First and foremost we are still people helping people to help themselves.

In 1971, a group of community activists in Newark, California started a project in a small abandoned house.  Its purpose was to give people with drug and alcohol-related problems a place to meet to share knowledge and experience and try to get better.  They named the place Second Chance.

Forty-five years later, we are heirs to a long tradition of that sharing of knowledge and experience.  We are the successors of many dozens of staff who over the years welcomed everyone who came through the front door wanting to get better.

Today’s Drug and Alcohol treatment is a different world than it was in the 70’s.  It is now called Substance Use Disorder treatment. Casual and informal individual and group counseling has been replaced by intake/Assessment, treatment planning, and more structured group and individual sessions.

Today Second Chance and all its counselors are certified and monitored by the California Department of Health Care Services and Alameda County Behavioral Health.  Our counselors have the education and credentials required to provide treatment and recovery services for substance use disorders.

But we still see lived experience as vital.  Most of our drug and alcohol counselors have personal recovery. (Just as many staff in our Domestic Violence and Homeless Services programs have experience in those areas.)  So we really do understand what you’re going through.

First and foremost we are still people helping people to help themselves.

First and foremost we are still people helping people to help themselves.