About Us
Our Story
Inner City Bliss (ICB) is a grassroots, Oakland-based organization rooted in the belief that wellness is a form of resistance and healing is a collective right. Founded in 2018 by community-based mental health advocate and wellness practitioner Andre Humphrey, ICB emerged from his lived experiences growing up in environments shaped by poverty, violence, and systemic oppression. Andre’s vision was to create the kind of healing spaces he needed as a young person, spaces grounded in care, connection, and cultural relevance. Since then, we’ve provided trauma-informed, mindfulness-based programming to meet the emotional, mental, and spiritual needs of historically divested Black, Brown, Indigenous, and AAPI communities.
Led by practitioners who reflect the communities we serve, ICB creates healing spaces grounded in cultural fluency and generational wisdom. Our offerings, spanning somatic care, movement, meditation, and land-based practices, bridge ancestral healing with practical tools for resilience and restoration.
We work at the intersections of public health, education, and racial justice, addressing systemic harms like the school-to-prison pipeline, youth criminalization, and rising mental health crises among young people of color. Our programs offer both prevention and healing, planting seeds for long-term wellbeing.
At ICB, we approach healing as a practice of reconnection to body, breath, land, and each other. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all services, we co-create experiences that meet people where they are and honor the cultural knowledge they carry.
Our programs are rooted in trauma-informed care, while moving beyond clinical models to center joy, self-expression, and belonging. We blend mindfulness, somatic movement, and ancestral practices in ways that are responsive to the unique needs of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and AAPI communities.
Each space we hold, whether in a classroom, on the land, or within community gathering places, is intentionally designed to restore nervous system balance, foster safety, and build capacity for long-term care. Through this ecosystem-building approach, we’re not just teaching wellness tools, we’re nurturing the conditions for healing to take root and ripple outward.
The Four Portals of Healing
At Inner City Bliss, we believe healing happens through multiple pathways. Lasting wellbeing is built through direct support, shared learning, community leadership, and collective action. Our work is organized through four interconnected portals that create opportunities for healing at every level of the community.
Direct Services
We provide trauma-informed, culturally responsive mindfulness, movement, restorative practices, and nature-based experiences that support youth, families, caregivers, and professionals in building resilience, emotional wellbeing, and meaningful connection.
Education
We expand access to wellness knowledge through workshops, community conversations, and accessible resources that normalize healing practices and deepen understanding of mental and emotional wellbeing.
Training
We strengthen community capacity by equipping educators, practitioners, and organizational leaders with practical tools and healing-centered approaches they can integrate into their own work and communities.
Collaborative Action
We partner with schools, nonprofits, wellness practitioners, and community leaders to increase access to care, invest in the local healing economy, and advance community-rooted solutions that support long-term wellbeing.
Inner City Bliss in the News
ICB is making an impact, and people are noticing. We’re happy that our work with Fremont High has been featured in this piece by ABC Channel 7.
Partners we've collaborated with
We believe in the power of collaboration and are honored to work with like-minded partners who share our mission and values.
