What is the FIMR Community Action? Team
The FIMR Community Action Team develops an action plan based on case recommendations and implements the actions. The overall goal of the action plan should be to improve the health and wellbeing of women, infants, and families in your community by improving the resources and services systems available to them.
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Every year FIMR releases new recommendations based on what was learned from families’ stories and it is up to the Community Action Team to turn them into meaningful action. This can be done by redefining already available supports, creating new supports or advocating for policy changes. Below you can find out a little more about the current focuses FIMR is taking on.
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Current Focus
Community Focused Peer Support Groups
Developing Peer Led Virtual Pregnancy Support Groups focused on communities of high need in Chicago. Helping bring together neighbors to create a network of support.
Transportation
Working on health education effort surrounding Managed Healthcare benefits as well as exploring ways of making mass transit more accessible for birthing individuals and families.
Implicit Bias
Developing community focused townhalls on the topic of implicit bias as a means of developing strategies for community education and empowerment.
How is this work done?
The FIMR Community Action Team currently has three independent workgroups taking on these recommendations while also helping support our partners with their health equity/community improvement efforts. The FIMR CAT is a collaborative that hopes to create opportunities that live and breathe in the communities that need them the most.
Developed Actions
You can find in this section the resources, supports and activities being developed and carried out by the FIMR Community Action team
Transportation
Illinois MCO (Medicaid) Transportation Consumer Benefits Toolkit
Transportation Medicaid benefits in Illinois cover more than just visit for healthcare. FIMR in partnership with IAMHP have developed a toolkit, brochure and one-pagers (specific to each MCO plan) to give consumers an easier way of accessing this benefit.
Guía De Beneficios De Transporte Para Miembros De Seguros De Salud MCO (Medicaid) De Illinois
Los beneficios de Transporte de Medicaid en Illinois cubren más que solo visitas para atención médica. FIMR en asociación con IAMHP ha desarrollado un conjunto una guía, folleto y páginas individuales (específicas para cada plan MCO) para brindar a los consumidores una forma más fácil de acceder a este beneficio.
Peer Support Groups
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We collaborated with community partners and community members to create a project that aims to provide a space for pregnant and recently postpartum people (up to around 4 months) to support one another. This will be a space to talk about the good, bad, hard, and happy moments of pregnancy and early parenting journeys with others on the same path. Where participants can ask questions, learn something new, get connected with resources, and find support and friendship from peers!
This is not your standard childbirth education group or class led by a professional, this is a group guided by peers from the community that allows its participants to lead the direction of the conversation. This project was created in part from the FIMR recommendations coming from the review of stories of families who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss in the city of Chicago.
If you or someone you know is currently pregnant or recently postpartum, please share the following interest form with them or have them email FIMR@bsd.uchicago.edu for more information.
Link to Interest Form: https://bit.ly/peermeet
Call for Peer Support Leaders
We are currently looking for Volunteer Peer Support Group Leaders to help facilitate our community focused pregnancy and parenting peer support groups in the city of Chicago. Please send us an email at fimr@bsd.uchicago.edu if you are interested in more information.
Implicit Bias
The FIMR Community Action Team invites you to our upcoming event focused on continuing our community conversation on Implicit Bias scheduled for April 22, 2024 (12:30pm to 01:30PM).
Implicit bias affects us all in so many parts of our daily lives and sometimes it can have a real negative impact. It’s when we come together as a community to talk about it when real action can happen. We want to help create a safe environment where we can all come together, creating solutions that will help everyone’s quality of life.
Event details below and register to attend!
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Quarterly FIMR Community Action Team Meetings
The FIMR Community Action Team holds quarterly meetings via zoom open to the community where we we share resources, get the community updated on the progress of the FIMR study and open it up to comments, questions and suggestions. Please join us at one of our upcoming meetings or reach out to us to gain access to our previous recorded meetings.
Join The FIMR Community Action Team
To join the group or if you have questions please complete the contact form