Overview

• This month’s 30th anniversary events featured public art installations and memorial gatherings at locations such as Quinn Chapel AME Church and Columbus Park Refectory to honor the 739 victims of the 1995 heat wave.
• Organizers screened the PBS film Cooked: Survival By Zip Code and convened policy panels showcasing new data-driven tools, including Northwestern University’s Heat Vulnerability Index, to guide future preparedness.
• Advocates like Caesar Thompson and Dr. Howard Ehrman highlighted that Black and elderly residents in under-resourced South and West Side communities continue to face disproportionate risks during extreme heat.
• Participants pressed for practical reforms such as extended cooling-center hours, deployment of mobile air-conditioned CTA buses to encampments and senior homes, and elimination of holiday closures that leave residents exposed.
• Speakers underscored that historical factors such as redlining, heat-trapping building designs and high summer energy costs must be addressed to ensure equitable access to cooling resources.