We’re continuing our COVID Earners Series, where we speak with businesses owned and operated by people of color, who are reimagining our city’s future during the pandemic.
Collectively, we’ve experienced a lot of changes the last few years and it can be exhausting living through unprecedented times. Now more than ever, mental health care is top of mind.
Late last year, Esperanza Winters opened Wellspace MKE on the west side of Milwaukee at 9205 W. Center St. It’s a coworking, collective space for mental health and wellness providers who may be starting out and need a physical space, but aren’t ready to sign a lease.
Winters is also the owner and therapist at The Practice MKE. When COVID-19 first hit, Winters notes how quickly mental health and wellness professionals closed their offices to in-person services or gave up their office spaces altogether.
As we've moved through the pandemic, Winters saw a need to open up physical spaces again for services.
"I had an idea like, well, I can get this space and then share the space for collaboration purposes with other practitioners, not only does it help me to not be in a solo practice, but it offers members of the community access to different types of wellness services all under one roof," says Winters.
Wellspace MKE boast a diverse staff with a variety of different services for different people. It's important, Winters says, that the space isn't for one type of person. Those wellness services include massage, acupuncture and reiki therapist.
Winter says a perk for the individual providers is that they're still able to maintain their own business. "With the pandemic, so many businesses closing and more people are accessing mental health, with Wellspace I just wanted to provide a space for people who eventually wanted to come back to in-person psychotherapy and wellness services and for therapist to have a space to get started before they move on to a bigger space of their own."
