This is Pamuela Halliwell (she/her), Director of Behavioral Health Services at The Center, and I’m proud to share about The Center’s Substance Use Disorder (SUD) program that offers critical, LGBTQ-affirming care to community members in need of substance use support services.
The Center’s SUD program, led by a dedicated counselor, offers crucial services for community members navigating substance use, including supportive individual and group counseling, comprehensive assessments and intake, client-centered short-term and long-term treatment planning, and case management and referrals. Services are available at no cost, and offered both in person and via telehealth.
Thanks to our Advocacy and Civic Engagement team’s hard-fought budget advocacy earlier this year, The Center successfully secured $300,000 for our SUD program, allowing us to sustain these services and better fill gaps in LGBTQ-affirming care. Through this program, LGBTQ+ folx have a space to explore their relationship with substances, whether through abstinence or harm reduction. The Center remains committed to meeting the community’s evolving needs by ensuring that services are accessible and affirming for each person.
The Center’s SUD program is in partnership with Stepping Stone, a nonprofit recovery agency in San Diego that offers a variety of treatment and recovery programs and provides clinical supervision to The Center’s SUD counselor. Through our SUD program, we provide care for folx who are not ready to engage in residential or outpatient treatment, as well as those who face work schedule conflicts or other barriers. Beginning in January 2026, support groups will also be available to help people understand their relationship with substances and find a path that helps them thrive.
The Center’s SUD program fills a crucial gap in behavioral and mental health accessibility by offering LGBTQ-affirming care within an LGBTQ-affirming environment and options beyond traditional treatment and recovery programs. Federal funding cuts to other nonprofits have significantly reduced the accessibility of harm-reduction initiatives, behavioral health services, and substance-use management programs, eliminating necessary specialized services and widening health inequalities. These cuts leave LGBTQ+ individuals, who already face systemic barriers and frequent exclusion from culturally competent care, increasingly vulnerable. The Center has prioritized protecting our SUD program as a critical step toward ensuring equitable access and care.
The SUD program operates within The Center’s broader Behavioral Health Services, which offers a wide variety of essential support, including individual, couples, family, and group counseling; gender-affirming counseling and medical referrals; HIV services; and safe, supportive counseling for victims of hate violence and relational violence.
The holiday season presents unique mental health and substance use risks for many LGBTQ+ individuals, including challenging family dynamics, feelings of isolation and rejection, and intensified depression and grief. Our SUD services are here to help our community thrive during this holiday season and beyond.
For more information about our Behavioral Health Services and Substance Use Disorder Program, or to enroll in counseling services, please visit our website or contact us at counseling@thecentersd.org.
Wishing you a safe holiday season,
Pamuela Halliwell (she/her)
Director of Behavioral Health Services