Sussex County-based nonprofit Celebrate Wellness offers mental health resources to hospitality workers in the First State.
It started out focusing on overall wellness but dove into mental health care in 2024.
The organization provides ten free therapy sessions to those who apply. The two-year old nonprofit provided 168 hours of free therapy to workers in 2024, which cost almost $19 thousand.
Its primary sponsor is La Vida Hospitality, which manages the Crooked Hammock Brewery, Big Chill, Buena Vida and Taco Reho.
Celebrate Wellness’s director of development Kathy McDonald said the nonprofit provided resources to 65 hospitality workers last year.
“Most of the people that we're helping are not from La Vida,” McDonald said. “They're from other restaurants. So any restaurant in the state of Delaware, if someone wants to get mental health help, we're there for them.”
McDonald said hospitality workers often lack employer-provided health insurance and work odd hours.
“There's easy access to alcohol and potentially drugs, and you're constantly taking care of people. So behind that plate of food that comes out to every guest, there's a whole team of people that are working in a pressure cooker environment.”
McDonald added wait times for health care in Delaware are difficult to manage and Celebrate Wellness seeks to address that frustration by connecting workers with services in under two weeks.
Hospitality workers can request therapist assistance using a form on Celebrate Wellness’s website.
