“We can create a health and wellness net in North Minneapolis that reaches out to all cultures, backgrounds, and we are able to affect everyone.
Sankofa announced a series of lectures she called the “Community Multiversity” of the Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health at Pilot City Health Center.
Topics include “Financial Well-being: Money Management” to “Creating a Space for Healing and Wholeness,” from “Working Together for Domestic Peace” to “The Impact of Stress on Our Health.” Sessions begin at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesdays at Pilot City Health Center, 1313 Penn Ave. N., and they’ll last about an hour. For a complete schedule see the Insight News Community Calendar or call 612-302-4790.
At the Community Multiversity, you will learn about you and your family’s health and how to connect to health care and community agencies Sankofa said. The brownbag lunch series is just a beginning. Other planned fun and educational opportunities include community gardens, storytelling, circle groups and more.
“Our goal is to provide opportunities and support for women and their families to be healthy and have access to community resources,” Sankofa said.
Everyone – from children to grandparents – are invited to attend the Multiversity. “All generations contribute to the family and community,” Sankofa says. “An intergenerational approach to health and well-being is vital. We must build on and strengthen a key asset of the African, African-American and Hmong community... the strong relationship between generations is essential.”
Although the first classes of the Multiversity will be conducted at the Pilot City Health Center, the goal is to create a fluid campus. “We would like to provide educational opportunities through the Pilot City North High mini clinic, churches and other faith-based organizations, barber or beauty shops, grocery stores, parks, shopping malls – anywhere people gather. We will take the message of personal health and community health to the streets,” Sankofa says. “Our individual health contributes to our community’s health. This is more than outreach. It is a movement for health and well-being in North Minneapolis.”
Hennepin County’s Pilot City Health Center (PCHC) has served the primary health care needs of residents in North Minneapolis since 1968 when it was one of 13 federally funded health centers under President Johnson’s War on Poverty. The clinic is a one-stop center for medical, dental and social services. In 2000, the clinic served about 12,000 patients.
