Published in the Press Democrat on February 27th, 2025
The first thing visitors notice when they step onto Mentis’ new wellness campus in Napa isn’t its size — though at 12,000 square feet, it dwarfs the nonprofit’s previous home. It’s not the therapy rooms, the sunlit art studio or the open space reserved for a future community garden.
It’s something else: a feeling. A sense of ease. Of warmth. Of belonging.
Soft music hums in the front office. Sunlight spills through wide windows, illuminating leafy ferns and bright canvases. Gone are the cold, white walls and fluorescent lights of a typical clinic — here, the space feels alive.
Opened last month by the 77-year-old mental health nonprofit, the campus represents a seismic shift in how Napa provides care for those facing mental health challenges. It houses 10 therapy rooms — each with plush armchairs and a name meant to instill calm, like Tranquility, Peaceful and Clarity. A sports court, an art studio and the soon-to-come community garden sit nestled among towering redwoods. The entire space is built on a simple but profound idea: healing begins before a single word is spoken.
But just as Mentis expands its capacity to meet Napa’s growing mental health needs, uncertainty looms. Federal funding cuts threaten safety-net services like Medi-Cal, which thousands of residents rely on for care. For Mentis, which serves uninsured clients and those on public insurance, the question isn’t just how to grow — it’s how to sustain.
A Mission Realized
For decades, Mentis has quietly ensured thousands of Napa residents — many who might otherwise go without support — receive therapy, prevention services, and case management. When wildfires tore through the county, Mentis counselors were among the first to offer crisis support. When the pandemic left residents isolated, its therapists met clients where they were, making sure care remained accessible.
But after years of working in spaces that didn’t quite fit, with waitlists that never quite cleared, the nonprofit now has a home that reflects the depth of its mission.
The expansion comes at a pivotal time. Demand for mental health services in Napa County is high — and only growing.
Each year, Mentis provides affordable clinical care to more than 1,000 people. Its free prevention programs — teaching coping skills, suicide awareness and mental health literacy — reach an additional 4,000 residents annually. It is the only mental health provider in Napa serving uninsured individuals and one of the few accepting Medi-Cal.
That commitment to accessibility goes beyond affordability. Services are available in both Spanish and English, and clients are never asked about their immigration status. Mentis also partners with county agencies, local schools and Napa Valley College to reach people of all ages — from students in classrooms to older adults navigating life’s later years.
Through wildfires, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic instability, Mentis has led Napa’s mental health response, ensuring care remains available when it’s needed most. But as the need grew, space constraints threatened to limit its reach.
The Path to Expansion
Until recently, Mentis operated out of a modest office on Franklin Street, where therapists squeezed into limited rooms and prevention programs were scattered across borrowed spaces. Workshops and trainings took place in churches and community centers. Everything felt makeshift.
“This building is the culmination of a new approach that we’ve been working on for several years but haven’t been able to in person yet because we haven’t had the space,” said Charlotte Hajer, Mentis’ development director.
By 2023, with a constant waitlist and high demand, Mentis needed a larger home. That June, the organization secured the centrally located former Blue Oak Middle School campus at 1272 Hayes St., purchasing it for $6.42 million.
The move was made possible by an ongoing $14 million capital campaign, propelled by a $4.75 million state grant and $1 million from Napa Valley Vintners. Renovations — costing approximately $4 million — transformed the former school into a space intentionally designed for mental health care.
A New Model of Care
Now, with an additional 10,000 square feet, Mentis has doubled its capacity. For the first time, its entire team is under one roof, allowing prevention, treatment and case management to work seamlessly together.
Natural light floods the art studio and multipurpose room in the prevention wing, where colorful walls encourage visitors to “appreciate the things around you” and “spread kindness.” Soft furniture invites comfort — a sharp contrast to the institutional feel of so many mental health spaces.
This wing will host group-based activities focused on building coping skills, recognizing signs of suicide and connecting people with resources. Previously, these programs relied on borrowed venues across the county. Now, they finally have a home.
If funding allows, Mentis hopes to build on this progress. Plans for the second floor include an outdoor therapy space and a dedicated area for therapy animals.
Balancing Growth with Financial Uncertainty
But even as the nonprofit celebrates its expansion, uncertainty looms.
“There are transformational reductions at the federal level,” Executive Director Rob Weiss said. “This is translating into reduced funding for states. And states fund counties and school districts as well as offering grants to them and nonprofits.”
Since the Trump administration took office in January, proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medi-Cal have raised concerns about the future of programs like Mentis’. With a significant portion of its funding tied to these sources, the nonprofit faces an uncertain financial landscape.
“We’ll have to find ways to continue to generate revenue to provide services, knowing that government funding is going to go down,” Weiss said. “Dollars equal services; we’ll need to have the dollars to utilize our increased capacity here.”
For the Mentis team, the contrast is striking — celebrating a long-awaited expansion while bracing for financial headwinds.
It is personally challenging for the staff to reconcile the new campus and its increased capacity with this new challenge of chaotic changes at the federal level, Weiss added.
The Road Ahead
Despite the uncertainty, there is momentum. In the newly opened campus, staff arrange therapy rooms, hang artwork and prepare for clients. For the first time in its history, Mentis’ entire team is working side by side, fostering collaboration, innovation and a renewed commitment to keeping services available — no matter what lies ahead.
And Napa has a track record of stepping up.
“We have a really generous community that we’ve benefited from,” said Hajer, the development director. “The hope is that by working together and everyone doing their part, we can keep all this going for us and all other essential services.”
On March 5, Mentis will mark this new chapter with a ribbon-cutting ceremony — a moment of triumph, gratitude and renewed purpose.
The doors are open. The space is ready. The need remains.
And the work continues.
You can reach Tarini Mehta at 707-521-5337 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @MehtaTarini.