The Story Behind the Map: How Evanston, IL Uses Data to Drive Community Health Action, Part 2
Evanston, ILBy Annie Robinson
Part 2: Data-Driven Community Action
Learn more about how Evanston uses data to drive change in Part I: A Data-Informed Health Department.
Health data not only describes a community's reality; they can validate residents' lived experience, help foster trust and partnerships, and inspire what's possible. Spearheaded by Community Health Specialist Kristin Meyer over the last five years, the city of Evanston has centralized health data so that city government, community-based organizations, and residents can work together to advance health equity.
While developing Evanston’s 2022 EPLAN – a city-wide community health report published by the health department every five years – the Evanston Health Department formed a close partnership with Evanston Cradle to Career, the community’s local collective impact coalition dedicated to creating a more fair and equitable community for all Evanston children and families. Comprised of over 50 member organizations including Headstart, social service agencies, youth nonprofits, higher education, federally qualified health centers, the school system, and city government, Cradle to Career aimed to improve resident wellbeing but hadn't yet fully harnessed data as a tool to inform their work. But Dashboard data quickly galvanized action: “Children in poverty were some of the most motivating data points to show – in a lot of Evanston, children in poverty were nonexistent. Then, in census tract 8092, 1 in 4 children live in poverty. That's something folks felt very interested in mobilizing around."
Armed with reliable, neighborhood-specific data, Evanston Cradle to Career developed a plan to host "Data Walks". Developed by the Urban Institute and adapted by Meyer for Evanston, data walks are interactive gallery events in which large-scale data visualizations on posters or banners are viewed by community members. In doing so, communities can collectively identify local needs to initiate steps towards change.
The coalition invited local stakeholders to examine enlarged City Health Dashboard maps of Evanston neighborhoods. Participants were invited to walk through the community space on their own, then the group gathered to view the maps together, starting with census tract 8092. The data show this neighborhood – also known as the Fifth Ward, a majority Black community – as being disproportionately impacted by health and economic hardship among the census tracts in Evanston.
The group worked together to construct a deep understanding of what the data were really saying - the why behind the data - then brainstormed what could be done about it. Meyer emphasizes how vital it is to engage community members when addressing local health-related issues: "Community members are the experts on their own lives, and on the solutions to the problems that they’re witnessing and experiencing in their own neighborhoods. A data walk creates an opportunity for the community to co-create a narrative about patterns seen, and most critically invites the community to help decide what should be done to address the inequities and disparities seen in the maps.”
Credit: Gina Castro, Evanston RoundTable
Meyer co-presented the data with Pastor Monté Dillard, a trusted faith leader from a church in Evanston's Fifth Ward who she said "lived, worked, prayed in the Fifth Ward; he was our ambassador giving lived experience and perspective." Meyer guided participants through the graphs, maps, and numbers, then the pastor offered his impression of what the data were saying to initiate group conversation and meaning-making:
"It can be very depressing to look at the maps. We see life expectancy is the lowest in our neighborhood, and that across the street it's 13 years higher. There's nothing inherently different about the people who live here versus there…so what's happening here? What resources need to cross the street to be present in our community in the Fifth Ward?"
Meyer recounts how the pastor "really wanted to drive home that there is no inevitability in these data. There is hope in numbers, because it is possible to live in Evanston and have a long life expectancy. We have the resources that we need in this city. If it’s possible in one neighborhood, then it should be possible in census tract 8092 as well."
The partnership between the Evanston Health Department and Evanston Cradle to Career demonstrates what’s possible when municipalities work side by side with trusted community partners to put data in the hands of residents, and listen to the community’s expertise in interpreting data and advancing solutions to change it. Kim Holmes Ross, Executive Director of Evanston Cradle to Career, explains: “When we combine trusted data with the lived experiences of our residents, we can turn information into action–identifying needs, bringing resources together, and creating healthier futures for every Evanston neighborhood.”
Credit: Gina Castro, Evanston RoundTable
Credit: Evanston Community Fridges
Evanston’s health equity advocates continue to utilize data to address health disparities. Access to local data has empowered Evanston community groups, like Evanston Community Fridges, to make data-driven decisions. Evanston Community Fridges is a mutual aid network run by community members who have leveraged Evanston's Dashboard data to identify census tracts where residents experience the most food insecurity and poverty. Guided by these data, the grassroots organization is working to expand their community fridge operation, adding an additional community fridge in the Fifth Ward.
By combining trusted local data with the lived experiences of residents, Evanston is transforming data into community-driven solutions. The city's ongoing efforts demonstrate how data can be a powerful tool for collaboration, helping neighborhoods identify needs, mobilize resources, and create healthier futures for everyone – regardless of where you live.