- [Presenter] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

They now have livestream capabilities for viewing your loved one's funeral or a memorial service.

- [Presenter] At IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are and always will be our top priority.

We care about your financial and physical health and we are here.

IHMVCU is a proud supporter of WQPT.

- Getting kicked out of your home, and keeping an eye on your kids playing contact sports in the cities.

(bright upbeat music) Parents are rightly concerned about their kids who are in rough and tumble sports.

A UnityPoint Health neurosurgeon new to the Cities tells us about the latest research why girls are often at risk and what protocols are working and which ones need change.

But first, the cold world around us.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were put out of work, and the houses they live in with their families were at risk.

A moratorium on evictions was put in place, but it has since been eliminated.

So, what have we seen in the week since?

We talked with the Executive Director of Project NOW, the Reverend Dwight Ford.

We had the moratorium on evictions that expired.

What have you seen since?

Has there been a big rush of evictions right now?

- There has.

Many of these evictions of course have been caught up in the system and they could not be processed simply because the moratoria is in place.

Now that the guardrail has been lifted, and we believe that the governor did the right thing, putting the guardrail up with the eviction, essentially moratoria.

But since that has been lifted, even like today, as the court's date it's processing, there were 21 cases before the judge for eviction.

- 21 cases today, what is that usual?

- I'm sure that it can go between five and eight or so, but to be at 21 again, this is because so many people have been unable to pay for so long and the moratoria has been in place, and so now we're starting to see the process run the gamut of experiences then from the courts of course, we'll move to the Diversion program, and if there's an inability to facilitate the diversion, then it moves to the sheriffs, and so, then it moves to formally the eviction itself.

But we hope that the efforts that we're doing in collaboration will move to the Diversion program and people can work how these difficult realities with mediation.

- Rock Island County and Cook County, two in Illinois that are unique because of, as you were alluding to, this Eviction Diversion program Project NOW, a number of organizations along with a 14th judicial court is all involved in this trying to offset evictions throughout our county.

The key though, Reverend, is that the people that are facing eviction have to be a little proactive, don't let it get to a certain point, contact agencies as soon as possible.

- Yes, and that's been, of course our rallying point to say, don't wait till you get the five, 10, day notice, start now, if you know you're currently behind.

And the funding that we have, other agencies may be different, but the funding that Salvation Army has, and Project NOW that is we've been at the table to be able to facilitate the financial needs of securing the debt that is owed to the property owner, and then also ensuring that there's a way to keep the tenant in place.

Those fundings required that the tenant start the process.

It's a dual obligation that both the property owner and the tenant have to work together with mediation in our agencies, but it is a process that has to be initiated by the tenant.

So we're asking that as soon as you fall behind, let us know so that we can get you into the pipeline.

And of course, you mentioned the net that is there, you mentioned Salvation Army, but Prairie State Legal Services, legal aid is there, their commitment has been so helpful and undergirding as we go through this, and the Rock Island County Bar Association, who has also been so important and vital to the discussion with attorneys and property owners as we go through this really difficult and turbulent times together.

- Because there is that legal backbone that's kind of needed in this process.

Also, I mean, the Diversion program really is not trying to say, "Hey, landlords are the bad people here."

I mean, you're trying to find an equitable settlement for these cases.

So explain to me, these people that are being evicted right now, is it a lot of families or is it people that just have hit hard time recently?

What are you seeing as far as the evictors are concerned?

- Well, there are a sizable number of individuals that have not had to come to Project NOW, or another institution for financial help at this level, you're talking six, eight, nine months of back read, sometimes even in the rears up to a year of back read that they haven't been able to take care of, much of it as do, of course the COVID, and it's many challenges.

And the reality of economic disturbance that COVID has caused, people that can't get back into the workforce because they have small children, and stoppages and ongoing frustrations with childcare providers as well.

There's so much thrown at the citizenry.

And no, our goal is never to paint a picture as the landlords are the evil instigator of all things bad.

Neither do we want to paint the picture that tenants are shiftless, and lazy, and not responsive.

This is just a perfect storm of challenge.

Our goal is to support both sides.

Small business property owners, essentially, are the engine of economies to all communities.

And then of course, housing is the anchor to all of the opportunities in a community.

So if you secure adequate housing, then people can think about education, they could think about employment in a very real sense of long-term opportunities.

But if housing is disturbed greatly, none of the other opportunities in their world really makes sense until they have shelter.

It's just primacy of human need.

And then of course, property owners, if these property owners cannot keep these properties open and lose them or decide to do something different because it's been so tumultuous and challenging, then we add to the growing reality that there's not enough affordable rental property stock in the Quad Cities already.

We're some 6,500 affordable units short in the Quad City region now.

- Shelter being a basic need, and you would think that evictions anytime of the year are bad, but especially during the holidays and during the cold winter months, it's got to, it almost adds onto the misery for some people.

- Yes, and of course there's injury already caused by COVID, and then the insult, which is very hard weather that's right around the corner.

And so, what we're doing and attempting to do is form a network that actually works.

There has been some challenge, but the truth of the matter is that anything worth doing at this level, this wide, this grandiose will have its challenges.

I'm glad to be able to report that we're seeing breakthroughs opportunities, money is moving and we're securing individuals and the data is proving that as well.

- So you're saying that this program, even in the earliest of stages is really showing its merits.

- Yes, and so, when you start thinking about how much we've invested, we had at the beginning, a total of 2.4, right now we have $2.4 million still available, and a little on the upward of that is itself, but the commitment that we've had in investments, we've made already over 757 payments to be able to undergird individuals, and to help through the process itself.

When you think about the dramatic number where over a million dollars of investment, so, and that's been since COVID has begun to make that kind of investment with the moratoria in place.

Some of the monies we couldn't invest because of policy, and it had to be a last resort.

And so, as long as the moratoria was in place we couldn't move some of these dollars, and sometimes that's lost in the story that we're working with a short runway, and to see how much we've invested in such a short period of time.

We do have some challenges, but I'm telling you the frontline staff, we just hired up at Project NOW, we've welcomed on another 11 team members as of last week, just for this initiative alone, to help move these dollars.

- We're talking about, of course, evictions, rent, mortgages.

The other big issue of course is gonna be heating bills.

We've been hearing about natural gas prices expecting to rise, maybe bills doubling in the winter.

LIHEAP program registration, of course, is continuing, just getting started.

Have you seen an increase in people seeking help?

- Well, we're just getting started and we've already had 3080 applications that we've taken care of.

That's just getting started.

- And how does that compare to a normal year?

- Well, in a normal year we're somewhere around 8,000, maybe nine at the height, 9,000 a year, and you can see we're gonna surpass those numbers now.

- How critically important is the LIHEAP program for so many families?

- Well, when you start thinking about weather, and winter, and what people divert their funds in their homes a little that they may have, and individuals trying to meet out the expenses of energy.

You just talked about the increase, it's already scheduled that the increase will be between 46 and 96% increase.

Our funding that has come in to offset that is at 38% more funding for LIHEAP.

So we're doing as much as we can for as many as we can for as long as we can in this area because if people don't have adequate heating in the winter, very bad things happen to the human body when the heat is not at the level it needs to be inside a shelter.

- Now is LIHEAP a first come first serve type of program?

I mean, do you get, do you have to get involved as quickly as possible or else the funds dry up?

- Right, it used to be before COVID that we had preferenced stages, so seniors and other preference state, but since COVID, it has become a first come first serve, and so, we serve as many as we possibly can.

And right now, just to give you, we talked about some of the great effort that we're doing.

Some of the programs that we have in the state level that is taking far more time than here, but it's still too long for an individual that's in an emergency.

For our Rental Assistance program, through the Eviction Diversion program, 30 days.

And so, we're telling individuals call back tomorrow so that we can start because we can't even get you an appointment in 30 days.

Same thing with LIHEAP, we're at now 30 days.

So, people are in need, and that just shows how much challenge is out there, but we're getting them.

When I say we're 30 days out, that means every single individual that works in those divisions have a full day appointment talking to somebody about their energy needs for 30 days.

30 days at work already filled up with people to talk to and run their applications.

That's why we increased staff.

We found a way to augment the team, getting people very quickly up to speed, agile and able as our frontline workers are to be able to serve alongside the team that has been in the throws of this since the beginning of COVID.

So I'm hopeful, I'm encouraged by what's happening.

And at the end of the day, of course, we'll wait to see whether the final numbers are, but I don't have to wait till the end of the day to know we're making a change when you get the call, or when people stop in and say thank you for what you did for me and my family, you made a world of difference, we didn't know what we were gonna do.

That's enough to give us strength for the next day.

- It is obvious that the need is there, and it's obvious that you feel that you're filling the need, the safety net is so important, but are you worried that there are people that aren't going to make it through that safety net through the winter?

- Well, one of the things as I understand the commitment has been that the separation from the utility services often delay during the winter months.

That doesn't mean that people won't try to self-regulate and turn heat down and try and figure out if they want to spend it on medications or the utility bill.

It doesn't mean that people may not empty out accounts trying to stay current and not go into the rears and damage, maybe their credit scores and things they've been working at for so long.

Yes, what the reality of a endeavor this large, unfortunately, there may be some that fall through the cracks, and that's why we're slowing down the process.

We're working with institutions, agencies, individuals, to get the word out.

We'll try to double back around and circle again to make sure that if someone is still dangling in the net, we can keep them in.

It's very hard work, and I don't envy all of the individuals that have to take the calls and know that this is an enormity of task and responsibility.

But I will say this that the individuals that work in institutions like Project NOW and others, Salvation Army, they signed up for this commitment and know how important this work is, and so they enter into each and every day knowing that there are people that are falling, and that the net has to be stretched wide enough, and enough hands on the net to keep people from falling through the cracks.

And in the event that someone or some families are falling through the cracks, then we have to do double work to make sure we get them back into the net so that they will not, so to speak, injure themselves in the fall.

Our goal is to keep people on their feet as long as we possibly can.

- The Executive Director of Project NOW, the Reverend Dwight Ford.

In a moment what to watch out for in your student athletes.

A neurosurgeon explains the latest science, but first Laura Adams has ideas for you in the days leading up to Christmas as we get ready to go out and about.

(bright upbeat music) - [Laura] This is Out and About for December 2nd through ninth.

The Lulac Club is holding a Coat Drive December 6th, show the love and donate a coat.

Shop local at the Holiday Shopping Makers Market at Iron and Grain in East Moline, and join all the fun at Christmas in Le Claire, December 4th.

Attend Julmarknad in Bishop Hill, the fourth and fifth, while Christmas in the Village of Davenport takes place the fourth from six to nine.

The Deere-Wiman House is decorated for Christmas and it's free the third and fourth.

The Hauberg Estate is hosting Winter in Bloom, holiday open house the fifth from 10 to five.

Riverbend Bronze Christmas Concert at St. John's United Methodist Church is the third at seven.

Quad Cities Saxopgone Christmas returns the fourth at Dillard's Court at North Park Mall at one o'clock, while the Quad City Symphony presents Masterworks III English Serenade at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center the fourth at two.

Christmas at Augustana performs at Centennial Hall, the fourth and fifth at two.

The Redstone Room presents An Evening with Keller Williams, the fourth at eight, plus Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn is at music guilt running through the fourth.

Every Christmas Story Ever Told, and then some performs at Richmond Hill Barn Theater through the 11th, and A Christmas Carol On the Air runs through the 12th, while Wisenheimer celebrate their 10th anniversary in long form comedy on the fourth, both at the Black Box Theater.

For more information, visit wqpt.org.

(bright upbeat music continues) - Thank you, Laura.

The Quad Cities has a new neurosurgeon, who has an interesting backstory.

He's from Canada, from a family of hockey players.

So he knows a thing or two about contact sports, the harm that can happen, and the ways to lessen the impact.

We talked with UnityPoint Health neurosurgeon, Dr. Mathieu Levesque about all that, and what brought him to the cities.

It is kind of a interesting backstory that brings you to the Quad Cities, I mean, you've got family here.

- I do.

I have two of my three brothers that live in the area now.

- [Jim] And what brought them here?

- So, in my family I have three brothers who are four boys, two older ones and two younger ones, I'm the third one, so I'm the first of the second batch.

All from the same parents, but in two different periods.

And the oldest one is a radiologist in Quebec where I'm from in Canada.

And the second one played hockey his whole life, and ended up playing for The Mallards a couple of years ago, and that's where he met his wife, eventually had to retire because of injuries and started a hockey school, started DekHockey here.

And my little brother ended up following his footsteps playing hockey in the US a little bit everywhere and working for the DekHockey in the summer where he met his girlfriend and now wife that as he just got married with her in early September.

- So I mean hockey kind of runs in your family's bloodstream and it's a contact sport, and you're a neurologist, what's going on here?

- Yeah, so we all love sports and moving around, we never really watched a lot of TV when we were young and we kind of followed our brother's footsteps who loved hockey.

He slept with his hockey stick, he played hockey all the time.

I was kind of in the middle of the two older brothers, I guess, part medical, part hockey, but we were all just moving around, we have a lot of energy to spend, and we were just moving all the time.

And for concussions obviously in neurology, it's something that we see, it's something that we see the consequences of it and how frequent it can be.

And it is a true problem in everyday life, but as in everything there's never anything that has a zero risk.

So it's always about weighing the risk and benefits of everything.

And we can talk about concussions, or repercussions, and new treatments, how we could prevent them and so forth, but at the end of the day, we don't wanna discourage children to move to play sports because of all the benefits that comes with it.

And we know that only 5% of the pediatric population is doing the recommended amount of sports pure and clean, and that has a lot of consequences, both in physical prospectus, psychological perspectives.

And we know that children that are active in sports are less likely to start smoking, doing drugs, having alcohol problems, more likely to attend college, less suicidal ideation, less depression, it prones leadership, it prones self-empowerment, and above all it's just fun.

So you want children to do what they have fun doing, and we wanna be careful, we wanna improve everything we can and lower the risk of everything as much as possible, but we also don't want people to stop living their lives, especially children.

- As a Canadian, you're very involved in hockey, you're gonna learn a lot more about American football, but as far as American football is concerned, there's some real concerns among parents about the context sport that it is, you know from hockey as well.

There have been a lot of steps towards making equipment better and to make the sport safer.

Are there areas that you still would like to see?

- They are, and to be honest, a lot of the improvements turned out to be not as good as we thought they were.

We know that the helmets are really good at protecting from penetrating injuries, but that's not what causes most concussions, and in football it's more gonna be an impact, or sometimes a direct or an indirect blow to the head.

And first off, what is a concussion?

It's just a temporary dysfunction of their brain that results from direct or indirect change of velocity or kinetic energy to the head.

So, basically you wanna see the brain as a jello that is bathing in a liquid, in a glass.

So if there's gonna be a sudden acceleration deceleration, the container might stop, but the jello in some can keep moving and that can create an impact that could lead to the concussion.

So, right now the helmets are good at preventing penetrating injuries, but not so much at controlling those change of velocity, acceleration, deceleration injuries.

And although it's still good, we estimate that the protection is about 20% right now of a typical football helmets, but there are some more recent studies for improved helmets that are working on those aspects.

And if we implement those kinds of helmets, those kinds of mouthguards, then we can really lower the odds of having those concussions.

The other aspect is just positioning.

You wanna limit the unnecessary risks of having a concussion while keeping the people playing and having fun doing the sport, but what can be prevented should be prevented.

And just looking at how, for example, football, which is super big in the US and a fun sport, and people love it, but how they position themselves is headfirst, which could probably be improved in just slight changes in the positioning and how they receive and give the hits could probably lower significantly the risk of concussions.

And with, although children have a lot of risk of concussions, and when you know that about, we estimate one to 2 million children of pediatric age will have concussions per year in the US, the higher the level the higher the odds of having consequences from those concussions.

For example, one of the most severe outcome long-term complication of concussions is chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has gained a lot of popularity in the last couple of years, there have been a movie on it with, I believe it was Will Smith that played in it, but I might be wrong on that part, but it has been a lot of popularity.

And we know that about 20% of professional boxers will develop that condition, which is not negligible at all, it's dementia and or cognitive disorder with a lot of consequences on the lives of the people who suffer from it.

But we do know that the odds of getting it from non-professional boxers are significantly lower, and it's more so the amount of bouts that will increase the risk than the amount of knockouts, so it's not necessarily the severity of the hit more so than the accumulation that appears to be the predominant factor.

- Now that's interesting.

But not only is it like we talk about equipment.

The other thing, especially for kids is the recognition.

I mean, the coaches, or having somebody that knows what's going on that if there's a hit, there's a certain protocol because there used to be a time, okay, you got a little woozy, shake it off, you'll be fine, be tough, that's not necessarily a good idea.

- It isn't, and we kind of fell maybe to the other extreme at some point wherein we might've been too cautious.

So, the old treatment were to be, you had a concussion, well, first step, we need to recognize it that's for sure, but once it was recognized, we told people to go and rest in a dark room for awhile.

And that's really not something that we would recommend nowadays, we know that that's makes the condition worse for patients, it increases anxiety, depression, they get isolated from the sport they love, they get social isolation which has been shown to be, social isolation independently, not related to concussion is as a big as of a risk factor to many medical condition as is smoking and probably a little higher on various studies in obesity, so it's significant.

So what do we do pro now is a return to light activity, but in a really step-wise approach, and that's the main thing.

There's kind of a six step that is recommended wherein you start very slow, and once you're symptom free, you can go to the next threshold.

So you wanna be symptom free for 24 to 48 hours, and go on to the next threshold, but you don't wanna be resting in bed all day for sure because as I've talked for other conditions and with previously Alzheimer's disease, any muscle, anytime you rest, anytime you're not moving, you're not challenging yourself, you're losing a little bit of your autonomy.

- One other area of course, is that we talk, and when you're talking about sports, and concussions, and injuries, you're always kind of thinking of boys or young men.

And we always forget about women and young girls who actually suffered differently, and sometimes are really underdiagnosed.

- Yes so, and that's true in many in various medical conditions because sometimes people of different ages, people of different genders will present differently.

And there is probably some form of sexism because we relate more contact sports to men back in the days, and that's not true anymore, girls, boys, everyone practice different sports depending on what they love, what they wanna practice and their risks are probably similar.

So, we also know that like sports such as soccer, which weren't previously associated with concussions as much have been shown to be associated with a lot of concussion and being actually moderate risk for concussion because of the hit to the head with the ball that are repetitive, and like I said, it's not so much the intensity probably as the repetition of the hits.

So, I think we have to be better at recognizing it, and we do know that sometimes it will show with symptoms that are different, there's individual variability and symptom presentation for everyone, but we have to be aware and maybe have a higher threshold to identifying those symptoms in those patients because you don't want them to go with an unrecognized concussion and go back to play too fast with the risks that come with it.

So, one of the major risks that we fear with going back too fast to play is the second hit syndrome, which has been debated in medical literature, but from the little I evidence we have could be associated with high risk because during that period your brain isn't as prepared to autoregulate itself, which could lead to higher risk of brain swelling if there was a second impact.

- UnityPoint Health neurosurgeon, Dr. Mathieu Levesque, UnityPoint says he's accepting appointments for both adults and children right now.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device, and streaming on your computer, thanks for taking some time to join us as we talk about the issues on the Cities.

(gentle music) - [Presenter] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

They now have livestream capabilities for viewing your loved one's funeral or a memorial service.

- [Presenter] At IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are and always will be our top priority.

We care about your financial and physical health and we are here.

IHMVCU is a proud supporter of WQPT.