More than 25 health and community organizations will descend on Chatham next month for a free, daylong wellness fair offering everything from cardiac ultrasounds to free dental items, mental health resources and chair massages. The South Side Health & Wellness Fest takes place November 7 at the Shine Bright Community Center, 8560 S. Cottage Grove Ave., and encourages advance registration.
The event is being hosted by Block Club Chicago and a long list of community partners, according to Block Club Chicago, which reported the fest will convene a day of health resources, care and community activities for neighbors across the South Side. The day begins early: a fun run and community walk kicks off at 9 a.m., led by Read & Run Chicago and Chicago Run, winding through the neighborhood with various distances and pace groups for participants of all fitness levels.
Joining the run will be Joabe Barbosa, a Guinness World Record holder recognized for running on every block in Chicago. Barbosa, a Brazilian-born graduate student pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology at Roosevelt University, became the first known person to complete running every street across the city's 77 neighborhoods in June, covering more than 5,000 miles over 680 days, according to background reported by CBS Chicago. He previously set a separate Guinness record in November 2025 by visiting all 146 CTA “L” train stations in just 8 hours, 58 minutes and 55 seconds.
Running Through the Pages of Chicago
Read & Run Chicago, one of the groups leading Saturday's run, was founded in 2021 by Allison Yates as a community organization that blends movement with local literature. The group designs its running routes based on books set in Chicago and has hosted more than 120 book-themed events, including guided running tours where stories take place, according to Read & Run Chicago.
Once the run wraps, health services and resources run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Attendees can get blood pressure testing, cardiac ultrasounds, insurance information covering Medicaid and Medicare, mental and behavioral health resources, free dental items, opportunities to meet local midwives and free chair massages, per Block Club Chicago's reporting. Local workout groups will lead free low-impact and high-impact exercise classes throughout the day, and Pilar Audain will offer two guided meditation sessions.
A Wide List of Health and Community Partners
The fest's sponsor roster includes Rush University Medical Center and Chicago Vein Institute, with Northwestern Medicine providing cardiac ultrasounds and blood pressure screenings on-site. Additional community partners named in the Block Club Chicago report include Cook County Health, Lurie Children's, Near North Health, the Heartland Alliance Health dental team, and the South Side Healthy Community Organization. Sinai, Trilogy and Dabney Behavioral Health will serve as mental and behavioral health partners, while the Black Midwifery Collective and YWCA will handle maternal care.
The grocery and food side of the event will be covered by Southside Market Co-op and Go Green Community Fresh Market. Go Green opened in Englewood in 2022 as a community-led grocery initiative, according to City Bureau. City Bureau describes community-led grocery efforts as trying to fill gaps after major chain-store departures and uses the term “food apartheid.” Vendors Jada Juice and Sippin' With Sam will hand out juice and tea samples, and Mycala Smith and South Side Sweats will provide community workout programming alongside Chicago Spine and Joint Care's chair massages.
Other community partners listed for the day include Self Help Federal Credit Union, the Alzheimer's Association, the Chicago Police Department's Office of Victim Services, Blood Cancer United, and Gift of Hope, an organ donation network.
Why the Venue and the Mission Matter
The Shine Bright Community Center is a 17,000-square-foot community space built by Discover, according to Discover Financial Services.
The fair will bring a range of health services and resources to Chicago's South Side, from screenings to mental and behavioral health support.
The fair's preventive health offerings include blood pressure screenings and cardiac ultrasounds. The South Side Healthy Community Organization, a nonprofit coalition of 13 South Side safety-net hospitals and health centers formed in 2021 under Illinois' Hospital and Healthcare Transformation Bill, is involved in work supported by the bill, which dedicates $150 million each year for five years to address health equity, per the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
The South Side Health & Wellness Fest is free and open to the public, and organizers encourage advance registration ahead of the November 7 event.
