Erie Family Health Center Opens The Sankofa Village Wellness Center

Geoyia Nightengale is the Director of Health Center Operations at Erie Family Health Center’s Sankofa Village Wellness Center. Photo provided by Purple Group.
Geoyia Nightengale is the Director of Health Center Operations at Erie Family Health Center’s Sankofa Village Wellness Center. Photo provided by Purple Group.

Erie Family Health Center Opens The Sankofa Village Wellness Center

By Tia Carol Jones

The Erie Family Health Centers recently opened a new health center inside of the Sankofa Village Wellness Center, located at 4305 W. Madison. Sankofa Village Wellness Center opened at the end of 2025. Erie Family Health joins Rush University Medical Center and the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago as anchor partners in the space, which is set to open fully in the Spring of this year.

“The Erie Sankofa Village Health Center is more than just a new location to us; it’s an investment in West Garfield Park,” Lee Francis, President and CEO of Erie Family Health Centers, said in a press release. “Historical disinvestment in this neighborhood has led to a 20-year life expectancy gap between residents of West Garfield Park and the Loop. At Erie, we believe that everybody has the right to high-quality healthcare and deserves to live their healthiest life.”

Geoyia Nightengale is the Director of Health Center Operations at Erie Family Health Center’s Sankofa Village Wellness Center. Nightengale said that the opening of the location at Sankofa Village is an opportunity for the health center to be a part of change within the community, while also, giving community members access to the quality of healthcare and other wraparound services they deserve. She said that having a location in West Garfield Park allows Erie Health to be part of helping and seeing the community grow, while being part of its longevity.

Erie Sankofa Village provides primary medical care for people of all ages – family medicine, pediatric care, adult medicine, reproductive services, including OB/GYN and delivery support for patients. It also offers mental health services, behavioral health services and therapy, including substance abuse disorders and support services, which include assistance programs for patients who do not have insurance and health education. Other wraparound services include assistance with housing, transportation and food.

Nightengale said that by Erie Health being in West Garfield Park, with its life expectancy gap in contrast to people who live just a few blocks away, is a way for the health center to work to address disparities the residents face.

Nightengale said that there is a mural near the location that highlights the health disparities of the community residents and it is a reminder of why Erie Health is there. She said it helps to keep the health care center focused on its main goal, which is to provide quality health care to the residents in the community.

Nightengale said that prior to coming to West Garfield Park, Erie Health did a lot of work to engage with the community and listen to the residents’ needs. She said Erie Health asked what they needed, what they wanted and what are their hopes for the future, and how Erie could play a role in that. She said one of the things the residents said that was important to them was access.

“Access to all the different resources that will be housed in the Sankofa Village Wellness Center is what I feel will  directly combat all the disparities in the community, because it is already in the space where all the community members live and are, which will make it easier for them to get the services they need and deserve,” she said.

Nightengale said that she believes that Erie Health really values the patients that it serves and wants to provide the kind of care the patients want, not what the health care center thinks they need. She said that healthcare is a human right and is something that everyone deserves to have. She said that belief is at the core of Erie Health’s mission and in everything that the health center does. Erie Health practices it by providing care to people no matter what, regardless of their insurance status, immigration status or ability to pay. She said the goal is to reduce any barriers that patients have in accessing healthcare.

For more information about Erie Family Health Centers, visit www.eriefamilyhealth.org or call 312-666-3494.

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