About Us

About Us

We are a non-profit organization offering affordable natural healing and wellness services in Spanish and English.

Located in Walker's Point on Milwaukee's south side, CORE El Centro serves adults and children of all income levels. We offer integrative healing services such as acupuncture, massage therapy and body work; gardening and nutrition programs; children's wellness; social change through community health advocacy; and movement classes. Our goal is to inspire individuals, families and communities to achieve optimal health. 

Date Opened:  January 2, 2002

Clients Served:  In 2023 CORE El Centro provided direct services to about 1,000 individuals. This includes nearly 650 unique individuals in our clinic providing one-on-one holistic therapies, and over 530 adults and children in our movement classes and other mindfulness offerings.

The populations being served by CORE El Centro include persons who have limited access if any to health care because of factors such as income, language or cultural barriers. 80% identify as Latino.  The age range is 3 - 84 with an average age of 45.  80% are women. In 2022, 70% of clients were severely low-income, about 90% of CORE El Centro’s clientele is subsidized.

The primary reasons for visit are similar each year. Pain (of any kind) is the primary reason people come for visits, with anxiety and depression the next most frequent.

Services Offered:

  • Acupuncture, cupping, massage, energy work, spiritual companionship, and other somatic healing treatments address all types of traumas, depression, addiction, anxiety, and issues that live in the body and can impact physical health and social connectedness.

  • Bilingual Health Navigators are available to guide clients in accessing our services, developing a treatment plan, scheduling, and connecting to other agencies.

  • Movement and mindfulness classes provide strategies and tools for mental health. Gentle modalities like yoga and meditation regulate stress and build a mind/body connection; vigorous options like Latin Dance naturally boost mood, lower anxiety, and decrease feelings of isolation (The Joy of Movement, 2019). Children’s offerings foster a love of movement and social-emotional skills. 

  • Cooking, nutrition, herbalism workshops empower adults and families to use nutrition and ancestral knowledge to improve their mental and physical health. This program leverages our unique rooftop garden as a classroom and healing space and provides CSA boxes along with nutrition classes to qualifying families.