Case Studies
Strategic Planning
WSS supported ACCESS Community Health Network (a federally-qualified network of community health centers) in the development of their strategic plan to guide health care delivery, health system engagement and advocacy for key health care policies in support of residents in the communities ACCESS serves.
Policy Research and Systems Change
WSS partnered with public health advocacy groups and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) to convene a group of service providers and community-based organizations to form a Systems Change Collaborative to improve the health of people experiencing homelessness. The Systems Change Collaborative is an initiative within Healthy Chicago 2025, Chicago’s five-year community health improvement plan, and part of efforts to build ongoing systems to advance racial equity in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the following report, the Systems Change Collaborative identified 16 key recommendations to support health, equity, and well-being for people experiencing homelessness in Chicago.
Nonprofit Change Management
In June 2020, Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy delivered a presentation on the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting impact on Black communities in Illinois, which attracted over 500 registrants, signaling the importance of recognizing that such information and analysis, in particular from a Black perspective, is not easily accessible to those who want and need it to advocate for racial equity, justice, and systems change. To address this challenge, the partners engaged WSS to conduct a landscape analysis to determine whether and how to structure a contemporary advocacy organization that pursues racial equity, justice, and systemic change for Black people in Illinois.