By Emily Glory Peters Therapy. Scorned by some, salvation for others—and inaccessible to many who need it. Back in 1965, a new counseling center sought to change that. Pasadena Mental Health Center (PMHC) opened its doors with one focus in mind: to put high-quality, affordable therapy within reach of the city’s most vulnerable citizens. Fast-forward…
By Emily Glory Peters May is National Mental Health Month, but outside of a social post online, mental health challenges are still unlikely subjects to pop up in your daily conversation. Yet each year, millions of Americans reportedly struggle with mental and behavioral health issues—and kids are no exception. Notwithstanding advancement in diagnostic techniques in…
By Emily Glory Peters Dream big, children. It’s both sound counsel and part of the name for Dream Big Children’s Center, a beautiful indoor playground in Old Town Monrovia. Hidden behind Pinkberry and headed up by founder Cristina Cordeiro, the center has become a popular spot for kids’ parties—but serves a bigger purpose. “I wanted…
By Emily Glory Peters Labor is laced with complexities that are unique to a new mom’s experience. After hours beasting through physical and mental pain, a new mom only has about a day or two to absorb all she can from her doctors, nurses and lactation consultants before being sent on her way to parent…
By Emily Glory Peters It wasn’t a lifelong fascination with the human eye that prompted Dr. Eric To to go into optometry. It was tutoring underserved kids. “I learned some of my students suffered from vision-related learning disorders. They were thrown into remedial classes or neglected due to poor performance—but after a bit of research,…
By Emily Glory Peters Nearly 6,000. That’s the number of volunteers who served food, distributed supplies and fostered hope among similar thousands served by local nonprofit Foothill Unity Center last year. It’s an impressive number in light of April, which just happens to be National Volunteer Month—especially considering there’s still room (and need) for more….
By Emily Glory Peters A busy shop is a thing of beauty, and Leonora Moss in Sierra Madre is certainly both. Nicely crammed with all things flowering and fairy-like, this high-end florist has called the foothill town home since 1997—and like many Sierra Madre businesses, is a family affair. “My mom and business partner, Judith…
By Emily Glory Peters You enter a private room with a stone floor and open shower. Just beyond is a small door in the center of a wall—like from a Lewis Carroll story—concealing a shallow pool enriched with Epsom salts and minerals designed to help you float. You step into the water, the music fades,…