
Illinois Is First in the Nation to Extend Health Coverage to Undocumented Seniors
As the pandemic hits Latino communities especially hard, Illinois is expanding public health insurance to all low-income noncitizen seniors. Advocates hope other states follow its lead.

Illinois, primer estado en ofrecer cobertura médica a adultos mayores indocumentados
Se espera que la normativa cubra inicialmente de 4,200 a 4,600 inmigrantes mayores. Defensores esperan que Illinois inspire a otros estados.

Homeless Shelters Grapple With COVID Safety as Cold Creeps In
During the pandemic, shelters are having to change the way they do things to prevent the virus from spreading among the vulnerable homeless population. Now, as winter weather moves in, there’s less room at the shelters for those in need — threatening to leave many, literally, out in the cold.

New Moms Behind Bars Get Help From Someone Who’s Been There
Nina Porter of Indiana spent most of her adulthood behind bars, even raising an infant daughter in prison. Now out of prison, she’s drawing on her struggles to create a program that helps other moms get by in a sometimes unwelcoming post-prison world.

Coronavirus Crisis Disrupts Treatment For Another Epidemic: Addiction
The coronavirus has forced drug rehabilitation centers to scale back operations or temporarily close, leaving people who have another potentially deadly disease — addiction — with fewer opportunities for help.

Despite Pandemic, Trauma Centers See No End To ‘The Visible Virus Of Violence’
A steady stream of gunshot victims continues to flow into a trauma center on Chicago’s South Side and many other metropolitan trauma centers. This puts a strain on hospitals already busy fighting COVID-19.

Conservative Indiana Adopted Needle Exchanges But Still Faces Local Resistance
Indiana was ground zero for shifting ideas about needle exchanges after a small town had an HIV outbreak in 2015 brought on by needle-sharing. But even as other parts of the country start to embrace needle exchanges amid the ongoing opioid epidemic, the sites remain controversial in Indiana. Only nine of the state’s 92 counties have them, after a series of closures and reopenings.