I am honored to announce that Chicago Health and three contributors have taken home first place awards in the Illinois Women’s Press Association’s 2018 Mate E. Palmer Contest. Katie Scarlett Brandt won first place under “Feature story – Magazine, newsletter, or other non-newspaper print publication” for her story “Finding Hope in a Hopeless Place”, a story on how the homeless in Chicago access healthcare. Laura Mueller won first place under “Specialty articles – Physical health, fitness, mental health, self-help” for her stories on the “Cancer Moonshot” and innovations in cardiac care. And Erin Sullivan won first place in “Page design – Magazine, newsletter, or other non-newspaper publication” for her design spread accompanying the “Finding Hope in a Hopeless Place” feature.
Katie Brandt and Laura Mueller have been writing for Chicago Health since 2014, during which time they has crafted memorable stories including “Healing Society’s Soul” an exploration of gun violence as a public health epidemic and “A Nation in Crisis: Understanding the U.S. Obesity Epidemic”. Erin Sullivan has been designing for Northwest Publishing’s magazines and custom division since 2001 and has been responsible for its overall stellar design and look. These awards follow the 2017 announcements from The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) 2016 Writing Awards and the 2017 Peter Lisagor Awards from the Chicago Headline Club which awarded Chicago Health writer Kate Silver for her story “Needles in the Cornfields” about the rise of heroin deaths and the fall of state-funded treatment in Illinois. In 2016 Kate took an in-depth look into the alarming heroin crisis in Illinois, including its devastating effects on young people and the struggle to find—and fund—treatment. The piece was one of only a handful recognized by ASJA alongside articles from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired and others.
