History of GPRWC
The Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative came together to change a horrifying statistic: residents of Garfield Park have a thirteen-year lower life expectancy than residents living just three miles away. This “death gap” is the result of conditions including poverty and lack of economic opportunity, lack of access to quality health care and wellness opportunities, substance use, gun violence, lack of high-quality food, the psychological impact of multi-generational trauma, and decades of systemic disinvestment and racism.
GPRWC began meeting informally in 2019, bringing together residents, non-profit, healthcare, and faith leaders that work and live in Garfield Park. In 2021, the group formally organized, created an executive board, and hired its first staff member. Now, just three years later, the Collaborative has several full-time staff members plus contracted experts, and can boast of several major successes, with more in progress – all built on collaborative initiatives with nonprofit, business and government partners.