WATCH: Pilsen activist uses fitness, political education to combat life expectancy gap
By Chantel Ropp Medill Reports According to an analysis of the largest 500 U.S. cities by NYU School of Medicine, Chicago is the city with the largest life expectancy gap amongst low income and affluent communities in the country. One nonprofit organization in the Pilsen neighborhood is tackling these inequities through fitness, political education and […]
Young female soccer journalists chase dreams through Football for Friendship program
By Drake Hills Medill Reports MADRID — More than 14 million people in the United States watched this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup final in France, beating the total for the men’s World Cup final one year ago and the previous Women’s World Cup title match in 2015. As the growth of country participants and […]
Recovery Behind Bars: Cook County Jail’s Opioid Treatment Program
By Paige Tortorelli Medill Reports Every year, 5,000 detainees in Chicago’s Cook County Jail are treated for an opioid addiction. With such a large portion of its population using opioids, effective treatment has been a priority for this jail. Much debate has arisen in the past few years about medical-assisted treatment in jail. In jails […]
Chicago boxing coach lifts female fighters to new heights, motivated by tragedy
By Chris Cadeau Medill Reports Israel Gonzalez is a decorated Chicago boxing coach. He fought “semi-professionally” until his career suddenly ended on Christmas day in 2003. Once Gonzalez got back on his feet, his journey as a coach began at Northeastern Illinois University, while pursuing an education. Today, Gonzalez is regarded as one of the […]
Chicago woman living her passion for eight decades
Loumay Alesali Medill Reports Doris Humphries, 93, has been dancing since childhood. She used to nail bottles caps to the soles of her shoes, so she can hear herself when she tried to do tap routines she saw in movies. “It is just something I love, and I get into it. I just feel the […]
Local blogger on healthy food in Chicago and beyond
Loumay Alesali Medill Reports From Havana to Athens to Lima and many more destinations around the world, Sapna the Chicago vegetarian traveler, blogger and Instagrammer delivers international journeys to people’s fingertips with one click, or swipe. She started her blog, vegetariantourist.com, six years ago to share her traveling experiences with people and help them find […]
Women in Southern Illinois must travel longer distances to abortion clinics
By Sofi LaLonde Medill Reports Women in southern Illinois are disadvantaged when seeking an abortion, according to data on distances to abortion clinics from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and policy group, published in early October. Residents in Illinois have more access to abortion than in other states in the Midwest region, both […]
Legendary Chicago bathhouse sees growth since welcoming women
By Hannah Levitt For those suffering in the arctic tundra that is a Chicago winter, Red Square Spa, a traditional Russian bathhouse located at 1914 W. Division St. in the Wicker Park neighborhood, is a spot to warm the body and the soul. The bathhouse, which has been in operation since 1906, has wet and […]
A way back home: Art as recovery for rape victims in Chicago
by Ritu Prasad At first, the photographs seem unremarkable—a pair of well-worn shoes, a flannel shirt, gray sweatpants. Floating on a black background, hung on a clean white wall, these 12 photographs show what 12 rape victims wore at the time of their assault. The series, titled “Well, What Were You Wearing?” by Katherine Cambareri, […]
FITpreneurs: Women Are Becoming Entrepreneurs Through Fitness
By Kathleen McAuliffe At 8:30 on a Tuesday morning, Dani Muckley is already teaching her second workout class of the morning at River North’s Studio Three. Though this spin class will last only 45 minutes, she spent two hours choreographing moves and planning the music, logging each workout onto a PDF to ensure she doesn’t […]
