FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 14, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT:
RoiAnn Phillips, Managing Director of Communications
roiann.phillips@phimc.org / tel. (312) 929-3781
Illinois: All in for Public Health
Why? Because Collaboration is Key.
CHICAGO – Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago (PHIMC) will celebrate 100+ community partnerships and powerful innovation advancing health justice and strengthening public health in Illinois by hosting a Fall Reception: All in for Public Health on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, from 6:00 until 8:00 pm at the American Writers Museum (AWM).
For more than 30 years, PHIMC has worked across the city, state, and nation to ensure that people in need have access to the care and services they deserve. PHIMC partners include nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, cross-sector government agencies, and other institutions working to bridge gaps, leverage resources, and address oppressive policies that hurt people. As a convener and facilitator of collaborations, PHIMC works with organizations serving individuals living in communities marginalized by a long history of oppression. The organization’s efforts improve access to education, health, and social services that affirm and support LGBTQ+ youth, people struggling with substance use disorders, justice-impacted individuals, people living with or at risk for chronic disease, individuals across Illinois who seek gender-affirming care, and others facing systemic discrimination.
Guests at PHIMC’s Fall Reception will enjoy live storytelling, delicious snacks, brain-teasing trivia, drinks, writing prompts with historic manual typewriters, music, and a choose-your-own-adventure raffle alongside their peers, public health leaders and advocates making waves and calling for health justice in these challenging times. The brief program, which begins at 7 o’clock, will feature two stories written and performed by Motivational Speaker and Author Derrick Loyd. One is a story of forgiveness, healing, and grace, and the other is a reflection on the beauty and simplicity of connection, even in hardship.
“2025 has been a tough year for public health given the changing federal priorities and funding landscape,” said Karen A. Reitan, PHIMC President and CEO, “PHIMC is more committed than ever to strategizing with policymakers and community partners to reduce harm, stem the spread of disease, dismantle stigma, eliminate racism, and strengthen communities. On November 18, we will gather and raise a toast to all who share our enduring vision for health justice.”
PHIMC Board President Casey Horton adds, “PHIMC’s staff, board, partners, and supporters remain deeply committed to making the world a better place. They listen closely, trusting people to know what they need, and design programs that place those most impacted at the heart of their work.”
PHIMC remains committed to deconstructing racist systems, preventing trauma, addressing the root causes of poor health, and ensuring its team is collectively moving the needle to achieve health equity and find the way to justice.
PHIMC’s 2025 Fall Reception: All in for Public Health is sponsored by Epsilon Life Sciences, Quatrro Business Support Services, Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors, Network It Easy, Rudd Resources, and S. Wolf & Associates.
Photos available upon request.
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Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago (PHIMC) advances health justice and strengthens public health through innovation and partnerships that align people, strategies, and resources. Through organizational development, systems transformation, fiscal management, and program implementation, PHIMC leads efforts to ensure systems are compassionate, affirming, and racially equitable, supporting health and well‐being for all people.
