Indiana University Bloomington opens new Wellness House
The repurposed building is now home to student services that focus on students’ mental health and wellbeing, including Student Wellness, Substance Use Intervention Services, and the Collegiate Recovery Community.
Indiana University Bloomington’s newly opened Wellness House will be the campus hub for its services that provide resources for student mental health and wellness. The building used to be a sorority house, a career development center, and the Department for Undergraduate Education, but is now a space with classrooms, meeting spaces, and offices all designed to help students relax, meditate, study, and meet.
According to an article on Indiana University’s website, Samantha Smith, who serves as the university’s new associate vice provost for health and well-being, was quoted as saying of the new building and its purpose, “When you think about health and well-being, it’s a voluntary option; you have to opt into being engaged actively. Sometimes it’s not with counselors but the connections and environment we work and play in. When you see the rooms available, they are places where you can take a deep breath and take a break.”
Wellness House was created based on student feedback that indicated students would enjoy having more options for spaces to relax and study on campus. The Wellness House space was furnished via support from the Students Helping Students division of the IU Student Foundation. Wellness House features four distinct spaces inside, each of which will provide students with specific environments that will accommodate different needs.
There is a fireplace room, meant to be a cozy area to study or relax, a quiet room, which is full of bean bags and comfortable seating pillows, a collaboration space, which is supplied with board games and puzzles and is intended to be a place to relax with other students, and a meditation room, which is private and meant for prayer or other personal reflection. In addition to the four spaces with specific environments, there are also two classroom-style spaces that can be reserved for meetings or gatherings of students, faculty, or staff. The classrooms are reservable, but the other spaces in Wellness House have walk-in availability.
Kathy Adams Riester, the associate vice provost for student life and dean of students, said of the new space, “Students’ health and well-being, both physical and mental, are important for students to be successful. One of the goals was to bring services together in one space that can support students in different ways. It’s a student-centered space.”
Wellness House is the hub for Student Wellness, Substance Use Intervention Services, and the Collegiate Recovery Community, and its staff can make referrals to other, similar campus resources like the Student Health Center and Counseling and Psychological Services. Staff offices will also be on site.
Wellness House is open from 12pm to 8pm Monday through Wednesday and from 12pm to 5pm on Thursday and Friday.
For more information about Indiana University Bloomington, visit the school’s website.