Public Health

North River Commission staff values the importance of community voice and community involvement in the improvement and development of Albany Park and neighboring areas. North River Commission engaged Albany Park residents and used community intelligence to prioritize and work toward neighborhood needs. For this Healthy Chicago Equity Zones work, we focused on collecting qualitative data to understand the health challenges of the residents in Albany Park that existing data does not capture. Our survey captured demographics, and we developed focus groups to help us better understand health inequities related to housing, neighborhood planning, health and human services, food access, public safety, and environment. We were also able to hear directly from community members on what they believed were the most critical health issues, with the majority of the participating stakeholders identifying housing and public safety having the highest impact on their health and well-being.