Looking Back to Move Forward: the mission of Sankofa Wellness Village in West Garfield Park
Looking Back to Move Forward: the mission of Sankofa Wellness Village in West Garfield Park
When community leaders in West Garfield Park became aware of 13-year lifespan gap between their neighborhood and those who live just six miles away in the loop, they sprung to action to develop a plan to address the critical needs of their community and increase their quality of life. JT is proud to partner with the Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative, a coalition of community groups tackling its community's disparities head-on.
The collaborative was inspired by Sankofa, the ancient Ghanaian Akan concept that means “to move forward, we must first go back and recover the valuable things we lost.” Imagine what West Garfield Park residents could do with 13 more years of life?”
In January of 2023, the collaborative was named recipient of the coveted 2022 Chicago Prize from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. This $10 million prize will go towards funding the Sankofa Wellness Village, which will provide community residents with a wide range of vital services to address their health, wellbeing and quality of life.
The Sankofa Wellness Village will bring pivotal, interconnected services within a 15-minute walk along the Madison and Pulaski corridor in West Garfield Park. The village will include the following:
The Sankofa Village Wellness Center, a 60,000-square-foot facility that will provide more than 170,000 residents with a health center, gym, early childhood development programs, community-owned credit union, small business support and other services.
The MAAFA Center for Arts and Activism, will offer an inspiring intergenerational space to organize, curate, educate, and liberate. It will be a flexible artistic venue and provide classes and workshops. It will also continue to house the MAAFA Redemption Project.
The K Entrepreneurship Development Hub, a business incubator and entrepreneurial support center, where members can connect with peers for networking and skills sharing, as well as benefit from back office support such as human resources, legal and technology services.
The Community Grocer Initiative is a community-led effort which aims to healthy food to the neighborhood through the use of pop-up markets until a permanent grocery store opens. It is also working to bring more permanent grocery and food options to West Garfield Park through community planning and engagement.
“It’s a neighborhood with a lot of history, and we just see ourselves as part of the continuum, building on that history and making sure that coming generations have the opportunities and resources they need to thrive,” — Marshall Hatch, Jr. (WTTW).
In a community where 94% of its residents are Black and where there as been no investment in decades, the Collaborative took a holistic approach to tackle systemic inequalities. Built around the concept of Black Culture Wellness, Sankofa Wellness Village is an authentic expression of the values and principles, self-determined by the Black community, that can lead to long-term health and well-being, wealth creation and increased life expectancy.
The Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative is setting an example and establishing a precedent in applying community-driven holistic approaches to address systemic challenges. After decades of disinvestment and economic deterioration that created a cycle of poverty and violence, the community is taking its future into its own hands. JT is proud to partner with the Collaborative to help amplify the community’s deep cultural roots, resilience, and commitment to spur systemic change.
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