The mission of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) of the ChicAgo Center for Health and EnvironmenT (CACHET) is to engage local communities and stakeholders in an iterative process to identify and address environmental hazards of concern. To accomplish these goals a bidirectional Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Engagement strategy will be employed throughout the COEC and integrated with other Core/Center activities.
Specific Aims of the COEC are 1) to develop and support a Stakeholder Advisory Board (composed of community groups, healthcare providers, and political and institutional representatives) to assist in the overall direction of the COEC and the translation of findings into health promotion and public health policy, 2) to develop and maintain a Community Advisory Board to work with COEC and CACHET investigators on the identification of environmental hazards of concern, the integration with research programs and trans-disciplinary teams to address these concerns, and the dissemination of findings, 3) to create infrastructures within the academic and community institutions to facilitate the above aims, and 4) to serve as a community resources for the CACHET research teams and overall partnerships. Efforts will be focused on three areas on the South and West sides of Chicago underserved multiethnic communities where the COEC has ongoing collaborations (including Southeast Chicago, the Greater Lawndale, and Bridgeport/Chinatown). Community health workers will be hired, trained and supervised at the University of Illinois at Chicago and through a subcontract with the Southeast Environmental Task Force (SETF). Community capacity will be supported through a series of formal and informal educational programs, journal clubs, and discussions of community needs and research in progress. The long term goal of the COEC is to decrease environmental exposures and improve the public health of underserved populations in Chicago.
