There’s boxing training in this high-ceilinged, airy bright center in Oxnard. With pool tables, guitars, sofas and arts and crafts available, it has the feel of a clubhouse.
And that’s the exactly the environment the founders of this wellness and recovery center – for teens and young adults – were looking to create.
"We have 20 plus recreational activities here. The whole idea is for kids to be able to engage in healthy replacement activities. And so we have ping pong pool. We have weightlifting. Outdoor boxing is one of our most popular activities. We do classes three days a week. We have a vegetable garden outside and with a kind of an art poster that the kids, you know, created. We have guitar lessons. We have a Native American drumming circle. We have two different art classes, art therapy. And then we do all kinds of excursions. We do rock climbing up in Ojai. We do kayaking every week here at the harbor, surfing lessons and fishing," explained Heidi Allison, the President of Nate’s Place.
The center is named after her son Nathan, who had his own battle to beat substance abuse. He overcame his addiction, but died in a car accident when he was 21.
It’s a tragedy that Allison has turned into a way to help others who might need help, providing a service with healthy recreational activities for at-risk youth.
"He was on life support for five days in the hospital. And people were coming to say goodbye to him. Over 70 people came and told us that he was always checking in on them when they were depressed or they were suicidal.
He would always tell them, never give up. And he was inviting them to parks and to wait live with them. And so then we started thinking, well, what was the recovery recipe that helped him through his teenage years? And we started thinking about, you know, the peer recovery coaching and all the healthy activities. He went to groups. And so that's kind of how it happened, kind of very organically," she told KCLU.
Allison says that one of the most important elements to her own son’s recovery was a Peer Support Coach, who mentored him and introduced him to healthier ways to spend his time, like weight-lifting and music.
And once Nate was clean and sober himself, he had provided support for others. And the peer support model is what they’ve put into practice here at Nate’s Place with people like 20-year-old Chance Kelegiant-Robles.
"I think of the way in which I got sober and continuing, you know, to be sober a little over two years now is from the example that Nate set in our friendship," said Kelegiant-Robles.
Peer Support coaches have at least a year of lived experience in recovery from substance abuse, and are trained in substance abuse and mental health.
"The main word is 'peer'. I can't know their life exactly, because everyone's experience is different. But what I do know is, you know, what we can bond about, is maybe about addiction or about mental health. You know, these things where you find solace and even going to recovery meetings, hearing somebody else's stories, hearing our own story in some ways at the same time. So being a peer, I think is the biggest thing," he said.
And it’s hoped that Nate’s Place, will be a safe space for others who need help.
