<p>Nicole Astra: Welcome to Talking Cities Aurora. I'm Nicole Astra, and we have a very special guest in the Talk lab studio today, Illinois State Representative, Barbara Hernandez. Thank you so much for joining us. Welcome to the show.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Thank you. Thank you for having me.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: So, I just want to start by talking about our moto, "Everything talking." Talk lab, talking cities. I want people to understand that you truly engage, with the people in Aurora, as well as all over the state and just conversation. And that's where legislation really begins. So, of course you represent all of Illinois, but you have some strong Aurora roots. And I really our audience to hear, I mean, you've studied here, you have advocated here, you've taught here. So tell me everything.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Yes. Well, I was born and raised here in Aurora. I'm very fortunate to be here. I've been local here all my life, and how I became, well got involved in politics. It was because of my family, and my family was undocumented for 21 years. I saw the of struggles. I saw the emotional, mental, and even my dad physical issues, because he had to work two jobs to sustain our family of four. To needed, to at least advocate for more people, because I realized that I wasn't the only one who was going through this with my family. There were a lot of more immigrants, more undocumented individuals, that could not go to their home country and visit their family.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Yeah. And needing to build community here.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Exactly.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Yeah. I want to talk about a recent appointment, the public safety and violence prevention task force. What kind of crime are you seeing in Aurora, particularly through the rise of the pandemic, and more importantly can we prevent it?<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Of course in Aurora, we're seeing a little bit of more increase of gang violence. I don't think we see a lot of petty theft and so on. I think whenever we hear about shooting it's about gangs or rivalries amongst each other. And it's still unfortunate that we have that, but of course it's much less than back in the '90s and '80s.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: What are some of the solutions to the crime? Is it engagement at the youth level? What are some of the programs that you've seen proven successful?<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: I think we need more youth programs. I honestly do think we do. We need more funding for youth programs. We also have other programs in the community. We have the life center, which is down the street where we are now.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Right.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: And it's free mentoring, free center for youth, that they can just stop in at any time. I think that will help a lot because it will give the students a place to be safe.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Right.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Because I do acknowledge that their parents, many parents are low income are working two or three jobs. They don't have, unfortunately time to speak with their children. However, it's difficult because then that child does go find love, affection, or even acceptance somewhere else. And those places can be dangerous.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: And so many families are in the exact situation that you just described. Let me switch gears to this census because as you know, the census count for Aurora was an under count of 17,000. So at the local level, Mayor Irvin is very vocal about this. We're doing what we can. Is there something that can be done at the state level to make sure we get that support?<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Well, that's another discussion that we've been having. I just met with the city of Aurora, this past Monday to discuss more of the census items. But right now just we're trying, at least the city of Aurora is trying to find the logistics. What does this mean? When can they do the census? And what exactly do they need to do to target the community that was under counted? That area, the 17,000, 18,000 people that were lost, were in my district. So when it came to discussion in the whole state, I was the epicenter of the issue.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Yes.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: That we needed to reconvene in Springfield, to try and figure out where do I get those 18,000 in the community? And that's why we had to do the map all over again, because we were losing a lot of people.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: You're also on the housing committee. And I want to talk about, of course our world residents hit so hard by the pandemic, all over the country, but what's being done to make sure that our residents can stay in their homes? But also make sure they can have affordable housing moving forward.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Of course, currently in the state, we do have a bit of help, when it comes to rental repayment programs. So the landlord and the tenant can apply for this grant, and potentially get a bit of money. Soon, we will be opening the mortgage assistance program. So whoever owns the house, they will be able to get a little bit of money from there too. And I've known a few people that received $15,000 already to cover their mortgage, but hopefully we will continue to support more legislation that will help not only financially, but also create more opportunity for affordable homes as well. And I know in Aurora, they're trying very bad, a lot to try and get some affordable housing in the east side. So hopefully soon we will see something coming up. I know there's a few projects that they're working on. So it's very exciting to see.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Great. A relief for sure, for so many of our families. The Child Mind Institute put out a study this month, but I know it's close to your heart. And they are recognizing that teens more than ever are reporting, that their mental health is so much worse after going through the pandemic. So as a mom of three, two of them teens, I want to thank you personally for advocating for our youth. And you have, co-founded a bill that is in direct response to the mental health crisis. Tell me about it.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Yes. So it was, co-sponsored, the representative who led the charge was Representative Lindsey LaPointe, from Chicago. I was able to support her bill that would allow for five mental health day in schools. It's the first time that this happens in Illinois. Which pretty much does is, the student and the parent of course can decide, instead of a sick day, it's my child needs a mental health day. And this is hopefully a way to prevent substance abuse later on, suicide later on, and other issues as well. So hopefully this will start a good path for students to be able to feel comfortable and say, "Hey, I need help."<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Yeah. And again, so many solutions start with conversations. And it seems so simple, right? But because these policies now will be enacted and will be law, there's logistics on the other side for the parents where they can't return to school without a doctor's note, or right now they have to have a negative COVID test, if they were out for a suspicion. So this is a way that they truly can take care of their mental health without those extra barriers.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: Yes.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it. I've seen you around town, but it's nice to meet you in person. So thank you again for joining us on Talking cities Aurora.<br /><br />State Rep. Hernandez: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for your time.</p>