Open House at New CERRC Facility

CERRC staff, donors, and clients celebrate the new facility. January 2025.

SAN DIEGO — Since 2017, ECS Central East Regional Recovery Center (CERRC) has been offering substance use recovery services to the community, ensuring clients are met with the utmost respect, compassion, and support. In August, CERRC found a new home to continue offering these services. The ECS community came together on Thursday to celebrate the new facility and the expansion of the program.

(From left to right) CEO Elizabeth Fitzsimons, Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, and CERRC Case Manager Stephanie Duffy pose for a photo. January 2025.

Guests were given tours of the new facility by staff and learned about the services offered at CERRC. ECS CEO Elizabeth Fitzsimons, San Diego County District Four Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, and CERRC Case Manager and former client Stephanie Duffy all spoke, sharing their gratification for the new facility and the continuance of CERRC’s work.

CERRC staff give guests a tour of the new building. January 2025.

Duffy, a current Case Manager at CERRC, was deeply impacted by the program as a former client. She shared that she had no family in California, so when she came to CERRC she told her counselor, “You’re my support.” They came through, guiding Stephie along each step of her recovery journey. “I’m really grateful because I know that this place, this building is going to change a lot of people’s lives,” Duffy said.

San Diego County was among the guests at the open house. January 2025.

The open house proved a valuable time for community members to engage with ECS and CERRC. ECS Board Member La Monica Everett-Haynes reflected on this and stated, “Having events and activities like this, it’s all about community building and helping us relate to one another which is the foundation of our work.”

CERRC is also preparing to expand its services through the addition of ambulatory withdrawal management and medication-assisted treatment (MAT). “Our vision is to make CERRC a cornerstone of community support, offering an innovative and comprehensive program that truly makes a difference,” said Embrie Tapia, Director of Behavioral Health Services at ECS.

The ECS Central East Regional Recovery Center (CERRC), funded by San Diego County Behavioral Health Services, provides outpatient treatment services to adults with substance use disorders. To learn more about the work of ECS CERRC visit ecscalifornia.org/central-east-regional-recovery-center.

When Compassion Becomes the Foundation

ECS is committed to supporting our neighbors in need so we can excel together. Photo Courtesy of Zac Durante/Unsplash.

Episcopal Community Services (ECS) has been uplifting San Diegans for nearly a century. Although its services have changed and some programs have come and gone, its mission to break barriers and transform communities has remained steadfast. 

John has witnessed the lasting heartbeat of ECS firsthand. A client of ECS in the 90s and a supportive volunteer through the years after, John has not only felt the impact of ECS but has lent a hand to carrying the intention of compassionate service forward.  

When John moved from New Orleans to San Diego to join the Navy, he didn’t know that he was already developing a substance use disorder (SUD). When he overheard a few of his new acquaintances talking about getting drugs downtown, he became interested, so he ventured downtown, made a purchase, and was arrested the very same day. When his urinalysis came back positive for drugs, the Navy no longer wanted to retain him. They gave him the option to go to rehab or back home to New Orleans. “I knew that if I went back home, I was going to be dead,” John said. So, he accepted the help and went to rehab. However, challenges awaited him when he finished the program. “I found out that once I got back to San Diego that I was going to be kicked out [of the Navy] and once I was kicked out, I was going to be homeless,” he explained. 

With only his seabag full of clothes and his final paycheck from the Navy, John was left on his own. He saw a glimmer of hope when he was hired at a new job, but he had no place to go. Then he heard about ECS’ transitional housing program. “God was working in my life,” John said. After a period of waiting, a spot finally opened at the program. John recalled going to the program to interview for the spot and meeting the program manager Linda Thomas, who John described as a “beautiful soul.”  

One of the requirements for the program was a paystub to prove employment. John’s new job did not start until the following week, so he had nothing to show Linda. But he shared his story with her and “she saw the desperation in my eyes and saw that I wasn't running a story on her... so she made an exception,” and John moved in that night.  

“I showed up there at 21 years old with literally no living skills, no responsibilities, other than knowing I needed to survive. I needed to stay clean and sober,” John said. The staff — including Linda and two other staff members, Loren and Cynthia — quickly took him under their wings, checking in on him and supporting him the whole way. “I learned a lot of things. I learned how to be responsible; they gave me the chance to go to school and work and save money.” Cynthia even baked him a cake to celebrate his first year of sobriety.  

The program also led John to his best friend who encouraged him to pursue his goals, such as becoming a registered nurse (RN). “About nine months in, I met my best friend, we became roommates. He’s still my best friend, he’s still sober 34 years,” he said.  

John graduated from the program, maintained sobriety, attended and graduated from college, became an RN, got married, and had two children. “My life has progressively gotten better as a result of all those things I learned at ECS,” he said. 

The services John received at ECS allowed him to grow, build a foundation, and give back. Photo Courtesy of Lina Trochez/Unsplash.

After that transitional housing location closed, John lost contact with the staff members, but he wanted to share his successes with Linda. He wrote letters to four different “Linda Thomases.” “Two of the people wrote back and said, ‘I’m not the Linda Thomas you’re looking for, but you’ve inspired me’... it was a cool side effect of an accident,” he said. Luckily, one of the letters found the right Linda Thomas. He was able to introduce her to his children and “thank her in person for giving me a chance... for seeing something in me that I didn’t see in myself at the time,” John said. 

John was also able to ask Linda how he could continue his journey with ECS. “I always wanted to be kind to people and be helpful, and — especially with ECS — give back,” he said. One day, after speaking with her on the phone about volunteer opportunities, a van pulled up next to John that caught his attention. “It was an ECS vehicle,” he said. “I wrote the phone number down, made the calls, got plugged in, and started to volunteer.” From handyman tasks to cooking Thanksgiving dinner to sponsoring a family through Family-to-Family for the Holidays, John has extended his services to ECS. “I owe my life to the program. It gave me the foundation I needed,” he said.   

ECS staff, volunteers, donors, and board members are dedicated to creating an abundant and equitable society where all have unlimited potential and will continue to work towards these ideals for years to come. To learn more about volunteer opportunities with ECS, visit ecscalifornia.org/volunteer. 

Holiday Cheer at UTSH

Volunteers add Christmas spirit to UTSH. December 2024.

Last weekend, volunteers from St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, U.S. Bank, San Diego Gas & Electric, and our local community brought holiday cheer to ECS Uptown Safe Haven. Residents joined the festivities, decorated a beautiful tree, and added magical touches to their home.

Thank you to all of the wonderful people who helped decorate the safe haven facility. December 2024.

We extend a heartfelt thank you to St. Paul’s, U.S. Bank, and SDG&E for making this project so special. Your generosity brought warmth and joy to our Safe Haven residents during this season of giving.

The decoration event brough cheer to volunteers and residents alike. December 2024.

UTSH residents joined in crafting decorations. December 2024.

Thankful for Community & Recovery

SAN DIEGO — Every year the ECS community comes together to give thanks and celebrate the recovery journeys of our clients with a Thanksgiving Recovery Lunch.

The event was held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Volunteers from parishes, schools, and organizations across San Diego showed up to serve the food, facilitate activities, and enjoy the afternoon with ECS clients from Central East Regional Recovery Center (CERRC), Uptown Safe Haven (UTSH), Community Harm Reduction Team (C-HRT) Safe Haven, and ACCORD. Guests enjoyed an array of appetizers, Italian soda made by volunteers from The Bishop’s School, and a classic Thanksgiving meal, complete with pumpkin pie for dessert.

Summer Kahoonei, the program coordinator for CERRC, commented on the importance of bringing Thanksgiving to ECS clients. “My favorite part about this event is being able to look at some of the clients come in and share Thanksgiving,” she said. “A lot of them won’t have that kind of situation with their own family members so being able to still see that there are places that help out with this kind of stuff makes me really happy to see.”

The Thanksgiving theme went far beyond just the food. Each table was decorated with artwork made by CERRC clients which featured messages of gratitude; from family to sobriety to music, the art created an atmosphere of optimism. The hopeful energy was also felt through a communal art piece — the Gratitude Tree. The project, which was run by volunteers from Christ Church Day School, allowed any guest or volunteer to write what they were thankful for on one of the tree’s many paper leaves.

The afternoon closed with the Chip Ceremony. Those in recovery were invited to stand and receive a special chip indicating their recovery time. Whether someone was 20 years clean or 20 days clean, the room was filled with applause and celebration for every individual.

Before the Chip Ceremony, Embrie Tapia, ECS’ director of behavioral health services stated, “This is a really special time that we get to come together and celebrate recovery and also acknowledge how important behavioral health services are to our community.”

The significance of the event was felt by the guests, too. Tiana, a current UTSH resident remarked, “It makes me feel important that I’m welcomed in a group of people that are helping me reenter into society.”

Thank you to Blue Shield California Promise Health Plan for making this event possible and to all of the wonderful volunteers whose support and care created a beautiful display of community.

Visit ecscalifornia.org to learn more about ECS’ behavioral health services and ways to get involved.