By Noe Gonzalez and Armaan Hussaini
@redlineproject
Public Housing located in the Altgeld Gardens, located on Chicago’s South Side, and
one of the neighborhoods included in the Riverdale Community Area. (Photo/Noe Gonzalez)
Poverty is nothing new to Chicago neighborhoods. Thepoorest neighborhoods in Chicago are very disproportionate to the majority of the city’s 77 community areas.
But one neighborhood suffers from economic hardship more than any other — Riverdale.
Riverdale on the city’s far South Side is the city’s 54th community area and is home to 7,229 residents according to 2020 census data.
It encompasses the neighborhoods of Altgeld Gardens and Golden Gate. The Riverdale community area suffers from extreme economic hardship, according to the Illinois Policy. Riverdale residents were suffering from poverty at a rate of 51 percent in 2021, meaning one in two residents is below the federal poverty line. This was higher than any of the other 77 neighborhoods recognized by the city of Chicago.
According to the Chicago Health Atlas, Riverdale has the highest Hardship Index of any of the 77 Chicago neighborhoods, with a score of 99.3.
Riverdale also has the lowest per capita income, approximately $14, 900. Riverdale also has the lowest median income of any at $16, 946.According to the Chicago Health Atlas, the Near North Side community area has a per capita income of $121,938, nearly eight times that of Riverdale. Lincoln Park’s median household income of $156, 896 is nine times that of Riverdale.
Residents in the area also struggle with finding job opportunities. According to the Chicago Health Atlas, approximately one in three Riverdale residents are unemployed, which is the highest rate out of the 77 Chicago community areas. The area also has one of the lowest college graduation rates, with 4.57 percent of residents being college graduates.
Neighborhoods and community areas being able to support children’s needs is important for children’s development. The Chicago Health Atlas defines the Child Opportunity Index 3.0 as “A composite index that captures neighborhood resources and conditions that matter for children’s healthy development, scored as Very Low (1–19), Low (20–39), Moderate (40–59), High (60–79), and Very High (80–100).” Riverdale scored a two, ranking it very low, and being one of the hardest areas for a child to grow up in.
Riverdale is also impacted by Environmental Injustice; the area is surrounded by landfills, industrial sites and polluted waterways. According to the People For Community Recovery, a local non-profit, the Top five chemicals released into the air of the Altgeld Gardens Neighborhood are Methanol, Zinc, Manganese, Ammonia and Nitric Acid.
All of these compounds can have negative effects and health risks when inhaled in high doses. The Riverdale community area also has one of the lowest perceived air quality rates according to the city’s Health Atlas. According to data collected by the Chicago Health Atlas, Riverdale residents have the highest asthma rate among adults at 15.53 percent.
People living in poverty can be prone to numerous different issues, according to USAFacts and data collected by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “ But the challenges of poverty go beyond paying for necessities. People living in poverty are more prone to mental and physical health issues — 19.4 percent report regular anxiety, and a range of studies indicate an increased risk for chronic disease.”
Kyla Quigley, an epidemiologist at the Cook County Department of Public Health, said, “as far as health goes, there’s a lot of research behind the impact of stress. Just living in constant stress on your health. There’s a lot of wear and tear that that has on your body that can, in addition to every single other thing that’s going on, that stress can really compound and make someone more likely to acquire an illness, be it a chronic disease or an infectious disease.”
Quigley added, “And what I know to be true with my own background of growing up with just a single dad and not having too much money, there’s also an impact in your willingness to seek care, so you might not grow up going to the doctor as often. It may seem like a risky or scary thing, and it might just be more stressful to even try and navigate a healthcare system when you don’t have that lived experience of knowing what to expect from a doctor’s appointment.”
According to the American Lung Association, people in poverty are among the top 11 communities affected by Cigarette Smoking and Tobacco use. They mention that “Lower-income individuals are also more likely to live in public housing, where smoking rates among adults are more than twice the national rate.” Riverdale does have a higher adult smoking rate, which could also be related to stress.
Extreme poverty can also affect an individual’s life expectancy.
Jacqueline Tiema-Massie, a director of emergency preparedness and response at Cook County Department of Public Health, said that “poverty directly impacts people’s life expectancy, and that means whether or not they live or they die early because they’re poor, for a number of factors, again, being more exposed to violence, being more exposed to poor, fat food, being more exposed to not being around green spaces or healthy living spaces.”
According to data collected by the Chicago Health Atlas, around 47.6 percent of residents in Riverdale experience food insecurity. On top of residents not having adequate resources, such as grocery stores or physicians, they are also susceptible to a range of other issues.
Whether it’s the area having a high number of Heart Failure Hospitalizations, or a high Youth ED visit rate, according to the city’s Health Atlas. Residents in Riverdale are subject to physical and psychological issues associated with poverty. The life expectancy of residents is 74.8 years, which is on the lower end of the 77 community areas in Chicago.
How to Help
The Riverdale community area has been dealing with the effects of extreme poverty and environmental injustice for years. If you would like to help, supporting non-profits like People For x Community Recovery or Dion’s Chicago Dream can make a difference and support residents of the Riverdale community.