Full Text of HR0435 101st General Assembly
HR0435 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Austin community is the second-largest | 3 | | community by population and the second-largest community | 4 | | geographically in Chicago; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The Austin community is 83 percent African | 6 | | American, with the other 17 percent spread between the | 7 | | Hispanic, White, and other ethnic groups; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, The Austin community has produced a number of | 9 | | high-profile individuals, including public officials, actors, | 10 | | professional athletes, and successful business leaders but is | 11 | | mostly recognized as a community plagued with poverty and the | 12 | | Nation's highest death rates due to chronic diseases, senseless | 13 | | violence, and drugs; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, According to the Chicago Health Atlas, the Austin | 15 | | community has the highest death rates associated with chronic | 16 | | illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes; the | 17 | | average life expectancy of residents on the West Side of | 18 | | Chicago is only 68.2 years of life; individuals just seven | 19 | | miles East on I-290 live to be approximately 88 years old; the | 20 | | community has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the | 21 | | city at 10.5 percent compared to Chicago's overall rate of 7.9 | 22 | | percent; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Nearly half of all homicides reported in 2017 in | 2 | | Chicago occurred in the Austin community; last year, 530 | 3 | | murders were reported in Chicago; approximately 48.7 percent of | 4 | | those were from the Austin community; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The Austin community is also at the center of the | 6 | | opioid epidemic; the 2017 Chicago Annual Opioid Surveillance | 7 | | Report by the Chicago Department of Public Health lists the | 8 | | Austin neighborhood as the most impacted community in the | 9 | | Chicago area for opioid-related overdose deaths and the most | 10 | | impacted area for EMS responses; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Chronic diseases, homicide, and the opioid crisis | 12 | | are serious public health issues that require immediate | 13 | | attention; therefore, be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 15 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 16 | | we commend every endeavor to address the critical issues | 17 | | plaguing the Austin community, especially the Loretto Hospital | 18 | | for their public health approach to violence, which sees | 19 | | violence as preventable and not just inevitable.
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