March 2020 McK-UDOS Newsletter

With the current pandemic of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it has been an evolving situation impacting the world and our community. We want to advocate the precautionary measures and guidance to help the spread of COVID-19 of proper hand washing, social distancing, respiratory etiquette and cleaning and disinfecting regularly. For the moment, we have closed our offices to help reduce the spread of the virus. However, we are still working remotely to continue our mission.

Since our last newsletter, we continued recruitment of schools to take the Illinois Youth Survey (IYS). The survey is designed to gather information about a variety of health and social indicators, including the use of gateway substances and other drugs, violence, bullying, depression, perceptions of school climate, nutrition, and fitness. Schools have been able to take the surveys since January 2020. However, with the development of the Covid-19, recruitment and survey administration has halted as CPS schools are currently closed until April 21. Some schools have completed the survey, registered and scheduled a survey date. We are waiting to see what CPS will do to as Covid-19 pandemic continues. We hope the Coalition will be able to continue surveying soon.

On January 1, 2020, Illinois began the legal sale of recreational marijuana. The McKUDOS Coalition continues to educate the community about points of the law and how community members can continue to be active in advocating substance abuse prevention for youth. McKUDOS has been collaborating with schools and community agencies to provide a workshop for parents to have a greater understanding of what the legalization of marijuana sales means to the community: who is allowed to purchase marijuana, how much is legal to purchase, how to educate community youth, advocating prevention services to their elected officials and more. We have provided the presentation to at least 6 schools, with more scheduled. With the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to pause our efforts in the education about the state's marijuana legalization and dangers of marijuana. Once the shelter in place has been lifted and schools reopen we will continue providing presentations.

Started Meeting at 12:08pm  

• Introductions 

UPDATES 

• No newsletter was sent in January, but we will send a newsletter before next meeting 

• Our Community Talks event fully received by the attendees and provided positive feedback. 

• Prescription drug disposal card to be printed. Saul made adjustments from the suggestions from the previous meeting. We want to be able to have it available in English, Spanish and Chinese. 

• Renewal of our Drug Free Communities grant is happening. We will be reaching out to our coalition members to help in our coalition involvement agreements.

• We created brochures to help the community to understand the need for suicide prevention education.  

• MAHA is in charge of the suicide prevention subcommittees. The next meeting will be tomorrow, Friday, February 14.  It will also be a train the trainer for where a representative of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will provide the training.
• We passed out the calendar of meetings

• At the last meeting we provided a list of our presentations list for parents and students.  We are asking to know what presentations are coalition members already doing to better inform schools and community agencies of the presentations the coalition and its members are providing to the community. We want to have better collaboration in our outreach.  

• We are creating a way to help report how many people we are reaching in the community. 

ILLINOIS YOUTH SURVEY 

• It is designed to gather information about a variety of health and social indicators, including the use of gateway substances and other drugs, violence, bullying, depression, perceptions of school climate, nutrition, and fitness.  We are still recruiting schools but below are the list of those schools who have already agreed and/or registered. 

School who have agreed but not signed up for the IYS 

• Pickard Elementary 

• Whittier Elementary 

• Kelly High School 

Schools registered for the IYS 

• Back of the Yards High School 
• Brighton Park Elementary  
• Davis Elementary  
• Evergreen Academy 
• Healy Elementary 
• Jungman Elementary 
• McClellan Elementary 
• Sheridan Math and Science Elementary School 

BUILDING YOUTH COALITION 

• We have made attempts to have more youth be part of our coalition. We have tried for the past two years but have not Recruitment 

• Creation of description of responsibilities 

• Youth you already know who may be interested 

• Sign up who is interested 

YOUTH RECOGNITION PROGRAM 

• We want to also start getting more youth aware of the needs of the community with youth substance abuse.  What ideas do people have for how to search for youth who are actively working in the community, the application process, and what criterion do we want to use as qualification for the scholarship program.   
  

MARIJUANA COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 

• Officer Sollis provided insight on what CPD is doing in the light of the new marijuana legalization.   

• We want to work on building a marijuana communication campaign.   

• Coalition members provided their insight on what information to add on the communication campaign  

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Next meeting is Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 12:00pm -- 1:30pm

Adjourned 1:31pm 

In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States, the number of Illinois residents infected with COVID-19 is rising, and there is an urgent need for medical supplies due to a shortage. Initiated by the Chicago North Shore Chinese Center, the Midwest Asian Health Association (MAHA) along with the other partners noted below, are combining forces to launch the Chicago Chinese Community Anti-COVID-19 Fund Drive with a purpose to call on Chicagoland community to spread love by donating needed items to aid the healthcare providers in the United States during these difficult times. “We are calling the entire Chinese community and all organizations to join us in our efforts”, said Dr. Hong Liu, Executive Director of the Midwest Asian Health Association (MAHA)”.

MAHA has set up a dedicated account for this fundraising. 100% of the proceeds will be used to purchase medical supplies that will be donated to the local medical facilities in Chicagoland.

You can select any of the following methods to make your donations. All donations should indicate: Anti-COVID-19 in US.

· ZELLE: Name: MAHA,  Email: [email protected]

· PayPal with Credit Card donation: www.maha-us.org.

· GoFundMe gf.me/u/xsf38v

· Physical checks: payable to MAHA. Please mail it to: Midwest Asian Health Association (MAHA), 230 W. Cermak Rd, 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60616.

The Midwest American Health Association is a non-profit 501©3 organization. All donations are tax deductible.

Co-Sponsors:

Midwest American Health Association, American Fujian Chamber of Commerce, Chicago North Shore Chinese Center, Global Friendship Exchange Foundation, ADI Medical, Inc., Greater Chicago Chinese Women's Chamber of Commerce, Xilin Association, Beijing Normal University Alumni Association, Guangzhou Association, and Happy and Healthy Group.

If your organization wishes to join us, we will add you to our list. Please contact Dr. Hong Liu at [email protected].

Thank you for your support!

The Midwest Asian Health Association (MAHA) has an internship for a part-time or full-time intern / volunteer for the McKinley Park Underage Drinking and Other Substance (McKUDOS) Prevention Coalition to begin immediately.

Coalition’s Goal: McK-UDOS is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Drug Free Communities (DFC) Support Program. The coalition’s goal is to prevent and reduce alcohol and marijuana use among youth in Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood.

Typical Duties:

•  Assist in expanding, sustaining, and coordinating a multi-sector coalition in McKinley Park by reaching out to schools, churches and local community organizations.
• Attend meetings with social service agencies, law enforcement, schools, community-based organizations
• Write articles to promote coalition prevention efforts and activities to be published on Chicago Tribune’s Community Contributors page, local ethnic newspapers, social media channels.
• Manage social media channels, including Twitter and Facebook.
• Assist the coalition in planning prevention activities to meet the aims and objectives of the coalition.
• Assist in distributing campaign materials (posters, flyers, and brochures) to schools, parents, and community members at events and meetings
• Communicate /present Illinois Youth Survey (IYS) results and other data related to underage drinking and marijuana use in McKinley Park to public health officials, coalition members, local community leaders, school administrators and teachers, and parents
• Prepare briefs, reports, policy statements, presentations, and other materials as needed.
• Carry out project-related administrative responsibilities and perform other duties as required.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Education: Must be enrolled in university at undergraduate or graduate level, studying public health, journalism, communications, marketing, global health, education, social work or other equivalent equivalent field preferred. Or have a Bachelor’s degree in the above mentioned studies.

Experience and Qualifications:

• Experience in journalistic writing and social media.
• Knowledge and professional experience in substance abuse or related fields preferred.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills, comfortable with public speaking and presentations.
• Flexible working hours with the ability to work independently.
• Demonstrated ability to handle multiple tasks.
• Demonstrated cultural competence and professionalism in the workplace.
• Experience with Latino and Asian community highly desirable
• Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin, speaker highly preferred

Salary Range: This is an unpaid position and can be paired with school credit.  If interested, please email a resume with a cover letter to:

Vernalynne De La Rosa
Program Coordinator
Midwest Asian Health Association (MAHA)
230 W. Cermak, 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60616
Tel: 312-225-8708
[email protected]
www.maha-us.org