A temporary pop-up in downtown Garland is inviting people to learn about mental health resources in a relaxed, no-pressure space.
Room for Change, a counselling center with locations in Dallas, Garland and Houston, hosts “Room to Bloom” through the end of May. The pop-up offers free resources for all ages and backgrounds with the goal of reducing the stigma surrounding mental health treatment.
“My hope is that people see us, it plants a seed for them, that we are accessible and that if they need help, they don’t have to do things alone,” said Amanda Esquivel, the founder and lead counsellor at Room for Change. “Therapists are often doing this work in quiet, kind of closeted ways, and I think it’s really important that therapists come out into the public where people are to have these conversations.”
The pop-up provides free mental health screening assessments as well as special activities such as painting rocks with positive messages and card writing for mailable hugs. Esquivel said it could help people discover new ways to care for themselves.
“The importance for our human psyches to be able to do creative things as a healthy coping skill and frivolity because so much of what we do in our society, it’s high stakes,” Esquivel said. “Doing things that are frivolous, [that] don’t have big strings attached to them, is really important.”
Room to Change offers several types of counselling such as general mental health, substance use, services for teens and adults and for families and couples. The advocacy group Mental Health America’s 2025 State of Mental Health report showed Texas ranked second to last in the country for access to mental health care – with cost being one factor. Esquivel said her counseling center wants to make getting help more accessible.
“Our goal is not just with Room to Bloom, but with Room for Change as a larger entity is to make sure that we’re addressing those roadblocks for people, reducing those barriers and access to care,” Esquivel said.
The Room to Bloom pop-up will continue throughout the week until the end of May from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Located at 505 W. State St. in Garland.
Avery Escamilla-Wendell is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Avery at aescamillawendell@kera.org. You can follow heron Instagram @by_avery_escamilla.
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