D’Veal Family and Youth Services Plans Holiday Events To Support Mental Health Mission

Longtime Pasadena nonprofit D’Veal Family and Youth Services is launching two holiday events in December to highlight and strengthen its mental health support for disadvantaged families across the San Gabriel Valley while celebrating the organization’s expanding role in school-based care.

“Your tax-deductible gift will assist D’Veal in expanding services to help children from vulnerable, underserved populations get the much-needed mental health support they need to grow to their fullest potential,” said Chief Executive Officer John McCall, LCSW.

“Community is important and our role is to be able to provide the unmet needs in underserved communities,” McCall added.

“We view our staff as heroes with the work that they do and the time that it takes to be able to work with individuals and families.”

D’Veal, which served nearly 1,000 children in 2023-24, will transform its Pasadena headquarters into a “Holiday Hero Squad” gathering on December 5, followed by a “Candyland Family Fun Night” at the Duarte Teen Center on December 18. Both events run from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The Holiday Hero Squad event at 2750 E. Washington Boulevard promises “an epic adventure filled with games, tasty treats, and awesome giveaways.” The evening will feature facility tours, family testimonial videos, live entertainment, and activities for children.

Several community organizations, including representatives from credit unions, automobile dealerships, and Verizon, will attend as sponsors.

We’ll take visitors on a tour of our facility and talk about the various programs that we offer,” McCall explained. “For any parent that brings their child along, we’re going to have some structured activity and games to occupy the kids’ time while we take the parent on tour.” He added, “They can also go onto our website if they want to make a financial donation as well.”

The Duarte Teen Center location was strategically chosen for the Candyland celebration.

“Given traffic here in Southern California, we thought a halfway point would be great to have it in Duarte, so that way it’s centralized to all of our service areas,” McCall said, noting that D’Veal serves families across Pasadena, Monrovia, El Monte, Glendora, and West Covina.

Both events support D’Veal’s evolution since the pandemic, as the organization has expanded to serve 18 schools across six school Districts.

The Candyland event, exclusively for D’Veal clients, will include bicycle raffles, toy distributions, and activities designed to encourage parent-child interaction.

Staff members will be dressed up for the themed celebration.

“Teaching and showing the parents how to play with their children… getting kids out of the house, off their devices, getting them active, getting them connected with other people,” McCall explained.

The organization’s impact is demonstrated through success stories like eight-year-old Frances, who received support following her parents’ divorce. Through six months of integrated therapy involving a school-based team of specialists, “Frances showed a huge improvement in her coping skills and was able to reduce her behavioral outbursts.”

“Our families who come from marginalized communities with limited incomes and revenues, it’s hard for them to miss a day from work,” McCall emphasized. “We are making the adjustment because when you’re struggling with income, the high cost of rent and food, and so we really have to make the adjustment to understand families from a different perspective.”

Founded in 1993, D’Veal provides comprehensive behavioral healthcare services, including individual, family, specialty groups, crisis intervention, medication support, psychological testing, and targeted case management. The organization demonstrated its adaptability during COVID-19 by securing grant funding for tablets and internet hotspots to maintain remote therapy access.

Community members interested in supporting the toy drive can donate new, unwrapped toys for children ages 0-16 at the December 5 event or make financial contributions through D’Veal’s website.

For additional information about the toy drive or donations, contact Shai McCall at (626) 710-5711.