Our Chicago: Town hall honors Native American Heritage Month
Moderated by ABC7's Roz Varon
CHICAGO (WLS) -- ABC 7, Chicago's No. 1 station for news, presented a virtual town hall celebrating Native American Heritage Month and raising awareness of the important issues affecting this community. ABC 7 Chicago's Roz Varon moderated "OUR CHICAGO: Voices of the Community," available on abc7chicago.com Thursday, Nov. 18, at 2:00 p.m.
According to the American Indian Center website, "Chicago is the third-largest urban Native American population in the country with over one-hundred tribal nations represented." It goes on to add that because 75% of Native people are now living off-reservation and in urban settings, there has been a population shift. One of the results has been a diverse multitribal community that needs common social and cultural places to gather.
During this week's town hall, "OUR CHICAGO: Voices of the Community," Roz Varon led an informative discussion with several leaders of Chicago's Native American community. These leaders represent social services, education and business with unique insights into the serious problems and obstacles Native Americans face when it comes to unemployment, housing insecurity, overcrowding and one of the lowest high school graduation rates among ethnic groups and the lack of resources contributing to these issues. Questions of tribal enrollment and what it means relative to self-identification, as well as the recent efforts to raise awareness of missing, exploited and murdered indigenous women and girls were also included in the discussion.
Our guests provided information on various available resources for Native Americans in Chicago and the organizations providing them. Finally, Roz asked guests to share details on some of the enriching cultural celebrations taking place in Chicago and throughout Illinois.
This week's panelists included:
-RoxAnne M. LaVallie-Unabia, American Indian Health Service of Chicago
-Andrew Johnson, Native American Chamber of Commerce - Illinois
-Lisa Bernal, Chicago Public Schools American Indian Education Program
-Melodi Serna, American Indian Center Chicago
-Shelly J. Tucciarelli, Visionary Ventures NFP Corporation
The virtual town hall was also exclusively streamed live on ABC 7's Facebook Live, YouTube, ABC 7's app, and ABC 7's connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Roku.
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About ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago
ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago is the No. 1 local news source and most-watched television station in Chicago. With top-rated daily newscasts spanning decades and the largest social media presence in the market with more than 2.3 million Facebook followers, ABC7 Eyewitness News provides breaking news, investigative reporting, weather, politics, traffic and sports in the multiplatform space to Chicago, the suburbs and northwest Indiana. Named Best News Operation by the Associated Press for four consecutive years, the station produces 41 hours of local news weekly and Chicago's only local weekday entertainment talk show, "Windy City LIVE," as well as its highest-rated New Year's Eve special. ABC7's award-winning programs such as "Heart and Soul," "The Ñ Beat" and "Asian Influences" showcase the city's diversity, while being the only Chicago station producing and broadcasting parades representing Chicago's rich cultural history. In addition to producing town halls focused on current social issues, the station has a long and proud tradition of broadcasting political candidate debates keeping Chicago's electorate informed. ABC7's outreach efforts include annual partnerships with the Red Cross for life-saving blood drives and, most recently, spearheading an effort to raise more than $1.5 million for area food pantries.
