Heartland House Celebrates 60 Years of Service

Heartland House is proud to announce, and celebrate, 59 years in service to the recovery community in San Diego! Our organization began as a small soup kitchen operation servicing the homeless in downtown San Diego in 1960. This began to rapidly evolve as the needs of the men on the streets were much deeper than a meal. These men needed help. Many had substance use disorder and other mental health issues.

Over the decades, this once soup kitchen has expanded into what it is today – a successful patient-centered social model program, offering help to all men afflicted with substance use disorder. You can learn more about the history of Heartland House here.

2019 was a very big year for us. We accomplished a lot in regards to our program development, as well as expanding our campus in order to help more men. Here are all of the successes we had in 2019:

• We were awarded a McMillen Family Foundation grant. This was a huge honor to be recognized by a prominent local Foundation. It gives us great pleasure knowing our work is trusted and respected to earn this generous gift. This year we were able to use this gift to remodel the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, patio and landscaping of the Heartland House facility.
• Heartland House was featured on The Change Companies website. We have worked with The Change Companies, utilizing their Interactive Journaling for about a year now. It was a great addition to our program, as we were looking for a curriculum that would support our person-centered, non-time-bound model. Robert Cook, our Executive Director, was interviewed on his experience with their company and featured on their blog. You can read the article here.
• Heartland House was able to purchase a new van this year with donations from the Las Patronas grant. This van allows us to bring clients to and from any necessary doctor appointments, 12-step meetings, and other engagements they have necessary for their recovery plan.

We celebrate Heartland House and all of its staff, graduates, residents, and supporters each year at our Annual Gala, held at the Bahia Resort in San Diego. At this gala, we hold a silent auction to support our cause, all with donated items. We also recognize and award staff members, board members, graduates, residents and donors with various accomplishments achieved throughout the year.

The Annual Gala is a place where we celebrate and fellowship, but also update all of our supporters with important financial information and our annual report. Both of these reports are posted annually on our website (and in perpetuity for past years), you can view them in our Financials area of our website menu.

If you are interested in donating items for the silent auction or supporting Heartland House in any way, please contact us or visit our Donate page.