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In February, Dr. Rose Wilkins hosted a soft opening ceremony for City Blocks Wellness Center on 300 Broad Street.

On Friday morning, the soft opening became the official opening after a Ribbon Cutting took place outside the building with members of the Selma City Council, Mayor James Perkins Jr., members of the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce taking part in the ceremony.

“We can’t control what people say or what people do or how they treat you,” Perkins said. “What we can do is learn to control your own response. That is what I see Mental Health Wellness to be.”

Since the soft opening back in February, City Blocks has come a long way to the Ribbon Cutting on Friday.

“In February we wanted to do that soft opening just because we had planned it and then the tornado happened,” Wilkins said. “So we thought about it and just tried to bring a little light to the community. Now, since that time we have actually started to activate plans. We have had sessions, had activities and bring in a session to operate those daily classes as well as just having the space open for the community. Since that time, a great array of things have started. We have had yoga classes, activities outside, during Jubilee we had activities as well.”

With the space fully open there are others who will be able to enjoy the space as well.

“The other good thing is that other community groups are able to use our space,” Wilkins said. “The AKAs use this for a wind-down Friday. Their wind-down week meant that they came down and they had refreshments and we had a massage chair. We can do a lot of things it’s just a matter of moving furniture around or transforming the space.”

City Blocks has been a dream of Wilkins for many years. One of the first projects she worked on was putting a Wellness Center in Selma High School. While she was working on that project City Blocks was still in her mind.

“This building grew out of the work at Selma High,” Wilkins said. “I had it in the back of my mind for a long time. Selma High School demonstrated the need to talk to the community. Those kids were bringing us ‘this is what’s happening on our block. This is what’s happening in my home.’ Now we have a way to create a pathway to talk to family. We have had opportunities to that with a child who is in crisis at Selma High. We talked to the mental health workers at Selma High then assimilated a group and got the families in here. That way we can tap into ‘this is what your child is seeing.’ A lot of people have a problem with going to the school because most of the time if they go their kid is in trouble. So they don’t want to go. Here, it was safe. Now we can meet with families. That’s the big piece about this. Selma High started this process of knowing this.”

There are many events coming up in July at City Blocks.

July 8- Saved and Sane “An Afternoon in Paris” at 3 p.m. (Private Event)

July 11,12,25,26 – Thought Leadership Sessions (Ages 13-17 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m.)

July 13 & 27- Cupcakes & Conversation 7 p.m.- 8 p.m.

July 10-14- School Scrimmage Clinic (Ages 9-13 9 a.m.-12 p.m.) (Ages 14-17 9 a.m.- 12 p.m.)

July 28- Wine & Wellness Mixer (Monthly) 5 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. Cost: $20.00

For more information contact us at 470-836-5406 or 334-431-5352