Talking through tough times Talking through tough times (December 12, 2003)

Children, adults seek counseling at CHAC

By Julie O'Shea

The Community Health Awareness Council has been a presence in Mountain View since 1973. Each year it offers its counseling services to thousands of children, families and individuals living here and in Los Altos, yet for many, the name CHAC is still not a household name.

"If it comes to schools, we are very well known," said Monique Kane, the nonprofit's executive director. However, when it comes to the rest of the city, Kane admits she'd like to do better in that area. She says it surprises her that CHAC -- which has its headquarters along tree-lined Church Street in downtown Mountain View -- is not more familiar, considering "there's a lot of stress in our society."

"We can reach so many families," Kane added. "We provide a valuable service."

CHAC is one of six local nonprofit agencies being supported this year by the Voice Holiday Fund drive.

While more than 50 new counseling interns are active at local elementary and high schools this year, on-campus work is only half of what CHAC provides. Its other programs range from gay and lesbian support groups and unemployment networking to drug and alcohol prevention and low-cost weekly counseling sessions with families and individuals.

"We help a variety of different people here," spokesperson Lamont Jones said. "CHAC doesn't turn anybody away."

Paula Shuer, a senior intern who has been at CHAC for two-and-a-half years, says everyone could benefit from a therapy session. "We all need help," she said. "We all need help getting through life at one time or another."

With Mountain View's diverse demographics and income levels, not everyone can afford the high costs some private therapists charge. CHAC, Jones said, works on a sliding scale and asks clients to contribute what they can, based on they can afford.

"I think if CHAC wasn't here, we'd see an up-rise in violence, and we'd see an up-rise in drug use, social evils," Jones said. "Just in what we see in the schools, we're needed."

For Shuer, the hardest part of her job is when she meets with a client who is without hope.

"Anyone who wants help, it's easy to help," Shuer said. "No matter what your degree or lack of degree, we are all in relationships with other people."

Some clients she sees may feel despair or a disconnection. It's Shuer's job to help them find their way again and to help them see how they fit in with society.

A Mountain View resident who got her degree in nursing in her early 20s, Shuer needs 3,000 hours of practice before she can get licensed. She has 1,500.

Shuer said she thought she wanted to go into business for herself, but after her experience with CHAC, she says she likes this aspect of this counseling service, too, and is now unsure where her professional career path will take her.

"Life is tough," she said. "We all, I believe, can grow."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

The Community Health Awareness Council is located at 711 Church Street in Mountain View.
For more information, call 965-7286.

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