On Clinton Avenue in Newark, just steps from City Hall, a historic brownstone that once served as a neighborhood anchor for Puerto Rican families in the 1980s has been given new life. After two-and-a-half years of planning and a $1.2 million investment, La Casa de Don Pedro has transformed the space into El Barrio Wellness, a comprehensive mental health center designed to meet the evolving needs of the community.
“This is a building that has a legacy of serving those with the highest needs,” said Peter Rosario, President and CEO of La Casa de Don Pedro. “It’s a beautiful brownstone. We have about 15 offices, a family therapy room, a kids’ playroom, and multipurpose spaces and down the road, we would love to have a food pharmacy downstairs. That’s why this is the perfect building, right in the heart of the city.”
For Rosario, the project is both personal and purposeful. The building once housed El Club del Barrio, a trusted safe haven during Newark’s HIV/AIDS and drug crises. While the mission has evolved, the spirit of service remains. Inside, El Barrio Wellness looks less like a traditional clinic and more like a welcoming living room, an intentional design choice meant to ease anxiety and build trust.
“This center did not exist before,” said Dr. Enmanuel Mercedes, a licensed psychologist and director of organizational wellness at El Barrio Wellness. “Now we can provide services including couples counseling, family therapy and work directly with children.”
Mercedes emphasizes that effective mental health care begins with safety and dignity, especially for individuals navigating economic hardship or trauma.
“When you’re trying to survive or meet basic needs, we don’t want people to walk into a space that feels over-clinical or judgmental,” he said. “We want them to come in, speak freely and share their experiences.”
To remove barriers to care, El Barrio Wellness partnered with Uber Health to provide free transportation for clients who need it. “If someone isn’t able to get here, you give them a way,” Mercedes explained.
That philosophy extends to staffing and services. Many clinicians live in Newark and are deeply rooted in the community they serve, with a focus on normalizing mental health care — particularly within immigrant and bilingual households.
“This center is for the community, for us, by us,” said Yolanda Gonzalez, the clinical director at El Barrio Wellness. “Everyone here speaks at least two languages. We understand the needs of the community. When people receive services from clinicians who look like them, understand them, and speak their language, it resonates differently.”
Currently, El Barrio Wellness employs six clinicians serving approximately 40 clients each week. Supported by partners including RWJBarnabas Health — an underwriter of NJ Spotlight News — and the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, El Barrio Wellness plans to expand to 20 clinicians by the end of the year.
