Welcome to VFWC

Get in touch!

How to find us

Click here to download the VA West Los Angeles Medical Center campus map

The Veteran Family Wellness Center is housed within the newly renovated Center for Holisitic Health (Building 220) at the VA West Los Angeles Medical Center.

You can also reach out to us:

Phone 310-478-3711, ext 42793

info@vfwc.ucla.edu

Contact us

We're here to serve you and your loved ones, please fill out this form so that we can reach you:

Phone

I am a:

Veteran

Family Member

Community Member or Supporter

Service Provider to Veterans and Families

Interested in

Events and Tickets

Services, Groups and Workshops

Community-Wide Information

Family and Child Programming

Women Veterans Programming

Combat Veterans Programming

The Healing Art

Transition Resilience

General List

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: UCLA - DPBH, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, US, http://dpbh.ucla.edu. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.

WELCOME
The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children.

WELCOME
The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children.

WELCOME
The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children.

WELCOME
The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children.

ABOUT US

Our Center is part of a unique partnership between the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS).

The skilled providers who make up our dedicated team are experts in the unique needs of Veteran families. They are experienced in providing a range of wellness services, including individual, couple, and family resilience programming, events and workshops, and quality referrals to mental healthcare and other resources. We are also pleased to provide fun recreational activities designed to promote family and child well‐being in the adjacent garden. Services are available through our secure TeleWellness platform.

The VFWC is open to Veterans and their families for both drop-in and scheduled services during family- friendly hours. We hope to see you soon. Click here to meet our team.

Join our mailing list

Stay up to date on events, programs, and resources by joining the Veteran Family Wellness Center mailing list!

CALENDAR/EVENTS

May

May 10, Women Veteran Tea and Pamper Me Day

May

Veteran Mental Health Connections and Resource Fair

Apr

Power Up Your Parenting Workshop: The Path Forward

NEWS

Dec

Tickets for Hansel and Gretel at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Dec

Managing Holiday Stress Workshop

Nov

VFWC Director Tess Banko speaks at UCLA's Veteran Day event on November 9, 2018.

Oct

Saucy Saturday, VFWC Family BBQ

Aug

National Grief Awareness Day

OUR TEAM

Tess Banko, MSW/MPA, CPSS, serves as the executive director of the VFWC. A Marine Corps Veteran, she has held leadership roles in the military, Veteran, and wider civilian communities for over 15 years. Her background includes social work and public administration, as well as mental health and wellness, community development, organizational leadership, and management. Tess is a strong supporter of collaborative, consensus-based initiatives and believes in accessible, preventive, strength-based approaches that span the continuum of Veteran and family-member needs.

Tom Babayan, MS, LMFT, serves as a Director of Veteran and Family Services for the VFWC. He has delivered prevention services to active-duty military families and Veterans for over 9 years. He currently acts as Model Supervisor for staff delivering the FOCUS suite of services at military installations in the United States and abroad. Mr. Babayan pioneered the teledelivery model, an innovative platform that uses video teleconferencing technology to deliver psychoeducation and training to Veterans and their families

Gabriela Alejos, MSW, serves as a resilience trainer at the VFWC. Gabriela earned her master's degree in social work at the University of Southern California, with a concentration on children, youth, and families. Gabriela has worked closely with military and Veteran families, including the UCLA FOCUS for Early Childhood research study. She is passionate about supporting this incredibly resilient population.

Melissa Lee, serves as the Family Resource Coordinator for the VFWC. She served as a ground supply officer in the USMC from 2000 to 2004. She was stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Camp Lejeune, and Camp Hansen, Okinawa. She did Veteran outreach for Habitat for Humanity in the San Fernando/Santa Clarita valleys, and for the last 2 years has volunteered with 22 Until None, a nonprofit dedicated to ending Veteran suicide. She is married to a former Marine Corps infantry officer and was stationed with him at Marine Corps bases Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms.

Melissa Wasserman, PsyD, is a postdoctoral fellow specializing in teleservices for Veteran families. Dr. Wasserman received her doctorate from Pepperdine University, where she studied clinical psychology. She completed her internship at the UCLA Semel Institute, where she received specialized training in assessment and intervention for families who have overcome traumatic experiences. Her research interests include intergenerational trauma and resilience with a special focus on military and Veteran populations.

Jessica Dodge, MPH, Jessica Dodge is an intern at the UCLA / VA Veteran Family Wellness Center. Jessica received her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Michigan, specializing in health behavior and health education with an emphasis on mental health. She is currently an MSW and PhD dual degree student at the University of Southern California’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Jessica’s career goals include conducting clinical research to influence intervention development for military families and streamlining processes to connect service members and their families to resources within their communities. Her research interests include military family health, military to civilian transitions, anxiety, and resilience and strength based treatments. Jessica is the spouse of a service member and is passionate about providing military families with the best care possible.

Get in touch!

How to find us

WELCOME

The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children. MORE

WELCOME

The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children. MORE

WELCOME

The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children. MORE

WELCOME

The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children. MORE

ABOUT US

The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children.

The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children.

The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children.

The Veteran Family Wellness Center (VFWC) provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for Veterans and their families, including parents, couples, and children.