After more than two years of community meetings, many to seek buy-in from residents, the new Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-Being opens next month. The new center’s model is unique nationally. It will treat children who have suffered trauma — most often from abuse or neglect — as well as their parents and foster parents. But it will also have a 1-acre farm to grow carrots, potatoes and squash, and a greenhouse to produce greens, tilapia and catfish through aquaponics.

Among about 100 employees will be a farmer and an aquaponics specialist.

“How do I talk to you about dealing with trauma and raising your children if in fact, they are hungry?” said Dr. Lydia Prado, director of children and family services for the Mental Health Center.

Besides the farm, the center also will have a gym where neighborhood residents can work out, a children’s dental clinic, a community space for book clubs and meetings and a training kitchen with an herb garden where residents can take cooking classes. The campus will sell fresh chard and fish then teach people how to cook them.

“It’s all about health and well-being,” Prado said.

Read the full article here: Community input shaped new mental health clinic in Denver’s Park Hill