Hegewisch

     Hegewisch is the type of community where you can ask your neighbor for a cup of sugar. It is where the children frolic in the front yard sprinklers in the humid summer heat and throw icy snowballs at each other’s faces in the frozen temperatures. In Hegewisch, some people go all out on the creepy decorations with the tangling spider webs and poking out ghosts in the bushes during the bright red and orange falling leaves of the Halloween season. Other people light up their houses with light icicles and inflatable snow globes in their front yards during the merry and jolly Christmas season. 

     However, growing up in Hegewisch, a community where children and young adults of diverse backgrounds are always walking the sidewalks, I have realized something.  One major health disparity in my community would be the lack of medical resources. 

     If you were to take a close look at my small community, all you will see is one unknown doctor’s office and a mystery dentist clinic. My understanding is that no one goes to or has even heard of these offices in Hegewisch. In addition, it is always so dark inside and run-down. For those who can afford travel expenses, they travel out of Hegewisch for healthcare. For those who can not, they simply stay at home with home remedies and over-the-counter medications.

     I have always wondered why could not I simply walk to my doctor’s office in place of driving 20 minutes for an appointment. In this community, we have big dreamers and hard workers. This group of people deserves access to the same medical care others receive. We should facilitate more doctor’s offices — not just in Hegewisch but other underrepresented communities as well.