• Welcome to the VFWC!

    WELCOME

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

  • Happy Group of People

    WELCOME

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

  • Joyful Group of Women

    WELCOME

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

  • Joyful Couple

    WELCOME

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

Man and Wife caressing one another

OUR TEAM

Tess Banko
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
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
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
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
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
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.