Healing on Wheels: How One Mobile Clinic Is Transforming Mental Health Through 4 Community-Driven Innovations 

In North Tulsa, Oklahoma — a community with deep cultural roots and persistent health disparities — a mobile mental health clinic is transforming the way care is delivered. 

Skillz on Wheelz, founded by therapist Ebony Skillens, LPC-S, and her husband, is more than a clinic on wheels. It’s a culturally grounded movement to reimagine how therapy is accessed, experienced, and valued — particularly in Black and Brown communities. Whether it’s trauma, grief, relationship challenges, or parenting stress, their approach starts with one radical belief: 

Care should come to you. 

With a retrofitted RV turned into a warm and welcoming therapy space, Skillz on Wheelz travels across Tulsa offering private counseling sessions in familiar, trusted places — from churches to barbershops. But the real innovation is in their model: community-centered, culturally responsive, and client-driven. 

Here are four ways Skillz on Wheelz is rewriting the story of public health — one parking spot at a time: 

1. Therapy That Moves With the Community 

Each weekday, Skillz on Wheelz parks in a different location — outside community hubs like YMCAs, re-entry programs, churches, cultural centers, and a local health department. Many times, they’re just steps from where clients already live, work, and gather. 

This mobile approach removes the most common barriers to care: lack of transportation, inflexible schedules, and stigma. It allows people to access support without stepping out of their daily routines. 

It’s a model rooted not just in mobility, but in deep relationships. As Ebony explained: 

“Most of the clinicians live in the community or have lived in the community. They grew up in North Tulsa. They work and worship here. That’s why people trust us. 

People feel safer when they’re served by folks who understand them —  who come from the community or are deeply connected to it,” Ebony explained. 

That sense of trust is what makes their care model so adaptable, even beyond the RV itself. For those who can’t make it in person, Skillz on Wheelz offers telehealth visits with the same trusted clinicians — something the team initially hesitated to adopt but now sees as a vital option for increasing access. 

2. A Collaborative, Independent Care Model 

Skillz on Wheelz doesn’t operate like a typical clinic. Instead of relying on salaried staff, they’ve built a network of independent clinicians — each with their own private practice, specialty, and schedule — who rotate through the mobile unit. 

This gives clients more choice and flexibility. They might begin therapy on the RV and then transition into longer-term care with the same therapist offsite. And if a different service is needed, referrals are made freely, even if it’s outside the network. 

The model is rooted in autonomy, fit, and collaboration, not gatekeeping. It respects the individual needs of each client and the unique offerings of each provider. 

3. Reaching Black Men and Strengthening Families 

One of Skillz on Wheelz’ boldest innovations is its work to reach a group often left out of mental health conversations: Black men. 

Through its MENtal HEALth – MEN HEAL initiative, the team is partnering with barbers — long regarded as trusted confidants in Black communities — to open new doors for healing. 

“My husband said, ‘Do you want to know the real therapists in our community?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, because I’m the real therapist!’ And he said, ‘No, it’s the barbers,’” Ebony recalled. 

Barbers are already mental health first responders. Every day, they listen to stories of stress, loss, and daily struggles. This program gives them the tools to respond with compassion, insight, and connection. 

In a 3-hour training, barbers learn how to: 

• Recognize emotional distress 

• Use nonjudgmental, supportive language 

• Normalize healing and challenge stigma 

• Share local mental health resources, including how to refer clients to Skillz on Wheelz 

The result? Barbershops become hubs of hope. Men hear about the mobile clinic during a regular cut and feel encouraged — not ashamed — to take the next step toward care. The barber becomes both a listener and a bridge to healing. 

“There’s nothing tied to it. We didn’t say, ‘We’ll pay you.’ They come in on their day off to learn because they want to make their barbershop a safe, friendly place,” Ebony said. 

Beyond the barbershop, Skillz on Wheelz also takes a family-first approach to therapy, especially with children and teens. When a young person receives care, parents and caregivers are expected to participate. Mental health isn’t framed as an individual issue — it’s treated as a shared family journey. 

4. Centering Culture and Language in Care 

In partnership with UMA Tulsa, an organization supporting the Hispanic/Latinx community, Skillz on Wheelz is piloting a new peer educator training program that equips community members to be mental health ambassadors. 

Rather than relying on translation alone, this initiative trains trusted peers to: 

• Understand common signs and symptoms 

• Speak about mental health in culturally resonant ways 

• Serve as liaisons between community members and clinicians 

This 20-hour program expands both access and cultural fluency — ensuring that care feels relevant, respectful, and rooted in the realities of the people it serves. 

Real Results, Real Healing 

As a participant in the Mobile Health Map Mobile Health Impact Accelerator, Skillz on Wheelz demonstrates how mobile mental health care can be a powerful force in advancing public health equity. By breaking down barriers and centering community-driven care, they are helping rewrite the narrative of health access — bringing healing, hope, and opportunity directly to those who need it most. 

The impact of Skillz on Wheelz isn’t just felt — it’s measured: 

• More than half of clients report fewer poor mental health days after receiving care 

• Over 80% are using stress-reduction techniques in their daily lives 

• Nearly 70% of new clients continue therapy after their initial no-cost sessions, supported by care coordinators who help bridge them to long-term care 

And behind every number is a story. One client shared: 

“When I first went to the RV with my daughter, who I thought was in crisis, I was scheduled with Miss Ikia— and she slowly helped me unpack and see that I was the one in crisis. It was kind of like a whole-body healing — mind, body, and soul through Christ. 

Once I began to flourish, everyone in my household began to flourish — my daughters, my husband, and my relationships with my family.” 

From measurable improvements in mental health to transformative experiences like this, Skillz on Wheelz is proving that when care meets people where they are — physically, culturally, spiritually, and emotionally — true healing begins.