Today we celebrate the legendary civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the many women who also played integral roles in the fight against racial, economic and gender inequalities in America. From lunch counter sit-ins to nonviolent marches, those...
Description
Motivation
ARISE supports communities to build a strategy to:
Improve the mental, physical, social and spiritual health and well-being of communities experiencing equity gaps in the context of COVID-19.
Address underlying vital community conditions, such as access to meaningful work and wealth, humane housing, and reliable transportation, that perpetuate health inequities.
Address root causes of health inequities, such as racism and an inequitable economy.
Building civic capacity and infrastructure for long-term systemic change.
Who Came Together?
WE in the World convened a partnership of 18 organizations across the state of Illinois who brought deep relationships and lived experience with communities experiencing inequities to bend the trend toward well-being and justice. Heluna Health stepped forward to act as the fiscal sponsor for the effort.
Together, we bent a $3.7 million pipeline of state funding toward communities experiencing inequities and created a response that created jobs and met people’s need for food, health and well-being. Together, we’re investing in building civic capacity to change the system so that these communities do not remain vulnerable to future pandemics.

The Role of WE in the World
What Is Changing?
Metrics
How We Are Doing It
Approach & Building Blocks
Key Insights
Key Insight
Key Insight
Key Insight
Key Insight
“Public health has a distinct role in walking alongside our communities to tackle and address the root causes of health inequity, While these inequities have been brought into stark contrast by the impacts of COVID-19 on our communities, we know that there are solutions that can be applied. The heart of this project is to uplift local voices and develop local solutions in a way that will provide sustainable improvements to health and well-being for our Illinois communities.”
— Dr. Amaal Tokars