Shaleena Tareen didn’t hear much about mental health when she was growing up. Now, however, she realizes that she had a lot of anxious thoughts and recalls watching her mom sometimes experience a certain “heaviness.”
It wasn’t until she found herself in the back of an ambulance having a full-blown panic attack that Tareen really started to recognize what was happening. Working as an elementary school teacher, Tareen also noticed some of her students, and even her own children, needed mental health counseling.
“Those children who were unable to connect, unable to sit still, were talked about as being difficult. They were not difficult, they were anxious, they were overwhelmed,” she said. “The parents as well, who were trying to find resources, who did not know where to start looking for answers.”
Tareen spoke those words before an audience gathered at the April 24 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Childhood Matters Wellness Center, a remodeled office building resembling a home near Ventura’s two hospitals at 2982 Martha Drive where free and low-cost mental health counseling will be offered to young people.
The mental health services will be provided in collaboration with the Ventura County Family Justice Center and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. Services will include counseling, therapeutic activities and trauma-informed educational workshops for clients including crime victims and children who have witnessed crimes. In addition to serving clients between 5 and 25, the Childhood Matters Wellness Center will be a practicum site for MFT (Marriage and Family Therapist) programs at nearby universities so students can gain practical experience.
“Giving them a voice”
During an interview with the Ventura County Reporter after the ceremony, Tareen said she founded the nonprofit Family Matters three years ago, and has collaborated with the Ventura County Office of Education to provide services at school sites. Now they have a space of their own where therapy rooms are decked out in themes and colors to make clients of various ages feel at ease.
Tareen said it seems more and more young people are experiencing mental health issues these days and there’s also more awareness than there used to be.
“But also, we find that the world is not the same that it used to be, right? With our social media and everything else and the pressures that society places on our teens. So definitely, you know, we feel that we are also giving them a voice to speak out about their feelings,” Tareen said.
Youth Ambassadors
Childhood Matters also has a Youth Mental Health Ambassador Program where young people help organize events promoting mental wellness, assist in fundraising efforts and enhance their leadership and communications skills.
Isabella Rudnick, 16, of Calabasas, had Tareen as a pre-school teacher and decided to become a Youth Ambassador. After providing guests with tours of the new Childhood Matters Wellness Center, Rudnick told the VCReporter it’s been a great experience.
“One thing that’s helped me kind of come out of my shell was being a part of this program and talking to people about mental health so that I could also focus on my mental health,” she said. “In order to be somebody who’s an advocate, you have to help yourself…So it’s kind of helped me talk through my problems and realize that, like, it’s okay to get help.”
Rudnick said Tareen has been a great mentor and public speaking coach, and she’s already thinking about a possible career in psychology or neuroscience.
“This has given me a platform to help kids, even though I’m just a teen in high school,” said the student of Louisville High School in Woodland Hills. “It’s given me the opportunity to talk to so many people and create so many connections with therapists and talk to other kids who are struggling, and it’s just an overall great program to get in touch with people. Shaleena has done an amazing job of organizing and coordinating and making connections and opening such a beautiful place.”
Preventing future trauma
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko told the VCReporter he was at a wellness fair at Conejo Creek Park in Thousand Oaks about three years ago when he saw a Childhood Matters booth and learned about the vision.
“We talked about what the Family Justice Center concept was all about, how we deal oftentimes with kids and trauma, both sexual and physical abuse, and how there was an urgent need to provide one-on-one therapeutic counseling for them. She said that’s exactly what Childhood Matters is all about. So fast forward, this location became available,” Nasarenko said.
The formerly vacant county-owned building is close to the Family Justice Center, a collaboration between about 40 agencies. Nasarenko was pleased to see the Childhood Matters Wellness Center open.
“It’s exciting to see a meeting in a park come to this fruition,” Nasarenko said. “For Childhood Matters to make it into its home and to provide an essential service to youth from our caseload will really make a difference in both reducing trauma and preventing future trauma.”
Childhood Matters, 2982 Martha Drive, Ventura, 818-644-2235, www.childhoodmatter.org.
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