Village Birth International with the Sankofa Doula Collective joined the Perinatal Task Force with the official designation of a Perinatal Safe Spot for Upstate Families.

This designation is a nationally recognized model of care created by our mentor Midwife Jennie Joseph of Commonsense Childbirth.

The goal of a Safe Spot is to provide immediate and judgment-free access to culturally reflective, community-led pregnancy and reproductive care.

From 2015- 2019 this designation operated virtually, telephonic, home-based in living rooms and at several community centers around Onondaga County.

In 2020 our Perinatal Safe Spot the safe spot settled at a physical location at the Southside Communications Center 2331 S. Salina Street in the Sankofa District of Syracuse NY.

The Sankofa Reproductive Health and Healing Center serves to uplift the perinatal safe spot model of care and provide easy access entry points for birthing folks throughout during their reproductive lifespan.

January 2021

Fall of 2020- Sankofa received the Community Foundation of Central and Western New York’s Black Equity and Excellence grant. This funding along with a private donation helped the Sankofa Doula Collective expand services as the Sankofa Reproductive Health Healing Center during the height of COVID 19.

As COVID rates in our community increased and lack of  protective equipment for birthworkers made fundamental aspects of our work unsafe, we decided to open for virtual support with limited in person care. As our doula work progressed over the first pandemic year, birthworkers and families needed more support after extended periods of isolation, job loss and family crisis. While using social media to increase engagement, we were also able to educate and inform our community about the experiences of families and their rights to birth justice during the COVID19 crisis and reimagined the future of healthy families in Central New York.

In 2021, Sankofa offered full spectrum doula care, breastfeeding, yoga, writing workshops for reproductive literacy, reproductive counseling and healing to our community.

In 2021 We served 418 families for reproductive justice.

As more PPE became available in the summer of 2021, The Healing Center hosted high school interns from Mercy Works Synergy Program to support community engagement and our annual community Give Back

November 2021, Sankofa was able to expand its emergency relief closet to a full service resource room. 

Wellness Wednesdays were created to provide free and essential items for pregnant and parenting families. This initiative later expanded with a community partnership with Door Dash for free delivery for new mamas and families without transportation. 

February 2022: Black History Month - Sankofa’s Website officially launched. 

In 2022 Village Birth International received the Future of Abortion Access Grant from

Planned Parenthood Federations so that Sankofa Reproductive Health & Healing Center could expand access to abortion doula care in partnership with Planned Parenthood in Syracuse NY.

In 2022, in line with our mission to create and sustain a perinatal workforce, the Center  operated fully staffed at the South Southside communications center with a doula collective, 2 staff birthworkers, a perinatal health coordinator and assistant, an operations manager and digital content creator. 

2021-2026 Expanded services for more accessible care continue. Sankofa uses the perinatal safe spot- easy access model of care for families seeking perinatal health, parenting or pregnancy support outside of the traditional models for doula care and informed decision making.  

Syracuse’s first community-led Maternal Health Lead Initiative centering maternal health in pregnancy and parenting; Syracuse residents and families selected Village Birth International and Sankofa Reproductive Health & Healing Center to raise awareness and provide education on lead poisoning for pregnant and parenting families.  Community-based doula care and perinatal health services were centered for  engagement and peer to peer-led wellness and resources. Thistools required to advocate for their children and make optimal healthcare decisions.

Expanding this care model allows sankofa to focus on the advocacy and resources families need to make optimal living and healthcare decisions.  This expansion received funding from the Community Foundation of Central and Western New York to support programmatic efforts and community-led solutions for education and prevention at the Sankofa Reproductive Health and Healing Center.

2023-2025 Pop Up Lead Testing and Clinical support offered to families at Cafe Sanofa in partnership with the Onondaga Health Department and Lead Van.

In the summer of 2023 our doulas were able to attend the Shades of Blue Maternal Mental Health Conference and participate in the I.N.S.P.I.R.E Method Training to become Certified Community Maternal Mental Health Specialist. 

In 2024, After 7 years at the Southside Communications center, Sankofa Doula Collective and the Sankofa Reproductive Health and Healing Center moved back home to its birthplace at Cafe Sankofa, next door. 

2024-2026 Doula Care expansion with support and programing for immigrant and refugee families in Syracuse. 

Fall 2024 Sankofa and other community-led organizations featured in a documentary: VOICES RISING: SYRACUSE’S FIGHT AGAINST LEAD POISONING

Summer 2025 Sankofa hosted Pittsburgh-based  artist  Alisa Wormsley in collaboration with Cafe Sankofa and Light Work. Alisha’s nationally touring video project, The Temple of Our Survival explores what survival means and looks like through a series of interviews, workshops and community offerings with Southside residents in Syracuse. Using a mobile film set with African American quilting language and text, this film centers the future of Black women and femmes.  

2025- Sankofa’s Co-Founder and founding organization Doula 4a Queen created Standing in the Gap in collaboration with Crouse Hospital. This birth equity initiative is to formalize efforts to improve patient experience, community-led healthcare reform and doula care integration  at the region's largest maternal health facility 

More to share soon!