Thriven Design joins BRICK Networks for groundbreaking of the South Ward Wellness Center
Thriven Design was happy to join BRICK Networks, Newark leaders, and project partners Thursday, March 5, for the groundbreaking of the South Ward Wellness Center. The 45,000 square foot multi-use facility will bring a suite of preventative and primary health care services to residents of Newark, NJ.
The Center will include:
- A branch of the Newark YMCA, offering fitness and wellness options to South Ward residents;
- Prenatal care, maternal care, and support programs offered by South Ward Healthy Beginnings;
- A 12,000sf Federally Qualified Health Center operated by St. James Health, that will offer medical care to individuals and families, regardless of patients’ ability to pay.
Thriven Design is providing architecture, engineering, and interior design services for the project, which fills a critical, unmet community need for affordable healthcare and wellness services.
In the groundbreaking’s keynote address, BRICK Networks CEO Dominique Lee described the South Ward Wellness Center as the centerpiece of BRICK Networks’ Family Village strategy and the culmination of careful listening to first-hand accounts of closed doors, long wait times, missed work, and families leaving without care.
“This is more than just a building,” Lee said. “It’s a new system designed to remove barriers, welcome families with dignity. … We don’t ask families to adjust their lives to a broken system. We adjust our system to honor family lives. … We cannot ask families to do the impossible. Be everywhere. Manage everything. Carry everything- without a system that carries them back.”
This is more than just a building. It's a new system designed to remove barriers, welcome families with dignity. ... We don't ask families to adjust their lives to a broken system. We adjust our system to honor family lives. ... We cannot ask families to do the impossible. Be everywhere. Manage everything. Carry everything- without a system that carries them back.
Dominique Lee, CEO, BRICK Networks
Support for this project has included $21.7 million in tax credit funding through New Jersey’s Aspire program and a $500,000 capital investment grant from The Burke Foundation. The Center is expected to open its doors to families in early 2027.
Learn more about the South Ward Wellness Center and Thriven Design’s portfolio of community centers at https://thriven.design/expertise/.
