Erie Family Health Centers

Our story began in 1957 with a simple yet powerful belief: healthcare is a human right. It all started with a compassionate physician, Dr. Robert Snyder, and an elderly patient, Carmela Jacob, a resident of Chicago's West Town community. Frustrated by the healthcare barriers she and her neighbors faced, her story inspired Dr. Snyder to take action. He began providing on-site medical care for senior citizens at Erie Neighborhood House, a local community center for immigrants. With the help of Northwestern University medical students and dedicated community volunteers, a small clinic offering geriatric care two evenings a week was born. This was the humble beginning of what would become Erie Family Health Centers. We were founded on the principle of meeting the needs of the community, a principle that continues to guide us today.

Over the next decade, the passion of those early Northwestern medical students to serve low-income families fueled our growth. By 1968, we expanded our services to include children and adults, and in 1970, we officially incorporated as a separate non-profit entity. The 1980s were a period of significant expansion for us, with the establishment of the Erie Senior Health Center and the Erie Teen Health Center. We moved our original center to Chicago Avenue and opened our Humboldt Park Health Center. This growth was a direct response to the increasing need for comprehensive, culturally sensitive healthcare in the communities we serve. Today, we have grown into a regional health resource with 13 locations, serving nearly 90,000 medical and dental patients annually. From our origins in a single room, we have remained steadfast in our mission to provide high-quality, affordable care to support healthier people, families, and communities. We are proud to be a trusted healthcare home for all, regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status, and we continue to be driven by the belief that everyone deserves to live their healthiest life.