Healing Arts Summit

On Saturday, August 30, join CDPH for the 2025 Healing Arts Chicago Summit. This event celebrates the healing power of creative practices like visual art, movement, and music, which promote mental wellness and emotional healing.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Malcolm X College (1900 W Jackson Blvd), attendees can participate in over a dozen workshops, panels, performances, and wellness activities designed to foster connection, resilience, and community healing. Enjoy free breakfast and lunch, engage in movement and artmaking sessions, and connect with local leaders and organizations.

Register in advance on Eventbrite. For full details and the event schedule, visit Chicago.gov/HealingArts

Also, listen to the Healthy Chicago Podcast in Spanish, where we discuss the many benefits of joining the Healing Arts program and how this free resource can support your mental health and wellness.

Mpox Cases Increasing in Chicago

Chicago has seen a recent rise in mpox cases, with 40 new infections reported since June. While these numbers are nothing like the 2022 outbreak, the summer increase is a reminder that vigilance remains key to fighting mpox. With National Sexual Health Awareness Month coming up in September, CDPH encourages residents, especially those at higher risk, to use this opportunity to learn more, get vaccinated, and protect their health.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, spreads through close, personal contact, including sexual activity. Anyone can contract the virus, but it has primarily affected gay, bisexual, and same-gender-loving men, particularly those with multiple or anonymous partners. Symptoms can include a painful rash or sores, often accompanied by fever, chills, or swollen glands.

Vaccination provides the best protection against mpox and getting vaccinated is easy and accessible. CDPH Sexual Health Clinics in Lakeview, Austin, and Roseland all offer the mpox vaccine, as do many providers across the city. Residents can find detailed information about symptoms, testing, and prevention, as well as a citywide vaccination dashboard, at chicago.gov/mpox. Those without a doctor or insurance can call the HIV/STI Resource Hub at 844-482-4040 or visit hivhub.org for help finding care.

Overdose Awareness Day

As we approach International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, Chicago stands in both grief and action. Every life lost to overdose is one too many, and we are moving with urgency, innovation, and community to save lives.

At yesterday's Harm Reduction Fair in Uptown, CDPH and the 46th Ward launched four new Narcan newsstands, providing no-barrier access to naloxone for the community. The newsstands are live at four locations in Uptown: Nourishing Hope, Cornerstone Community Shelter, the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) Building, and DFSS. These stands are part of a broader effort to bring life-saving resources directly to the neighborhoods that need them most.

Chicago's opioid crisis has touched every one of our 77 community areas, with Black men disproportionately impacted. In 2023, nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths in the city were among non-Hispanic Black men. However, the work is showing progress: EMS overdose responses dropped 20% from 2023 to 2024, and are down another 24% in the first half of this year.

Narcan newsstands are just one piece of CDPH's harm reduction strategy. Naloxone is now available at over 80 public library branches and public health vending machines are stocked with fentanyl test strips, hygiene kits, and other essentials are up across the city. In all, each piece of care aims to make resources easier to access, where and when they are most needed.

For information on how to prevent overdose or get help, visit Overcome Opioids.

No Menthol Chicago Weekend

The No Menthol Chicago weekend made menthol cessation a focal topic through two key community events. On Friday, August 22, CDPH and delegate agencies hosted a Poetry Slam at the Kroc Center, where youth and adults dropped powerful spoken word pieces, exposing the harms of menthol tobacco and dreaming out loud about a tobacco-free future. The mic was hot and the message was clear: menthol's grip on our communities has got to go.

On Saturday, August 23, the No Menthol Chicago Funeral at Sheldon Heights Church of Christ gave space to grieve, reflect, and resist. A full memorial service honored lives lost to tobacco-related illness, while calling out the industry that's targeted Black and Brown communities for decades. It was a call to action, with resources, support, and a community ready to fight back.

Hosted by the CDPH and the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, alongside many community partners and organizations like Phalanx Family Services and the American Lung Association, these events were part of the No Menthol Chicago campaign, a bold movement declaring Chicago's commitment to smoking cessation.

For support and resources, visit CDPH Smoking Cessation Resources.

Healthy Chicago Podcast

It's Community Health Workers (CHWs) Awareness Week, and in the latest episode of our podcast, we highlight the vital role these workers play in supporting and strengthening our communities.

In the Spanish-language podcast, Evelyn Arias, a dedicated community health worker, joins us to share her personal journey, the insights she's gained, and what being close to her community means to her in this important role.

In the English-language podcast, Mario Scott, talks about the many roles CHWs take on: from administering Narcan and connecting residents with vital services to offering support and confidence with something as small as a fresh haircut. He highlights how CHWs bridge gaps in care and help advance health equity every day.

Listen or watch the newest episodes on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and the CDPH website.

CDPH Observes Labor Day

This coming Monday, September 1, is Labor Day across the United States. CDPH offices and clinics will be closed in observation of this federal holiday and annual celebration of America's workers and laborers. We express our gratitude to our incredible staff and all of Chicago's healthcare professionals, and wish all residents an enjoyable long weekend!

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