Free At Last Community Recovery and Rehabilitation Services

Free At Last's mission is to rebuild the community from within by reclaiming addicts and giving people the chance to succeed by providing community based, culturally appropriate bilingual (English/Spanish) treatment, intervention and prevention services designed to reduce substance abuse, break the cycle of addiction, reunite and rebuild families torn apart by intergenerational addiction, provide alternatives to incarceration, and foster economic self-sufficiency.

FAL's purpose is to be a beacon of hope and provide excellent care and treatment for persons with substance use disorders so that clients achieve complete abstinence and gain stability in important areas of their lives including health, mental health, housing, employment, fiscal independence, and improved family relationships.

In 1993 East Palo Alto drug turf wars, related murders and HIV infections among IV drug users were at some of the highest levels in the country and motivated a group of residents impacted by these epidemics to establish Free At Last Community Recovery and Rehabilitation Services (FAL). They envisioned a community recovery center for substance abuse treatment, intervention, and prevention services with a special focus on those affected by incarceration, HIV/AIDS, and intergenerational addiction. Over the years, FAL witnessed the reduction of HIV/AIDS along with changing demographics in the city of East Palo Alto – but their services continue to be a vital resource to the wider San Mateo County community as new waves of substance use disorders have impacted those affected by methamphetamine, opioid and fentanyl addictions.

Free At Last currently offers the following programs to address clients' issues specifically related to substance use disorders:

• • Street Outreach Program
  • Drop-In Center/ Community Main Meeting Hall for all community members - housed and unhoused.
  • Outpatient Drug Free Program
  • Residential Treatment Program for Women & Women with Children
  • Residential Treatment Program for Men
  • DUI First Offender Program
  • Transitional Clean and Sober Living

Our program services include evaluation, care coordination, crisis intervention, patient education, recovery services, peer support, individual, group and family therapy as well as referrals and linkages. Additionally, simultaneous off-site Medicine Assisted Therapies (MAT) are recommended for people with alcohol or opioid use disorders depending on individual requirements when medically necessary.

Though our services are open to anyone, the majority of our clients are low-income and unhoused citizens of San Mateo county.