Hope from the Front Lines

Juneteenth Productions
Hope from the Front Lines

Hope from the Front Lines peeks beyond the headlines finding stories of struggle, passion, and strength from essential caregivers of color doing the heavy lift - protecting Chicago’s most vulnerable during this COVID-19 pandemic. The series is produced by Juneteenth Productions with funding support from the McCormick Foundation.

  1. 12/07/2020

    "Surviving Covid" reported by Bia Medious

    Healthcare workers in homes face increased exposure risk to Covid-19, just like traditional front line workers. So why are employers using loopholes in the law to avoid paying some essential workers sick leave? The Families First Coronavirus Response Act covers pay, if you’re infected by COVID. For home healthcare workers, it’s only if they contract it from a client.  The issue is that home healthcare workers exposure risks extend far beyond their clients. If they’re doing the job properly, they’re exposed to their clients, other caregivers, their family members and friends, as well as nearly daily contact with the public at large as they handle their client’s daily affairs. In this episode, one home healthcare worker talks about how she was able to finally get paid after catching COVID-19 on the job. Reporter BIA MEDIOUS (she/her) is a native Chicagoan, journalist and audio producer. Passionate about storytelling, she commits to projects that challenge traditional narratives, seek justice, and encourage civic participation. Bia investigated alternative courts in Cook County while completing a civic reporting fellowship with City Bureau, a local media organization. She helped produce podcasts at USA Today, including “The City” which investigated the environmental injustice that remained after the FBI closed Operation Silver Shovel. She later joined the podcast team at WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR Station. There, Bia worked on a variety of narrative and news-based podcasts, earning three Peter Lisagor awards for her work on “South Side Stories,” a first ever partnership between public media and a cable network - Comedy Central. She's most proud of her byline is with the historic Chicago Defender. And she recently founded her own audio production company, BIA Media, at the start of a global pandemic.

    15 min
  2. 10/22/2020

    "Esperanza en Practica" reportado en Ariel Mejia

    Lakesia Collins es una CNA decidida a cambiar la narrativa. Trabajando en múltiples trabajos de cuidadora mientras criaba niños, tuvo que declararse en bancarrota porque su hogar de ancianos pagaba salarios de pobreza. Convirtiéndose en organizadora de la unión la empoderó para correr como representante estatal del noveno distrito de Illinois. Su plan no es solo conseguir que se aprueben los proyectos de ley, sino organizar su distrito alrededor de los problemas que ella comprende de primera mano: vivienda, levantar la prohibición del control de alquileres y vigilancia excesiva.  En este episodio, Esperanza en la práctica, ella explica cómo estos problemas se entrecruzan con cómo COVID-19 está afectando de manera desproporcionada a la clase trabajadora y a las personas de color, y por qué organizarse es la respuesta.   ARIEL MEJIA (ella) es nativa de Chicago que llegó al arte de audio y la producción de radio a través de la práctica feminista, la organización comunitaria y la educación en salud sexual. Su trabajo ha aparecido en el programa de la BBC Shortcuts de Falling Tree Productions, así como en Antibody, una serie de podcasts de The Dig de la revista Jacobin. Ariel también enseña narraciones en audio a adolescentes y aspira a convertirse en una experta bailarina de tap. Ella está más inspirada por la magia de la conexión humana, las posibilidades de transformación y el cambio de estaciones por sus sonidos y colores.

    19 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Hope from the Front Lines peeks beyond the headlines finding stories of struggle, passion, and strength from essential caregivers of color doing the heavy lift - protecting Chicago’s most vulnerable during this COVID-19 pandemic. The series is produced by Juneteenth Productions with funding support from the McCormick Foundation.

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