My Role at the YWC:
My name is Jaleesa I am the lead clinician for YouThrive. YouThrive is a partnership between the Youth Wellness Centre, Thrive Child and Youth Trauma Services, Hamilton Regional Indian Centre, De dwa da dehs nye>s and City School by Mohawk College and we provide mental wellness services for folks who identify as Black, Indigenous and racialized who have experienced racial stress and/or trauma. YouThrive recognizes the barriers that Black, Indigenous and racialized folks experience in accessing mental wellness services that considers their racial identity and we aim to provide culturally affirming services. My role is multifaceted in nature and includes developing and implementing individual and group-based clinical interventions, organizing special events, maintaining partnerships with external stakeholders and increasing capacity of service providers and leaders to support BIPOC young persons. Essentially, the goal of YouThrive is to offer mental wellness services that support BIPOC communities in increasing their own level of agency in the face of systemic racism (and other oppressions that intersect with race) and increase overall community awareness of BIPOC mental health issues.
Best Advice you’ve ever received:
“A person who stands for nothing will fall for anything”
Song that’s been stuck in your head:
I always have the 90s R&B or Motown soundtracks in my head. That’s cause those are the best eras of music, duh
