■ Rep. LaShawn Ford pushes ahead with harm reduction efforts PAGE 3
FREE Vol. 38 No. 17
April 24, 2024 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Kangaroos in Illinois? ll page 10
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West Side organizations launch resource program for parents, babies
The announcement came during Black Maternal Health Week By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
At age 15, Aisha Oliver visited the emergency room to remove an ovarian cyst and, after the procedure, was told she’d be unable to conceive. But Oliver, an Austin Weekly News columnist and community engagement specialist for Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, became pregnant with her son her junior year at Columbia College Chicago. “There was a lot of fear. Immediately, my body went into shock,” Oliver said. It wasn’t just the shock of an unexpected pregnancy. It was the shock of whether she and her baby would survive, since Black women have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the United States. That’s why West Side United — a collaborative made up of six West Side hospitals to improve health in nearby neighborhoods — Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the Chicago Westside Branch of the NAACP launched the West Side Healthy Parents & Babies program April
COURTESY OF GARFIELD PARK LITTLE LEAGUE
More than 500 girls and boys have played in the Garfield Park Little League since 2008.
Garfield Park Little League steps up to plate for 17th season Garfield Park Little League teaches baseball and responsi‘I realized the second day of our program bility to both young fanatics and those new to the sport. League cofounders Frank Brim and Jerry Mack started the we needed a lot more than just baseball,’ Garfield Park Little League in 2008 after they noticed a lack of baseball teams in the area. It’s the only sanctioned little says co-founder Frank Brim league from Austin Boulevard to Kedzie Avenue, Brim said.
See MATERNAL HEALTH on page 8
By JESSICA MORDACQ
“It’s not the sport of choice on the West Side of Chicago.
Staff Reporter
See LITTLE LEAGUE on page 6
West Side
2024
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