When Ticeses Teasley separated from her children’s father, her teenage son, Nahkai, started acting out and fighting in school.

As a licensed mental health professional and life coach, the mother of four boys recognized the behavior as a result of her son experiencing emotions he did not know how to appropriately handle.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Virginia, one in six children in the United States be- tween the ages of six and 17 experience some form of mental illness. In Virginia, 97,000 teens struggled with depression in 2021, and 56.2 percent of them did not receive any treatment in the last year. Students with depression are twice as likely to drop out of school than students who do not suffer from the condition, and seven in 10 children in the juvenile justice system have a mental health condition.

Ms. Teasley hopes to disrupt those statistics through her organization, Nurturing Minds. She knows what it is like to work through mental health issues with youths from her experience with Nahkai, who addressed his mental and physical issues at East End Boxing Club. Ms. Teasley’s program, Therapy Undefeated, collaborates with the club, offering trauma-informed mental health care.

Ellwood Patterson, “Coach Pat” as he is known by the kids who learn boxing from him, said he partnered with Ms. Teasley because he could see where the two businesses shared a common goal in serving youths.

“I ran my own group home for 20 years, and I get kids in here from all walks of life — including kids from the juvenile justice system,” he said. “[Ms. Teasley] deals with the anger management piece; I deal with the physical.”

As students learn discipline and develop skills required for boxing, they also learn to more constructively deal with the obstacles they face and the emotions that can come with them.

Through peer support groups with Ms. Teasley, participants make healthy connections with themselves and others. They are taught to examine the source of feelings they struggle to outwardly express — such as anger, anxiety and depression — and given tools to develop alternative ways to channel their emotions.

“We can help them understand their anger — the boxing helps them get out that emotion,” Coach Pat said. “It teaches them that there are other ways to deal with your anger, starting with figuring out what triggers them, what makes them tick.”

Therapy Undefeated operates under Ms. Teasley’s non-profit organization, Nurturing Minds. The organization was created in 2016, and recently received a $10,000 grant from Venture Richmond to help relocate the business to 420 W. Broad St. The location is more accessible for students and their families — the building is near The Greater Richmond Transit Corporation (GRTC) Pulse bus stop — and to expand the orga- nization beyond the parenting, peer and trauma-healing group services she initially offered, she said.

In addition to the East End Boxing Club partnership, Nurturing Minds has opened The Nurturing Café, another outlet for children to build healthy coping mechanisms for their emotions. Located in Ms. Teasley’s building, participants take on marketing, meal preparation, hosting, serving, and ringing up customers—the entire operation is run by youths under her supervision. Working at the cafe is an after-school program offered to Richmond Public Schools students.

“We provide the food and revenue generated from patrons goes to the cafe,” Ms. Teasley said, “and the kids get to keep their tips.”

Located near Virginia Commonwealth University, the cafe offers “nurturing wraps” made of chicken, shrimp, cheeseburger, salmon and vegetables; French fries; chicken strips; and other items. “The kids get a week of training and hands-on experience to learn skills and how to manage their emotions.”

Ms. Teasley also offers outlets for students to express those emotions. The building has a stage where Ms. Teasley plans to offer spoken-word engagements. She also has an urban art gallery to encourage students to express themselves through art. The gallery sometimes is open during First Fridays.

“Everything we do is centered around expression and entertainment to keep kids safe and off the street,” Ms. Teasley said.