Cynthia Rocha is proving she’s got a strong heart.Unfortunately, not so much in the literal sense, as the 21-year-old Aurora woman who lives with her parents on Lebanon Street struggles with what she described as a cardiac and neurological condition that makes it hard to regulate her heart rate.Rocha, who has been in and out of hospitals the past couple of years, tires easily and often does not feel well. Yet even with “limited energy to function,” she tells me, “the health of my community is in jeopardy. And no one else can do anything about it.”Therein lies Rocha’s real strength, which was on full display at Tuesday’s Aurora City Council Committee of the Whole meeting.Because her East Side neighborhood is made up largely of working Hispanic families, some of whom don’t speak English, Rocha has taken it upon herself to lead the charge against a proposed “telecommunication facility” – fancy name for cell phone tower – in Lebanon Park that she insists was a “done deal” before residents knew what was going on.Rocha says no one was aware of the proposed tower until May 16, when certified letters were sent to the houses near Lebanon Park that are within 250 feet of the proposed tower. But because so many people work long hours and “were not there to sign for them,” only her home and a few others received the information.Even then, Rocha continues, the wording was not only vague, the letter was in English only, a snafu a city official admitted to at the Committee of the Whole meeting, while promising such future notices would go out in Spanish, as well.It was an important victory for this bright young woman, who no matter what their thoughts are on the issue couldn’t help but impress committee members.Rocha, who has been studying health science at DePaul University since 2019, says she has an “extensive background in public health research” that began even while she was in high school. And she uses that knowledge to point to a litany of studies showing links between cell towers and increases in such diseases as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer and immune disorders.“Read it before you make an informed decision,” she said of the packets of information she passed out to aldermen that she claimed cite “medical and scientific” correlations.Even after decades of debate, the verdict still seems to be out on the risk those ubiquitous towers pose to the public. But a 2023 investigative report by ProPublica I ran across claimed that as hundreds of thousands of new transmitters are going up in neighborhoods across America, a “growing body of scientific research is raising questions” about the hazards.Many expert organizations, including the American Cancer Society, agree additional research is needed to help clarify those risks, especially for any possible long-term effects.It was an issue that created local headlines in 2016 when East Aurora School District 131 turned down a proposal by LCC Telecom Services to put up a cell tower on property at Dieterich Elementary School. The 40-year lease agreement would have paid the district $500 a month.The rejection was a combination of the low rent, safety concerns and “research showing potential issues with health,” East Aurora School Board President Annette Johnson said to me on Monday.“The risk,” she adds, “was just too much for the reward.”Speaking at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, Rocha declared “our community’s health is not for sale.”Nor should a community ”have to rely on one 21-year-old who can go to these meetings,” she said during an earlier interview, referring to the many Hispanic working families in her neighborhood who don’t have the option of showing up in person to voice concerns.“The community is outraged,” continues Rocha, who gathered 153 signatures from residents questioning the “lack of transparency” as well as potential health risks and why their taxpayer dollars are going to the maintenance of a park where AT&T hopes to put up a 125-foot tower.Rocha, the only child of Ana and Juan Rocha, describes herself as ”an old soul” who, even before graduating from Aurora Central Catholic High School, earned a phlebotomy license from Waubonsee Community College. Then, with help from a fellowship, she attended DePaul University, where her research on bans against sexually active gay men donating blood led to presentations at several symposiums and the co-founding of a group called Pride and Plasma, all of which she believes helped lead to a 2023 FDA policy change that did away with such blanket bans.As her health issues became more serious, making it harder to attend classes in person, Rocha says she decided to take a “leave of absence” from her education, with plans to finish her bachelor’s degree this fall at Aurora University and continue toward a career as a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant.Like me, plenty of people who have heard her speak ask Rocha about going into law or even politics.While she “might consider it,” for now her heart belongs to medicine, she responds, then quickly adds, that no matter what she does, she “absolutely” sees herself become more of an activist.“My parents, citizen immigrants, have given me everything,” Rocha says, also crediting a couple of excellent English teachers at ACC for believing in her as a person and as a student.“College was a dream” for the generations that came before her, she continues. “That drives me to keep going, knowing that I’ve been given so many opportunities.“It falls on me,” she insists. “I have to keep moving.”[email protected]