The Teen Warehouse in Wilmington opens two new spaces for mental and physical health.
The Warehouse is part of the WRK group, which also represents REACH Riverside and Kingswood. They are partnering with the SL24: Unlocke the Light Foundation to open Sean’s Room at the Warehouse, an extension of Sean’s House in Newark.
WRK Group CFO Laura Mood says mental health services at the Warehouse are highly requested and greatly needed.
“Our motto is ‘for teens, by teens,’ and the teens came to us, and this was the number one request, that they have access to some mental health care," Mood says.
SL24 Cofounder Chris Locke says college students from Sean’s House staff will be available when someone in need walks through the door. He adds they are preparing kids how to deal with the real world.
“And that can be done a lot of ways," Locke says. "Educationally, you also need your physical health and your mental health. And you can be the smartest person but if you’re not mentally well, you’re going to have a real tough time succeeding in the real world.”
The Warehouse also celebrated renovations to a gymnasium sponsored by the Mayor William T. McLaughlin Fund. It has two basketball hoops, shot clocks, a scoreboard, two 85-inch TVs, and a full sound system for presentations and movie nights.
Logan Herring is CEO of WRK Group, which represents the Warehouse along with REACH Riverside and Kingswood. He says these spaces will continue to help kids build confidence.
“They walk out of this facility ready to take on the world," Herring says. "To be able to public speak, to have the social-emotional learning skills, just to be able to build relationships and understand what they want to do in the future, maybe not a career, but understanding they want to be a productive member of society.”
The Teen Warehouse also offers educational support, career training opportunities, and art centers for mixed media, theater, and dance.
