Two women from Chicago Heights and Dolton will be lauded as Blood Services Heroes by the Red Cross after starting a program that trains young women to work as phlebotomists.
Venisha Bonds, left, of Dolton, and Chez Smith, of Chicago Heights, will be honored May 14 as Blood Services Heroes at the 22nd Annual Heroes Breakfast at the Hilton Chicago for their work establishing a program that offers free training to young women to work as phlebotomists.
She hired Dolton resident Venisha Bonds — one of her best volunteers — to help run the operation, which has grown to include a shelter, grocery pantry and programs such as Birds, Bees and Beyond for girls ages 9 to 11 and Degrees B4 Diapers for ages 12 to 21.Smith said the range of programs are a way to combat the “negative health outcomes” she saw too often at Fantus Clinic, which closed in 2018. She decided to focus on women and girls because she saw a disparity in gender perceptions.
Chez Smith, left, of Chicago Heights, and Venisha Bonds, of Dolton, stand at a 2022 event where Smith received a Chicagoan of the Year honor. The two work together with at a nonprofit group formed to help women and girls with programs that combat “negative health outcomes.” “We found out a lot of people were working, but just underemployed,” Smith said. “Their wages just weren’t matching the current cost of living.”
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