Your monthly update on resources and events to support the well-being of people in your congregation and community.
August 2020
Ask the Experts: Back-to-School Edition
Advocate Aurora Health recently hosted a Facebook Live event, focused on all things related to kids’ health. Jim Skogsbergh, President and CEO, was joined by a panel of top pediatric physicians and experts from Advocate Children's Hospital and Aurora Children's Health who answered questions from viewers, offered tips to keep children safe and eased parent's fears about kids returning to school and sports.

Get Safe Care for You and Your Family
Whether your kids are ready for their back to school vaccinations or you’re due for an annual checkup, you don’t have to delay care any longer. Our Safe Care promise provides extra safety measures, including virtual check-ins for visits, screening, masking, social distancing and enhanced cleaning – all so you can feel safe when you visit our clinics and hospitals.

In addition, you can schedule your child’s appointments, get information on pediatric care, immunization schedules and more through the LiveWell with Advocate Aurora Health app. Learn more.
August is National Immunization Awareness Month
August is National Immunization Awareness Month, a time set aside to highlight the importance of vaccination for people of all ages.

Help spread the word by sharing this bulletin insert and worship slide with your faith community:




Additional Resources:

Find  locations  where you can get a flu shot.

CDC Interactive Vaccine Guide - learn about vaccines recommended for you and your family.

CDC Adult Vaccine Assessment Tool - answer a few quick questions to find out what vaccines you may need.

CDC Educational resources include materials for maternal, childhood/adolescent and adult vaccination.

The Chicago CareVan is a mobile immunization clinic that provides no out-of-pocket cost to all children from birth through 18 years of age. The clinic provides all immunizations that are recommended by the CDC, with the exception of varicella (chickenpox) vaccine.  

Flu Prevention and Immunization Resources from the Center for Faith and Community Health Transformation include flu prevention video messages in different languages and links to posters, flyers and guides.

Find more information and resources on flu immunization at Advocate Aurora's Health eNews site .
Upcoming Events
The Companionship Model Workshop

Join us for the first of four workshops designed to build faith leaders' toolkit as they support the emotional well-being of their communities. Session one will cover the Companionship Model, a relational practice of presence, rooted in our natural capacities as human beings to be sensitive, compassionate and concerned for another in isolation or distress.
Racial Healing Circles:

Racial Healing Circles are designed for brave and rich conversations about racism and how we want to respond.

These facilitated conversations offer space where we can share, listen and remember our common humanity. By the end of the session, the hope is that you will be moving to a different relationship with yourself, your community and the world. These sessions are offered at no cost. Sign up soon because the groups are intentionally small.
HIV & Faith in Resilience and Renewal
Live-streamed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uscafaith/ 

This webinar series kicks-off with a conversation between long-time HIV activists Pernessa Seele and Cary Goodman of the Balm in Gilead. Pernessa is the founding CEO of the Balm and Cary has served for many years as the Balm’s Program Director. They will talk about the impact of the National Week of Prayer for the Healing of HIV and their vision for the role of the Black Church for ending the epidemic.
Community Conversation: Minority Mental Health

This virtual conversation will lead us through dialogue around mental and behavioral health stigma and facts in minority communities, COVID-19 and its impact on mental health and much more. The event will feature a distinguished panel of mental and behavioral health experts from both Wisconsin and Illinois. Panelists include:

  • Dr. Munther Barakat, Psy.D., Director of Behavioral Health Therapy (Aurora Psychiatric Hospital)
  • Dr. Blaire Lewis, Psy. D., Manager, Trauma Recovery Center (Advocate Christ Medical Center) 
  • Dr. Lakeia Jones, MS, Ph.D., LPC, CSAC, CCTP, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Psychotherapist, AMRI Counseling Services, LLC  
  • Jameila Hand, MHS CADC CODP, CEO, Vantage Clinical Consulting LLC. 
Addiction Ministry Webinar
July 29, 6:00-9:00 p.m. and August 5, 6:00-9:00 p.m.

The need for addiction and recovery ministry has never been more needed than during this pandemic and racial tension. Liquor sales have skyrocketed during the past months. Isolation, anxiety and increased symptoms of depression and other mental health illnesses are prevalent for many. For more information and/or to register, contact Drew Brooks at  drewbrooks@faith-partners.org or at 512-417-2307.
NAMI FaithNet Bridges of Hope Presentation

Advocate Aurora Health is partnering with The Kennedy Forum and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Chicago for the second of four workshops, designed to build faith leaders' toolkit as they support the emotional well-being of their communities.

The NAMI FaithNet Bridges of Hope presentation includes:

  • The red flags or warning signs that someone needs help
  • What to do when someone exhibits the warning signs of a mental illness
  • What faith communities can do to help people and families touched by serious mental illness
  • What resources NAMI Chicago can offer to individuals, families and faith communities
Human Trafficking Webinars

While some of the issues of our day seem beyond our healing/helping touch, there is one issue in which a few commonsense steps can have lasting impact on our families, neighborhoods and communities: human trafficking. By participating in this webinar series, you will become more aware of what trafficking can look like in your area, access tools to guard your loved ones, and be part of bringing hope and healing to those trafficked.
Prayer Support Line
The Prayer Support Line allows us to come together in unity to release our burdens, receive comfort and express our gratitude to God for holding us close during this pandemic. The Prayer Support Line is a place where we can join with others in prayer for health, healing and spiritual care with the expectation that God will meet us and provide us with encouragement.
Grief Support Group

The effects of grief and loss interrupt meaningful connections in our lives. This path can lead to broken hearts, painful detachments and unmet desires. These sessions will offer tools of reconstruction. We will learn how to embrace various feelings associated with loss with courage and anticipation toward wholeness. See flyer.
The Latest COVID-19 Resources
Web Resources

The spread of COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving situation. Continue to check the CDC website for up-to-date information and guidance.

See A list of COVID-19 resources specifically for faith communities, including information on safely reopening, live-stream worship services, prayers and more.

The Advocate Aurora Health COVID-19 Resource Center in English and Spanish provides the most up-to-date information, tools and resources, including the  policies for visiting patients in our hospitals, a COVID-19 Symptom Checker, CDC resources, ways you can donate, volunteer and help—and more.

Hotline and App

The COVID-19 hotline at 1-866-4-HEALTH is staffed by clinicians who can answer questions about symptoms and determine the next steps in care.

The LiveWell app offers virtual appointments and virtual visits with physicians 24-hours a day.

Flyers to Share


How to Stay Safe Dining at a Restaurant English version

Phase 4 Reminders English version and Spanish version

How to Protect Yourself and Others While Traveling in English

Mask Educational Flyer in English and Spanish

What Activities are the Safest? in English and Spanish

For Your Health Shopping List in  English and Spanish

The Power of Social Distancing Flyer:  English version and  Spanish version

COVID-19 Symptom Checker Information English version and Spanish version

COVID-19 Handout English version and Spanish version

COVID-19 Handout #2 English version and Spanish version

Learn the Difference Between Coronavirus, Flu and Allergies English version and Spanish version

E-Newsletters to Share

A  COVID-19 resource in Spanish  that shares important tips to stay safe, flyers you can share with your community, links to the Advocate Aurora Health COVID-19 Resource Center and more.

A resource on safely preparing and sharing food includes information on how to avoid food or food packaging contamination and how to deliver food safely.

Worship Slides



Health and Wellness Resources
Mental Health & Substance Abuse Resources


Health & Wellness Resources


Additional Health & Wellness Resources
Up to 80 percent of strokes are preventable, and many of the risk factors are controllable. Take Advocate Aurora Health’s online  Stroke Risk Assessment  to estimate your chance of experiencing one and learn about the ways you could minimize it.

Learn more about the Healthy HotSpot Initiative , led by the Cook County Department of Public Health in collaboration with many partners to build healthy places in suburban Cook County.

Learn how to develop a health ministry in your faith community. If you are interested in starting a health ministry or health council in your congregation, contact Kirsten Peachey , Director of Faith and Health Partnerships for Advocate Aurora Health . She'd love to talk with you about getting started.


To get daily articles on a host of health topics that come to you via email, subscribe to our  Health eNews service .  

All Advocate Aurora Hospitals offer classes on health topics. See  Illinois classes or events .  Select a Hospital/Medical Center and click on search to see what is being offered in your area.
Job Announcement: Green Health Advocates
Trinity United Church of Christ, Imani Village, Imani Works!, The Nature Conservancy,
Advocate Aurora Health, the University of Illinois at Chicago, The Morton Arboretum, and the U.S. Forest Service have established a program that prepares emerging professionals for a career in urban conservation or community health, with a special focus on the skills needed to transform communities into healthier places to live.

We are seeking five individuals to form a team of Imani Village “Green Health Advocates” who will be responsible for promoting the health of people and nature in Chicago’s South Side. We anticipate dividing Advocates into two cohorts: conservation health advocates and community health advocates.


August Holidays and Observances
1: Lammas - Christian
1: Lughnassad - Imbolc - Wicca/Pagan
1: Fast in Honor of Holy Mother of Jesus - Orthodox Christian
3: Raksha Bandhan - Hindu
3: Narali Purnima - Hindu
6: Transfiguration of the Lord - Orthodox Christian
9: International Day of The World’s Indigenous Peoples
10: Waqf al Arafa - Islam
12: Krishna Janmashtami - Hindu
13-15: Obon (Ulambana) - Buddhist/Shinto
15: Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary - Catholic Christian
15: Dormition of the Theotokos - Orthodox Christian
20: Hijra - New Year - Islam
22: Ganesh Chaturthi - Hindu
29: Ashura - Islam
We Want to Hear From You!

We hope you find this update helpful as you promote the health of your members and community. Please contact Cindy Novak if you have topics you'd like us to address or if you have questions or concerns.
Faith and Health Partnerships | AdvocateAuroraHealth


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