Community Partner Spotlight: West Side United

Mission

West Side United (WSU) is a community-healthcare collaborative committed to eliminating the 14-year life expectancy gap between community members in ten primarily Black and Brown neighborhoods on Chicago’s West Side and our neighbors in more affluent neighborhoods throughout the city by addressing social determinants of health, like economic vitality, education, and investments in the places where residents live and work.

CEO/President

Ayesha Jaco, a lifelong resident of Chicago’s West Side, has dedicated her career to improving the health and economic vitality of the community she grew up in. As executive director of West Side United (WSU), she leads programs and partnerships to leverage the collective economic and social power of six local hospitals, along with collaboration from community organizations, faith-based institutions, and government agencies to forge a path toward a healthier, more equitable West Side.

Services Offered

As a trusted liaison and convener, WSU catalyzes collaboration and resource-sharing among our local hospital partners and community, cultivating a spirit of unity and shared purpose that goes beyond the mission of individual institutions. We use an innovative approach, combining the resources of the large, place-based, established hospital anchors, along with community engagement, robust partnerships, and strategic grantmaking to improve health on Chicago’s West Side. Our work is deeply rooted in our pursuit of racial equity and justice to counteract decades of disinvestment and inequality that primarily impact Black and Brown communities.

Current Projects

WSU has developed an annual small business grant program that provides promising West Side entrepreneurs with capital through $10,000 grants, coaching, and connections. In partnership with Lurie Children’s Hospital, WSU recently launched the West Side Healthy Parents and Babies program, which aims to address the urgent need for support for Black mothers and infants on the West Side by providing expectant and new parents free support from pregnancy to the first year postpartum.

Organizational impact to the community

WSU’s small business grant program has awarded $2.5M to support the development of more than 175 West Side businesses since 2018. Additionally, WSU’s efforts have led to 6,662 West Side hires and over $220M in spending with local vendors through its anchor mission partners. WSU has convened partners to drive $16.3M in cumulative impact investments since 2018.

Funding Sources

WSU was founded and is funded by a coalition of hospital partners on Chicago’s West Side— Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Ascension, Cook County Health, Rush University Medical Center, Sinai Health System, and the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System—as well as public and private grants.

This spotlight is part of the Healthy City Collaborative, a program within the UIC Office of Community Engagement And Neighborhood Health Partnerships.

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