CHICAGO — A groundbreaking was held Monday for what will become an anchor for health and community services in the city’s West Garfield Park neighborhood.
The Sankofa Wellness Center, going up at 4305 W. Madison St., at the corner of Madison and North Kildare Avenue, will include a trauma center, a grocery store, financial services and additional community support services among its three stories and 55,000 square feet.
Erie Health and Rush University will have clinics in the facility. a Rush University study showed that showed life expectancy in Garfield Park was more than 15 years shorter than for Chicagoans living downtown or on the city’s North Side.
“The wellbeing of our people are ultimately being serviced today,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said at the ceremony. “But most importantly, we’re working side-by-side with all of them. This investment along the Madison corridor is long overdue. This area once thrived with businesses and activity, and today’s groundbreaking is just a beginning of a larger revitalization. The collaborative has many plans for Garfield Park, and I’m proud that the City of Chicago is playing a role by investing not just land but over $7 million to this project.”
Another $10 million for the $45 million project comes from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation.
The center is expected to open sometime in 2025.