HR0435 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Austin community is the second-largest community by population and the second-largest community geographically in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, The Austin community is 83 percent African American, with the other 17 percent spread between the Hispanic, White, and other ethnic groups; and

WHEREAS, The Austin community has produced a number of high-profile individuals, including public officials, actors, professional athletes, and successful business leaders but is mostly recognized as a community plagued with poverty and the Nation's highest death rates due to chronic diseases, senseless violence, and drugs; and

WHEREAS, According to the Chicago Health Atlas, the Austin community has the highest death rates associated with chronic illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes; the average life expectancy of residents on the West Side of Chicago is only 68.2 years of life; individuals just seven miles East on I-290 live to be approximately 88 years old; the community has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the city at 10.5 percent compared to Chicago's overall rate of 7.9 percent; and

WHEREAS, Nearly half of all homicides reported in 2017 in Chicago occurred in the Austin community; last year, 530 murders were reported in Chicago; approximately 48.7 percent of those were from the Austin community; and

WHEREAS, The Austin community is also at the center of the opioid epidemic; the 2017 Chicago Annual Opioid Surveillance Report by the Chicago Department of Public Health lists the Austin neighborhood as the most impacted community in the Chicago area for opioid-related overdose deaths and the most impacted area for EMS responses; and

WHEREAS, Chronic diseases, homicide, and the opioid crisis are serious public health issues that require immediate attention; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commend every endeavor to address the critical issues plaguing the Austin community, especially the Loretto Hospital for their public health approach to violence, which sees violence as preventable and not just inevitable.