Melissa Barber is a native of The South Bronx, New York. Her undergraduate education was completed at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA. She holds a Doctorate of Medicine​ from the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba.

Dr. Barber is not only an author, but a healer, teacher, mentor, community organizer, activist, singer, and poet. Melissa wrote "The New Dawn Hotel (Life in the Shelter System)." She is also a very proud single mom of a teenage autistic daughter, Delilah Christina.  They currently reside in the best place on the planet, the South Bronx.