Cicero, a suburb west of Chicago, is one of four winners of the 2018 RWJF Culture of Health Prize awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Prize honors communities for its unwavering efforts to ensure all residents have the opportunity to live healthier lives. Cicero is being nationally recognized for pursuing innovative ideas and bringing partners together to rally around a shared vision of health. Chosen from nearly 200 applicant communities across the country, Cicero’s award-winning efforts are community led and include, mental health counseling and trainings to help generate trauma awareness and combat its negative effects, community members and organizations rallying to keep their school-based health clinic open, and parents joining forces to prevent violence on school routes. Cicero will receive a $25,000 prize, join a network of Prize-winning communities, and have its inspiring accomplishments shared throughout the nation. To become an RWJF Culture of Health Prize winner, Cicero had to demonstrate how it excelled in the following six criteria:
• Defining health in the broadest possible terms.
• Committing to sustainable systems changes and policy-oriented long-term solutions.
• Creating conditions that give everyone a fair and just opportunity to reach their best possible health.
• Harnessing the collective power of leaders, partners, and community members.
• Securing and making the most of available resources.
• Measuring and sharing progress and results.
On Friday, September 21 at 9:15 a.m. the Cicero Community Collaborative will be hosting a celebration event at the Cicero Community Center. Community members are welcome to join in the festivities. Cicero will join this year’s other Prize-winning communities at the Culture of Health Prize Celebration and Learning Event at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey on October 9-11. Learn more about Cicero’s work, as well as this year’s other Prize winners through a collection of videos, photos, and more at www.rwjf.org/Prize.
