Ajuso Behavioral Health is a peer-led organization building community-based alternatives to institutional care across Washington State — from peer respite and counseling to training, housing, and outreach.
"To walk alongside people in their healing — where they are, not where a waiting room expects them to be."Our Mission
A real home — not a hospital. Short-term residential support staffed entirely by people who know what it feels like from the inside.
Ajuso House Stanwood →Counseling, therapy, and medication management — clinical care that actually feels human.
Learn more →Meeting people where they are — in their homes, their neighborhoods, their lives.
Learn more →Growing the peer workforce — CPSS certification, skills development, and professional training.
Learn more →A natural next step after peer respite — stable housing with wraparound behavioral health support.
Learn more →Helping other organizations build peer programs, workforces, and community behavioral health infrastructure.
Learn more →Ajuso House is our peer respite program — one of several services under Ajuso Behavioral Health.
Sometimes you just need a place to breathe. Not a waiting room. Not a clipboard and a diagnosis. Just a home — with people around you who actually get it, because they have been there too.
Ajuso House is our peer respite home in Stanwood, Washington. It is voluntary, non-clinical, and open to any adult 18 or older who is going through a hard time emotionally or mentally.
"A place to land, catch your breath, and remember you are not alone."
Ajuso was founded because the system too often asks people to fit into it — rather than showing up for them where they actually are. Our founder Felix Were built this organization from personal knowledge of what it feels like when support is hard to find, and what it looks like when it finally arrives.
The name Ajuso is inspired by someone close to Felix — a person whose resilience and recovery helped shape the heart of this organization. It reflects strength, healing, and the belief that people can rebuild their lives with the right kind of support around them.
"To walk alongside people in their healing — where they are, not where a waiting room expects them to be."
Whether you are reaching out for yourself, calling about a loved one, or making a clinical referral — call, text, or message us. There is no wrong way to start.