NCO Joins Community Health Focus Hour on Mental Health, Violence and Trauma Prevention
Our Executive Director, Sonia Wang, joined community leaders on WVON 1690 AM for the Community Health Focus Hour. The episode, “Part I: Mental Health: Violence and Trauma Prevention,” aired live on Saturday, May 30 at 1 PM CST, presented with the Urban Health Initiative.
We were proud to bring New Community Outreach’s voice to a conversation that matters deeply to the families and neighbors we serve.
A Conversation Among Community Leaders
The hour was hosted by Dr. Franklin Cosey-Gay, PhD, MPH, Executive Director of Community & External Affairs at UChicago Medicine. Sonia shared the mic with leaders who work every day to prevent violence and help people heal from trauma:
- Dwayne Johnson, LCSW, MSW, Director of the Violence Recovery Program at UChicago Medicine
- Maggie Baczkowski, Founding Executive Director of Strides for Peace
- Anthony D. Douglas, MD, UChicago Medicine
- Sonia Wang, Executive Director of New Community Outreach
Together, they talked about mental health, violence and trauma prevention, and the role community organizations play alongside health care partners.
Why This Matters to Us
At New Community Outreach, we envision a Bronzeville where youth and neighbors meet trauma with restorative justice, renewing our relationships with ourselves, each other and the places we share. Through restorative justice programs, support for our young people and partnerships across the South Side, we create welcoming spaces where healing can take root and our whole community can flourish.
No single organization can do this work alone. Conversations like this one help connect neighbors to support and remind us how much stronger we are when community groups, health systems and local leaders work together.
No single organization can do this work alone. Conversations like this one help connect neighbors to support and remind us how much stronger we are when community groups, health systems and local leaders work together.
Thank you
Thank you to Dr. Cosey-Gay, WVON 1690, the Urban Health Initiative and our fellow panelists for the invitation and the important conversation. This was Part I of the series, and we look forward to listening along to the rest of the dialogue.
The Community Health Focus Hour airs on WVON 1690 AM and streams on the iHeart Media app and iHeart.com.
