SANKOFA VILLAGE WELLNESS CENTER

Converge Architecture, in collaboration with Moody Nolan, designed the Sankofa Village Wellness Center in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood. A project more than 15 years in the making.

Sankofa Village Wellness Center reimagines what a community wellness center can be. Located in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood, the project brings healthcare, behavioral health, fitness, workforce development, community organizations, and future economic opportunities together within a single, community-centered destination. Rather than treating health as a series of separate services, Sankofa creates an integrated ecosystem designed to make resources more accessible, strengthen connections, and support the broader well-being of the community.

The project responds to decades of disinvestment and barriers to coordinated health and wellness services in West Garfield Park. Built on long-vacant land, Sankofa is the first new building of its kind constructed in the neighborhood since 1968. Its presence represents both a major investment in community health and an anchor for continued revitalization along the Madison–Pulaski corridor.

Central to the Sankofa model is community ownership. The MAAFA Redemption Project and Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative hold ownership roles in the project, giving community organizations a meaningful voice in its governance and long-term stewardship. This structure moves beyond traditional community engagement toward a model in which local organizations help shape, own, and sustain the investment itself.

Inside, the Wellness Center is conceived as a one-stop destination where residents can move more seamlessly among services that are often fragmented across multiple locations. Primary care, dental and vision care, behavioral health, YMCA fitness and wellness programming, community health organizations, workforce resources, and future amenities such as a café and credit union are brought together under one roof.

More than a healthcare facility, Sankofa is a place-based investment in trust, access, ownership, and opportunity. By aligning community leadership with healthcare, wellness, and economic resources, the project offers a model for how architecture and development can contribute to healthier, more connected, and more resilient communities.

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