Newark Welcomes El Barrio Wellness, a Mental Health Center “Helping Us Build a Stronger, Healthier City From the Ground Up”

El Barrio Wellness, a brand new multi-service mental health center, opened last week to serve the residents of Newark, New Jersey – and Mayor Ras Baraka and other dignitaries were there to celebrate its arrival.

Located in the former home of El Club del Barrio, a three-story brick building that once served as a refuge for Puerto Rican families and a center for AIDS services, the new facility offers bilingual, trauma-informed counseling for children, adults and families.

The $1.2 million program is operated by La Casa de Don Pedro, a community development organization started by Puerto Rican community activists in the 1970s, and is supported by a range of organizations, including RWJBarnabas Health and the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.

The building features spacious family therapy rooms with sofas and bay windows,smaller rooms for individual counseling, a “Food Pharmacy” stocked with delectable local foods, and counseling in English and Spanish. Dr. Emmanuel Mercedes, the clinic’s director, told NJ.com that he also hoped to hire therapists who speak French and Creole to serve the county’s West Indian immigrants, Portuguese for Brazilians who live in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood, and Hindu and Bengali for Indian immigrants. 

Services are delivered through a Liberation Health model that takes into account how cultural and systemic forces shape mental health and include individual and family therapy, group sessions and community workshops, all designed to reflect people’s hope, dignity and lived experience. 

“This facility isn’t just about access to healthcare, it’s about empowerment, dignity and opportunity for our residents,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who took part in the Nov. 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony. “By bringing preventive services, education and wellness resources directly into the neighborhood, La Casa de Don Pedro is helping us build a stronger, healthier Newark from the ground up.”