Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti joined the West Side Heroin Task Force’s (WSHTF) Leader Rep. La Shawn K. Ford (8th), and The Loretto Hospital’s President and CEO George N. Miller, Jr., for a breakfast meeting on April 4th to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the 50th Anniversary of his assassination, and to fight for freedom from the heroin epidemic plaguing the West Side of Chicago. The event was held at The Loretto Hospital, 645 S. Central Ave., and included the narrative and collaboration of City of Chicago, State, and local health and human services department heads. The increasingly easy availability and lower street cost of heroin has led to an increase of heroin abuse and overdose not only in Chicago but in many parts of the country. But for years now, Chicago’s West Side, just off what’s known as the “heroin highway” — the I-290 Eisenhower Expressway, has been most affected as indicated in “Hidden in Plain Sight: Heroin’s Impact on Chicago’s West Side”, supporting research conducted by Roosevelt University, which examines heroin’s impact on Chicago’s West Side. A partnership between Rep. Ford, The Loretto Hospital, Roosevelt University, health care organizations, drug policy experts, drug crisis advocates, physicians, including former users, WSHTF was formed to determine the best strategies to reduce the health and criminal justice consequences of heroin use on Chicago’s West Side. The task force’s mission is to ensure that evidence-based care and health-centered services are delivered throughout West Side communities.