Pinedale Boys & Girls Club adds calming room for children and teens

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Two Fresno County organizations are taking steps to improve the mental well-being of young people.

The Pinedale Boys and Girls Club in northwest Fresno just opened a “calming room” for children and teens.

The storage room has been transformed into a calm room with calming colors, comfortable chairs and various resources to help children decompress.

“We also have noise-cancelling headphones, which I think is really helpful,” said Matilda Garcia, a social services intern at Fresno EOC. “It can be a little noisy in here, or for students who live in busy, hectic, full rooms – maybe they don’t have the opportunity to enjoy this quiet space, so they can use it .”

The calming room was created with help from Fresno EOC’s Foster Grandparents program, as well as Generations Serving Together Fresno.

Program coordinator Raquel Padia described it as a multi-generational effort to improve the mental health of youth in the community.

“I just didn’t realize when I got here that I would hear so many stories and the impact they already have on kids,” she said.

Pinedale staff shared the impact the Calming Room has had on the center over the past two days.

“A few guys who like to show a little more force of personality went there,” said unit director Stevie Santos. “Once they found that safe person and space, they really let the tears flow. They talked about some things that I don’t feel like they would have talked about if they hadn’t had this space.”

Fresno EOC and the Boys and Girls Club are pleased to offer this resource to address the mental health needs of our most vulnerable populations.