The Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative (GPRWC) was convened by community stakeholders to address the neighborhood conditions that contribute to the economic, physical, psychological, and spiritual health of West Garfield Park residents. The Collaborative uses the tenets of Sankofa: Black Culture Wellness, where Black history, resilience, and culture form the foundation for healing, empowerment, and repair. We imagined, “What would we do if we were granted 13 more years of life?” After years of planning and community engagement, this vision now has a name: the Sankofa Wellness Village. 

The Sankofa Wellness Village (SWV) is a series of interconnected capital projects and social enterprises along the Madison-Pulaski commercial corridor that will create safe, community-informed and owned, culturally empowering services. The projects will house health, recreation, and wealth-building programs; a residential leadership and workforce development program; an arts center; a business incubator and accelerator; and an initiative to bring new grocers and access to healthy food to West Garfield Park. 

We expect that this nearly $50 million investment in the community will: 

• Improve health and well-being for more than 17,000 residents through the provision of culturally informed, comprehensive, integrated wellness services within a walkable “wellness village.” 

• Stimulate greater investments and economic development into the
  Madison-Pulaski corridor and beyond.

• Enhance community engagement and wealth-building opportunities for legacy
  and new residents. 

• Improve community wealth equity through land and building ownership. 

• Reinvest profits from annual operating income into West Garfield Park enterprises.

• Increase self and collective efficacy throughout the entire community.