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Stella Maris’ mission is to provide quality chemical dependency treatment and mental health services to our community regardless of race, sex, religion or ability to pay. Stella Maris will strive to make services available to all those seeking treatment based on presenting need and available treatment capacity. Stella Maris recognizes that alone we cannot meet the total needs of our community and will work with other community resources to improve the availability of appropriate services for the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions.

Stella Maris opened its doors on November 16, 1948. Fr. Otis Winchester, a young priest at the neighboring St. Malachi’s Church, and seven members of a relatively new organization, Alcoholic Anonymous, recognized the need for a facility to house alcoholic men through the process of recovery. Stella Maris, the Star of the Sea, became a refuge for men dubbed by newspaper headlines as “derelict and debauched” and “skid row bums.” Homeless, down and out men were assured three meals, a prescribed course of treatment and the camaraderie of other alcoholics looking to give up the bottle.

In those days, Stella Maris housed 11 men at a time. There always seemed to be room for one more. Over the past fifty-eight years, our facility and programs have grown. Though we consistently monitor and improve our services by implementing “best practices”, we have never lost sight of our mission and commitment to serving the truly needy in our community. Currently, we provide 16 inpatient medical beds in our medical facility for men and women requiring a medically supervised withdrawal from alcohol and/or other chemicals. Patients receive a history and physical by a staff physician, laboratory services, twenty-four hour nursing care, medications, individual and group counseling, and discharge planning to the next appropriate level of care. The average length of stay is 3 to 7 days. In 2006, we served over 600 individuals.

In our newly renovated men’s residential facility, we have the capacity to treat forty men on a daily basis. These men are referrals from our own medical facility, social service agencies, the criminal justice system, The Veterans Administration, and walk-in homeless men needing recovery services. In long term residential, the clients receive treatment services regarding the disease of addiction, relapse prevention, individual and group counseling, vocational training and job readiness skills. The average length of stay is three to six months. Clients are discharged after securing sober housing and employment. Clients are encouraged to attend weekly outpatient sessions and family counseling for a year following discharge. In 2006, we served 161 individuals.

All of us at Stella Maris are excited and proud to report that in July of 2006 we completed a $2.7 million capital campaign for building renovations and construction of the “Gallagher Center”, a new community recovery center. The new center has helped us to expand outpatient chemical dependency and mental health services to our patients, residents, their families and the community. The new Center situated between the medical building and the residential bui8lding provides the desperately needed space for offices, group rooms and large meeting rooms for 12 Step meetings, an amphitheatre and a 1,500 sq ft. coffee shop for members of the fellowship to meet with the newly sober. Our “alumni” and others in recovery share their experiences and fears with the newly sober. This one-on-one mentoring is the foundation of Stella Maris and is what makes us unique. Building on this foundation, we will solidify our future.