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Coming Full Circle in Newark: A New Chapter for Latino Mental Health Care

  • 2 days ago
  • 3 min read

Written by: Jesselly De La Cruz

Executive Director, Latino Action Network Foundation

Past President, Latino Mental Health Association of New Jersey


The first client I ever worked with was at 76 Clinton Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. I was a first-year graduate student in Rutgers’ social work program, placed at a small community center in the Lincoln Park section of Newark. He was a Puerto Rican man in his early 60s, recently discharged from the hospital after a heart attack and staying at the shelter down the street. When we first met, he still had bandages and medical tape on his chest. He was uninsured, denied Social Security, unemployed due to his medical condition, and navigating the weight of survival one day at a time.


He was also a Vietnam veteran.


Over the course of several months, I came to know more of his story - his experiences moving in and out of incarceration, struggles with substance use, and the family estrangement that followed. My field instructor would gently remind me that my role was not to “fix” his life, but to keep inviting him back into the community. So I did. I invited him to senior bingo, NA support groups, event volunteer shifts, and even just to sit in the waiting room if that felt safest. Sometimes he participated. Sometimes he didn’t. But he kept coming back.


I learned more from listening to him than any textbook could have taught me. Our conversations became the foundation of my very first process recordings, and they shaped how I understand engagement, dignity, and healing to this day.

When my internship ended, he gave me a termination gift: a small nightlight he had won during senior bingo. He wanted me to have it as a thank-you for our work together. For nearly two decades later, I kept this momentum close because it represented the understanding of the depth of trust and connection that community-based care can foster.


This week, I returned to that same neighborhood—not as a student, but as Executive Director of the Latino Action Network Foundation and Past President of the Latino Mental Health Association of New Jersey—to witness something extraordinary: the opening of an El Barrio Wellness, a community-focused mental health center dedicated to culturally responsive care in Newark.


The new center is the result of a powerful collaboration between La Casa de Don Pedro, the Latino Action Network Foundation, Barnabas Health, and many others.. Together, we envisioned a space where people can access mental health care without having to leave behind their language, culture, or sense of dignity. LANF provided seed funding to help bring this vision to life and worked to connect La Casa with mental health professionals who understand not only clinical practice, but also the lived realities of our communities.


Standing in those halls, I thought about that man who walked through the front doors—and about how many people like him are still navigating systems that were never designed with them in mind. This facility represents more than a building. It is a commitment to community investment, to culturally rooted care, and to the belief that healing happens in relationships.


Nearly twenty years after my first client taught me what it means to truly show up, I am proud to see how far we’ve come—and how much more is possible when we invest in ourselves and one another.


Our community deserves spaces where healing is accessible, language is honored, and resilience is met with respect. This opening is not just a milestone for Newark—it is a reminder that when we lead with humanity, transformation follows.


To learn more about this historic opening and the work behind it:



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