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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 2
Timothy Mitchell, superintendent and C.E.O. of the Chicago Park District, gives opening remarks at the Chicago Triumph event.
Panel demonstrating a back massage.
Matt Longjohn of CLOCC visits with an audience member at the conclusion of the event.
Tara Sidlowski discusses Common Threads work in the community.

Katie Basic of the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) tells of CFD initiatives to combat obesity in the department and the community.
Audience member checks his BMI on the BioMeasure machine at the Triumph event.

The superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District, Timothy Mitchell, opened the fifth event of the TRIUMPH series with his personal story of losing more than 300 pounds. He spoke to the audience about the importance of nutrition and physical activity. He said, “There are many ways to achieve a high level of physical fitness, but each of them begins simply with getting the body moving and taking that first step. When I became the superintendent of Chicago Park District 15 months ago, I decided that part of our core mission had to be to develop an active lifestyle for individuals. We had to also be good stewards of the environment and we had to be the premier provider of recreation throughout Chicago.”
ACFN Chair Susan Finn moderated the Chicago event. The panel included:

  • Rebecca Reeves, Dr. Ph, R.D., president, American Dietetic Association
  • Matt Longjohn, M.D., M.P.H., executive director, Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC)
  • Phil Haberstro, executive director, National Association of Health and Fitness
  • Colleen Lammel-Harmon, co-chair, Chicago Mayor’s Fitness Council
  • Lynne Galia, senior manager, global community involvement, Kraft Foods

Phil Haberstro said, “One of the things I hope – one of the ideas that you’ll take out of our session this morning is that each and every one of you is a leader. You have the capacity to create change, starting with yourself, but in your communities. Don’t get caught up in the old model again, of it’s got to be an elected person or it’s got to be the CEO. Yes, they have their place in our society, but so do each and every one of you. Each and every one of you can be a change agent.”

ACFN recognized community programs in Chicago that are putting forth efforts in the fight against obesity. The following individuals shared insight on how their programs are making a difference in the Chicago communities:

  • Tara Sidlowski is from Common Threads, which brings children together to learn, teach and embrace one another’s diversity and differences through food and arts.
  • Betsy Armstrong explained how Girls on the Run-Chicago (GOTR) uses the power of running to change the way girls see themselves and their opportunities.
  • Noelle Sojka of Girl Scouts of Chicago discussed a program titled Uniquely ME! Discovering the Real You, an initiative whose goal is to get 500 girls active, healthy and informed about healthy living and self-esteem.
  • Julia Germann of La Rabida Children’s Hospital has developed “Fit Matters” an intensive weight-control program that teaches families how to modify their home environments, activity patterns, as well as to improve goal setting and stress management skills. The program includes individual, group, family, outpatient and inpatient treatment.
  • Katie Basic is from Chicago Fire Department (CFD) Wellness Committee, a volunteer committee comprised of firefighters and paramedics charged with increasing health and fitness levels and overall wellness of department members.

Following the event, participant Betsy Armstrong from Girls on the Run said, “What I really enjoyed about the discussions was that there is representation from a variety of sources --the nonprofit world, the business world, the grant-making world, the medical community. I thought that was really great to have representation from all those different areas, and I think that would be something really great to see at upcoming TRIUMPH events.”



When asked what she thought was the most informative and educational part of the discussion, Beth Gutelius of Mayor Daley’s Safe Routes Ambassadors said, “I particularly liked Matt Longjohn’s talking about how to sort of integrate different services, and really taking a holistic approach to health and fitness and coordinating between community groups and corporations and everyone really having to work together to address the issues at many different levels.”

Fred Jones from Eneregia Wellness said, “The most important thing was the concept that everyone had about getting people excited and energetic about nutrition and fitness, and some of the concepts that they were bringing to the table. The most important thing I’m going to bring back is hope that there are people out there like myself who are actually very serious, very interested in creating an atmosphere for people to get back into shape and fight obesity.”