not sold are standing empty and others that the larger homes that have been turned into apartments. And I think that’s one issue that has been a problem with the apartments. People are there for maybe a few months, and they’re gone. And then somebody else comes in. They’re there for a while and then they’re gone, too. So there’s really no sense of ownership as such. The issues that concern us as a whole are probably not unique to any city. These times are hard on everybody." Neighbors, the neighborhood and Danville have always been important to Mary Ann Pettigrew. She is active in her Neighborhood Association and encourages young families to join and bring their children when they can. She knows there are many demands on families, but she says being a good neighbor is rewarding. "In my opinion, a good neighbor is one who you know is there for you. They’re friendly. They know that you can help them whenever they need it. And you know, without being intrusive. We had a neighbor lady. Her name was Margaret. We always called her Bunny. She used to drive a station wagon. And she was great. She taught Catechism at school. And she told us after church one day, she said, “Now when I give up my car,” she said, “would you take me to church?” We said, “Sure, Bunny. We’ll take you to church.” So she finally had to give it up, and she said, “Okay.” She said, “I had to take my driver’s license three times last year.” She said, “I’m not even going to try this year.” So, she was in her 90's then." Mary Ann Pettigrew of Danville, Illinois. I’m Celeste Quinn. Community Culture Economy History Housing People Urban Planning http://willconnect.org/stories/ui-professor-tackles-obesity-diabetes-in-immigrant-communities http://willconnect.org/stories/ui-professor-tackles-obesity-diabetes-in-immigrant-communities Rachel Otwell Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:07:40 -0600 stories Angela Wiley, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is trying to curb obesity and diabetes rates among immigrant communities. Obesity is hitting Latino children in the United States harder than any other demographic, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Angela Wiley, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is trying to curb that trend in immigrant communities living in Illinois. She heads the Up Amigos project, which looks at how biological, social, and environmental factors affect rates of obesity and diabetes. Illinois Public Radio's Rachel Otwell talks with Wiley about her research. Health University Of Illinois People Interviews Immigration Health Care Latin America http://willconnect.org/stories/danville-school-integrates-health-wellness-in-curriculum http://willconnect.org/stories/danville-school-integrates-health-wellness-in-curriculum Lisa Braddock Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:28:11 -0600 stories An elementary school in Danville, Ill. has earned national recognition for its approach to fighting childhood obesity --- by teaching its students how to stay healthy. An elementary school in Danville, Ill. has earned national recognition for its approach to fighting childhood obesity --- by teaching its students how to stay healthy. When Carol McIntire arrived at Northeast Elementary School in 2007, her staff was working on creating an environment for students to help them win the battle against childhood obesity. From expanding students’ daily physical activities to revamping lunch menus, McIntire’s arrival accelerated the process. Childhood obesity has been linked to an array of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Northeast Elementary forged ahead in partnering with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a national organization founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. The school initiated a plan to provide healthier food choices and keep kids physically active. A grant from the Illinois State Board of Education increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Students were also able to taste test produce not familiar to them. Principal McIntire said the program has been a big hit with students and parents. “Our fresh fruits and vegetable program that we’ve been able to have here has been such a key to our kids and our families,” McIntire said. “Parents talk about how much that means to kids.” Even before being recognized nationally for its efforts, Northeast Elementary made several healthy changes, many of which surpassed the requirements of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to Brenda Demos, the former director of food service at Northeast Elementary. She was instrumental in changing the school’s lunch menu. “Finding suppliers of certain products that met Alliance standards was a labor of love,” Demos said. It was important to Demos and her team to keep as many of the students’ favorite menu items as possible, while adjusting the recipes with healthier ingredients. For instance, using turkey hotdogs and whole grain bread allowed corn dogs to stay on the menu. Pizza also received a makeover, switching to whole grain crust and low-fat cheese. Detailed information - complete with nutritional values - was submitted to the Alliance for all menu items. Recipes would often go through several changes until they were finally approved. After eight months of hard work, Demos and her staff were successful, giving Northeast Elementary a foundation of recipes and menus on which to build even more healthy meals. Greg Lazelle, the school’s current director of food service, picked up where Demos left off when she retired, and did so without missing a beat. Lazelle has expanded the fresh fruit program, and he is looking for more innovative ways to bring healthier choices to the tables at Northeast Elementary. The school’s cafeteria also houses the gymnasium. Physical education teacher Beckey Burgoyne leads her students in their exercises, which might consist of shooting and dribbling basketballs, using paddleballs, or navigating across a climbing wall or games. “Watch the stop watch, and every three minutes I will move you,” Burgoyne instructed her students before blowing a whistle and turning on some fast-moving music. Every day, the students have half an hour of gym class, which includes 20 minutes of moderate exercise. On a recent morning, a group of students smile and giggle as they spend their time playing and moving around. Burgoyne said being able to burn off the energy helps them concentrate in the classroom. “As a former classroom teacher, I know how important it is to have those students get the exercise, blow off the steam, get some fresh air when it’s possible,” Burgoyne said. “Then they come back, and they’re ready to learn again.” In addition to the exercise students get, teachers integrate health and wellness into their curriculum. Speech therapist Kate Cox created verbal exercises encouraging students to discuss various health and wellness topics while also strengthening their speaking skills. “Where can I add movement to goals I’m already working on instead of sitting around a table and getting out a bunch of cards, can I get them up moving?” Cox said. “If you aren’t focused, you’re not getting the directions anyway.” Meanwhile, fifth grade teacher Lisa Unzicker assigns a social studies research project on the topic of food deserts. “What is a food desert?” she asked her class. One student responds: “A food desert is a community which residents must travel at least a mile to buy fresh meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables. It is where at least 20% of people live below the poverty line and at least 33% live a mile or more from the nearest supermarket.” McIntire credits all members of the staff for making the program work. “They are constantly looking at their lesson plans for new ways to integrate health and wellness,” she said. “Our bottom line is that we do this because it’s good for kids.” In Dec. 2010, the school became the first elementary school in the country to be recognized with a gold medal from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. In the year since then, McIntire and her team are just as committed to their focus on health and wellness and continue to expand access to healthy options. Northeast Elementary is known as the healthy school and there is already a waiting list for next year’s admission. McIntire encourages other schools that are interested in adopting her school’s health and wellness model to make one or two small changes at a time, aiming for a large goal of a healthier learning environment. Education Health http://willconnect.org/stories/using-rating-system-to-pick-a-nursing-home http://willconnect.org/stories/using-rating-system-to-pick-a-nursing-home Jim Meadows Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:29:28 -0600 stories Tami Wacker, the operations manager and regional ombudsman with the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging, talks about why a rating system is a useful tool when trying to choose a nursing home. A CU-CitizenAccess report about nursing homes in Champaign County tells how homes accepting Medicare and Medicaid funding were rated by the federal government. Many of the homes did poorly in the ratings, and an official with one of those facilities said the federal rating system was flawed. An advocate for nursing home residents, Tami Wacker, said the rating system is a useful tool when trying to choose a nursing home, but it’s not perfect. Wacker said there is a lot more to consider when looking for the right facility. Wacker is Operations Manager and a Regional Ombudsman with the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging. The Bloomington-based agency serves seniors and persons caring for them in a 16-county area. Wacker spoke with Illinois Public Media’s Jim Meadows. http://willconnect.org/stories/champaign-co.-nursing-homes-receive-low-marks http://willconnect.org/stories/champaign-co.-nursing-homes-receive-low-marks Dan Petrella Sun, 04 Dec 2011 21:49:43 -0600 stories Families face tough decisions about moving loved ones into nursing homes, and they may be surprised to learn that several Champaign County nursing homes received low marks from the federal government. (With additional reporting by Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess and former University of Illinois journalism student Sabrina Santucci) An elderly man with Alzheimer's leaves a local nursing home without staff noticing and is found wandering into traffic on Mattis Ave in Champaign.
 A patient in a nursing home in Champaign is left unattended on a bed pan for hours until its shape cuts into her flesh.
 In another home a patient who should be only on soft foods is given orange slices that ultimately caused his choking death a few hours later. These are just a few of the numerous examples of lack of care found in area-wide nursing homes.
Indeed, many nursing homes are across Central Illinois have been cited repeatedly over the past five years for safety violations that put residents at risk for untreated pressure sores, bladder infections, serious medication errors and broken bones. In some severe cases, residents have been rushed to hospitals or even died from lack of proper care. Inadequate staffing issues and delayed public health insurance payments are major concerns among nursing home care facilities, but they shouldn’t be an excuse for poor care, said Tami Wacker, operations manager and regional ombudsman for the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging. “When someone says, ‘I accept you, I will admit you, I can take care of you,’ they have made a promise and you need to fulfill that,” she said. A close review by CU-CitizenAccess.org of hundreds of federal and state inspection reports on 93 Central Illinois nursing homes revealed: Fifty percent of nursing home beds that are Medicare or Medicaid certified are located in facilities rated below average by the federal regulatory site Medicare.gov. In Champaign County, four out of the seven nursing homes – which have 75 percent of nursing home beds that are available to Medicare or Medicaid recipients - are rated below average. Central Illinois nursing homes have paid more than $1 million in fines and penalties for violations between 2006 and 2010. State inspectors have found that low staffing levels and inadequate training have contributed to resident injuries and deaths at some nursing homes in Central Illinois. Nursing home administrators across Central Illinois and health care advocates alike acknowledge that rating systems, such as The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid on Medicare.gov, do have problems. Owners of nursing homes say that late Medicaid reimbursements from the state are increasing their woes. “But it does give a very good base.” Wacker said. Wacker’s office acts as an advocate for nursing home residents across counties in Central Illinois. A private, non-profit group, it handles about 600 complaints each year from across nearly 200 long-term care homes and they report problems to the state when serious health care issues arise. On the regulatory front, long-term care facilities are certified through the federal agency for receiving Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, but they are licensed through the Illinois Department of Health. The health department does inspections for the federal agency during their own mandatory yearly survey. If complaints are made at a long-term care facility the department is required by federal regulations to investigate the complaint. If facilities are funded by Medicare and Medicaid and do not meet their requirements during an inspection, then they can be decertified and lose their funding. For example, Helia Healthcare of Urbana closed in 2009 after regulators pulled its certificate for reimbursements because of poor patient care. By law facilities have to report any problems with patient care to the Illinois Department of Public Health and then the department investigates. The state looks for a pattern; if the same type of serious violation continues to occur then processes to revoke the facility’s license can begin. “Each home is very different. What you are see in one facility may not correlate to another, direct comparisons are not possible it’s like comparing apples to oranges,” said Melaney Arnold, spokeswoman for the state public health department. “Having them come in and write that deficiency will show that facility, you’ve got to change your way because this level of care is not acceptable,” Wacker said. “And if it’s not acceptable for this resident, it’s not acceptable for anybody else, currently or in the future, and we want to get that changed immediately.” Nursing Homes Criticize Rating System Greg Wilson, vice president of quality management for Petersen Health Care, sharply critizes the ratings. Petersen Health Care operates dozens of for-profit nursing homes across the state and the reports reviewed for nine of its facilities in Central Illinois rated those homes below average. Wilson wrote in an email, “The system is based on a very subjective state survey process that is inconsistently applied across the country, faulty staffing statistics, and quality measures that are affected by too many factors to be descriptive of any resident’s actual clinical condition or needs.” He wrote the system “makes no accommodation for the wide disparity between Medicaid reimbursement rates paid throughout the country of which Illinois is historically ranked at the very bottom. The rating has very little or no bearing on the quality of care being provided at any nursing home in the country.” President and chief executive officer Deb Reardanz of the nursing home Clark-Lindsey Village in Urbana said that while the rating system is good for consumers, “it doesn’t always capture the full picture.” Clark-Lindsay is rated at average with its current rating of three out of five stars. “I do not believe that tells the full story,” she said. “We are above average and we work hard to be a leader in the field, not just in the area, but throughout the state.” She said the home received too low a rating. “We’re not satisfied with the (rating),” she said. Inspections and Fines Whether the ratings are warranted, the deficiencies reported can be shocking. In one incident in May 2009, a crying and disoriented a man stumbled into the busy lanes of South Mattis Avenue in Champaign during rush hour traffic. Police reports say a passerby called to report the man in the street. The man, a patient at Helia Healthcare of Champaign, had left the nursing home and into the four-lane road without anyone noticing. According to state quarterly reports the passerby stated, “What scared me so bad was that no one from the nursing home knew he was there!” The man, who had been admitted to Helia Healthcare of Champaign the month before, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Reports said he wandered out of a door left open with its alarm off while the nursing home was doing maintenance. But it wasn’t the last time a resident had left the facility without the staff’s knowledge. In January 2010, a 53-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease and a history of mental disorders was able to leave the facility without anyone noticing. He had been admitted to the nursing home after he “had fallen at home and was found living in unsanitary conditions.” He later told inspectors that he walked out the front door that morning to get a cup of coffee at a local restaurant and rode the bus before he was found later walking along Mattis Avenue, according to a state report. By his estimate, he was gone from the facility for about three hours before staff noticed. Araceli Henson, administrator, at the Helia Healthcare in Champaign canceled two scheduled interviews for comment. Choking Death In summer of 2009, Champaign-Urbana Regional Rehab Center, formerly known as Carle Arbours, was fined $10,000 after a patient choked on mandarin orange slices, ultimately causing his death the next day. The resident was required to have a pureed diet, and was found with no pulse and solid food protruding from his mouth by a certified nursing assistant, according to a report. It took 24 minutes from the time the staff found the man unresponsive till the time someone called 911. The home’s director of nursing later told investigators that orientation for new employees did not include training for the Heimlich maneuver, CPR, how to respond to resident emergencies or how to use the telephone system in an emergency, according to the report. One certified nursing assistant told inspectors: “It was a lot of back and forth running around. Afterwards one of the other CNAs asked me why I didn’t use the phone in the dining room to call for help or page someone. I didn’t even know to use them for emergencies. I should have been told to do that in orientation but they never told me that. It would have saved a lot of time.” An emergency room doctor who treated the man told the inspectors: “I would expect anyone in a medical situation to be informed of the basic life support systems and know how to rapidly access … (emergency medical systems).” Administrators at the home did not respond to numerous attempts to reach them for comment. Champaign County Nursing Home In another incident in March of this year, a Champaign County Nursing Home resident was left on a bedpan for six hours, which resulted in a pressure sore. The sore – shaped like a bedpan – became infected and turned into a blood infection that required hospitalization and medication. An employee told investigators, “I looked at her backside and it was split open. When I saw it I said, 'Oh my God' because I saw pink meat. I went and got the nurse.” The nursing home was fined $25,000 in April for the incident. Champaign County Nursing Home paid nearly $80,000 for violations between 2006 and 2010. In October, Chuck Schuette took over as its administrator and inherited all of its problems. “I do know that it’s really difficult trying to be in compliance with all of these issues,” he said. “I’m not saying they don’t need to be there, but you have to have a really dedicated work force, a highly-trained workforce and they just have to stay on top of it all the time. “ He added, “And sometimes things happen and you hate it when it does and you have to correct it.” The county nursing home also has been under intense financial pressure because of late Medicaid payments from the state. But for Schuette, like others, money isn’t the main concern. “If the resident isn’t number one in your facility, then how can you expect it to be successful?” said Chris Kasper, administrator of Country Health & Rehab in Gifford. “This is their home and this is who we care for. Regardless of public health ratings and all the inspections, all that aside, it really just comes down to the morals and ethics, you know, what can you do? It’s not always about your bottom line.” For more on this story, visit CU-CitizenAccess.org. http://willconnect.org/stories/hunger-in-illinois-how-you-can-help http://willconnect.org/stories/hunger-in-illinois-how-you-can-help Kimberlie Kranich Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:30:04 -0600 stories Ways to help the effort to address hunger in our community Are you interested in helping community efforts to address hunger in east central Illinois? Below are some opportunities to get involved. CENTRAL ILLINOIS FOOD BANK There are several ways to volunteer, participate and advocate at the Central Illinois Food Bank. EASTERN ILLINOIS FOODBANK Warehouse Sorting: Individuals are needed to help sort products in the warehouse Mondays thru Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Fridays from 7 a.m. to noon. Duties will involve sorting through product and organizing and stocking shelves. Volunteers will need to be able to stand for long periods of time. SNAP Information Volunteers: Volunteers are needed to assist the SNAP Outreach Coordinator with providing information to possible SNAP (food stamp) recipients. This is a great internship opportunity for students in the school of social work or anyone interested in human services. Training would be provided. Volunteers will attend informational events that fit with their schedules (events occur any day of the week) and hand out materials, take questions, etc. For more information on this position download the SNAP Information Volunteer/Intern job description. Foodmobile Captains: A few committed individuals are needed that would be interested in being a lead volunteer at the foodmobiles. Foodmobiles are mobile food pantries that are sent to areas of need within 14 counties. A truckload of food is brought to a host site and distributed. To find out more about foodmobiles visit the foodmobiles page or download the Foodmobile Captain job description if you’re interested in becoming a volunteer leader with this project. SALAVATION ARMY DANVILLE CORPS Volunteers are needed for the food pantry on Tuesday and Fridays between 1 and 3:30 p.m. If interested, fill out an volunteer application. WESLEY EVENING FOOD PANTRY Refrigerator Truck (once a month): Loan of a truck and driver once a month to pick up one to three pallets of refrigerated items at Eastern Illinois Foodbank on the third Thursday of the month and keep them cold through the end of distribution (approximately 8 p.m.). Area Coordinators: Area Coordinators are volunteers who supervise the same tasks every month. Ability to attend second Thursday planning meeting helpful. Current needs are: --Parking Lot Coordinator, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday --Waiting Area Coordinator, 3 to 7:30 p.m. on the third Thursday, bi-lingual in English and Spanish --Cleanup Coordinator, 7 to 9:30 p.m. on the third Thursday --Communications Coordinator, write newsletter articles and email announcements on your own schedule --Donations Coordinator, Tuesday or Thursday afternoons, keep track of donations received and send thank-you notes Spanish-Speaking Volunteers: Volunteers who are bi-lingual in English and Spanish, particularly those willing to work most months, are needed 3:15 to 8 p.m. on the third Thursday. Office Assistant: Organized volunteer needed two or three afternoons a week as assistant to the director. Must be comfortable with MS Office and enjoy finding creative solutions to problems. For more information, call (217) 344-1120 or visit their website. Hunger Food Nutrition Community http://willconnect.org/stories/community-cinema-screening-discussion-we-still-live-here-s-nutayunean http://willconnect.org/stories/community-cinema-screening-discussion-we-still-live-here-s-nutayunean Henry Radcliffe Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:00:40 -0600 stories The discussion following the screening of "We Still Live Here" This is the discussion following the screening of the film "We Still Live Here" at the Champaign Public library, November 08, 2011. David Inge, Producer and host of Focus on Illinois Public Media, WILL-AM and Henry Radcliffe Community Cinema Manager moderated the discussion. Bunny Berg was the sign language interpreter for this post-screening discussion. Community Culture Education Literature Media News