Odehmenan Health Equity Center
Odehmenan: This Heart of Ours
In fall 2023, the University of Illinois Chicago will officially launch the Odehmenan Health Equity Center (Odeh Center). This is the result of a joint partnership spanning years between the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and the Office of Equity & Diversity, and a generous donation of space from the UIC Library of the Health Sciences-Chicago.
The first word in the Center’s name, Odehmenan — pronounced: Odeh-me-nan: (odéh (oh-debt) me (muh) nan (nan) — is a Potawatomi word that translates to, “this heart of ours.” The Potawatomi people are one of the original peoples of the Chicagoland area and one of the Three Fires Confederacy Nations, who know this area as their ancestral home.
tagline of the center
Shote Temget Odehmenan Ebmadziyak Mine Ekendaswiyak…Here is the Heart of our Living and Learning
Purpose of the Center
The purpose of this space is two fold: one, to be a community space that brings people together – to study, work and connect with one another, as the word Odehmenan indicates, this is all of our work and none of us can flourish alone; and two, a hub for heath equity co-curricular education for our current and future healthcare leaders, researchers, and clinicians via our programming.
