Whatever it takes to keep patients in treatment
For fifty years, Evergreen Treatment Services has had the privilege of serving the greater Puget Sound community. Since first opening its doors in 1973, much has changed about ETS. But...
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The Strength to Love People Until They Love Themselves
I had been homeless for several years, but that night I did one thing I’d never done before. I slept on a bus bench in front of a heavily trafficked...
1990s: The HIV Epidemic and Harm Reduction
Image caption: ETS expanded to 1700 Airport Way in 1997, the current location of our Seattle clinic! Pictured in 1938. Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS) has been transforming lives and communities...
Harm reduction is treatment
Image caption: Ron Jackson, directly left of sign, at a methadone clinic in Corpus Christi, TX (Ron Jackson, personal collection) For fifty years, Evergreen Treatment Services has had the privilege...
1970s and 80s: Opening Doors During the War on Drugs
Image caption: The original service location of ETS, as it stood in 1966, just before it was remodeled for clinic use (Puget Sound Regional Archives) Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS) has...
Treating People With Dignity
For fifty years, Evergreen Treatment Services has had the privilege of serving the greater Puget Sound community. Since first opening its doors in 1973, much has changed about ETS. But...
Celebrating Five Decades of ETS
On May 18th, we gathered with our staff, board, and community supporters for our 50th Anniversary celebration. Thank you to all who attended for making this such a special event....
A cheerleader for our patients
For fifty years, Evergreen Treatment Services has had the privilege of serving the greater Puget Sound community. Since first opening its doors in 1973, much has changed about ETS. But...
We’re in this for the long haul
For fifty years, Evergreen Treatment Services has had the privilege of serving the greater Puget Sound community. Since first opening its doors in 1973, much has changed about ETS –...
Care is Evergreen: 50 Years of Evergreen Treatment Services
In 1973, Evergreen Treatment Services—then Central Maintenance Breakthrough Program—opened amid a national call for war against “public enemy no. 1”—drugs. Despite this difficult and stigmatizing policy environment, ETS opened its...
Five Recovery Lessons from ETS Staff and Clients
Photo credit: Ted Zee A harm reduction approach to substance use means making appropriate services accessible to the people who can most benefit from them. It also means recognizing that...
Helping clients visualize what they want
Photo credit: Ted Zee for Evergreen Treatment Services Housing is a complex process. We spoke with Bonnie Rico, a Housing Specialist with REACH, to learn more about what it...
Don’t Count Us Out
King County launches the online campaign “Don’t Count Us Out” which aims to reduce the stigma around substance use disorder (SUD). Across the United States, substance use remains stigmatized and...
Acupuncture at ETS
Photo credit: Ted Zee for Evergreen Treatment Services Evergreen Treatment Services provides evidence-informed recovery services for clients seeking substance use treatment. Substance use is often the result of traumas and...
Photo Essay: Meeting People Where They Are
ETS is committed to harm reduction. A core tenet of this approach is "meeting people where they are." To live out this commitment, ETS shows up in different spaces to...
Define What Recovery Means To You
Kimá Joy Taylor, MD, MPH, is the founder and managing principal of Anka Consulting, a health care consulting firm, and a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute. Eliminating health disparities...
International Overdose Awareness Day
Our clinic staff show up every day supporting patients on their road to recovery. | Photo credit: Paul Ishii More than 81,000 people died from overdose in the United States...
Trauma-informed Care at the Seattle Clinic
Evergreen Treatment Services, as part of its commitment to providing evidence-informed, relationship-centered care deeply rooted in harm reduction and social equity, is learning and evolving! We are working to further...
REACH at PRIDE: We must repair how we treat our unhoused neighbors
Since its inception as a program of Evergreen Treatment Services in 1996, REACH has worked to improve the quality of life for adults who are living outside in the greater...
A One-stop Shop for Recovery
We recently spoke with Meghan, a patient for over three years, about her early life, her decision to seek treatment, and how Evergreen Treatment Services helped her believe recovery was...
I Want Our Nurses To Feel Like They’re Getting Their Cups Filled Every Day
National Nurses Week, May 6-12, celebrates nurses and their tremendous work providing healthcare services to the people in need of care. Evergreen Treatment Services recognizes our substance use treatment is...
Building Partnerships to Strengthen Our Communities
Metropolist Donates more than $27,000 in 2021 and more than $46,000 over the lifetime of our partnership Serving unhoused people is central to Evergreen Treatment Services’ mission. This work is...
A Window into the World of the Outreach Team
“Care, respect, funding, and coordination are the needed alternatives to fear, anger, and sweeping encampments away.” By Betsy Wells, ETS Board member— I serve on the Board of Evergreen...
Helping People Get Their Lives Back
A seamless transition from the criminal legal system is nearly impossible without the right support in place. As Jeremy Lemoine puts it, “Even if you have all the willpower in...
“This is Exactly Where I Need to Be”
A Conversation with Hospitality and Engagement Specialist Lead, Tinesha Harmon Tinesha Harmon is the Hospitality and Engagement Specialist Lead at Evergreen Treatment Services. In her role, she is responsible for...
Seeing The Whole Person: Honoring Trans Day of Remembrance
November 19th marks the final day of Trans Awareness week, which aims to raise the visibility of trans and gender diverse people and address issues the community faces. It also...
Speaking Their Language: Advocating for the Unhoused
REACH team member David Delgado, recently spoke at the Real Change 27th Anniversary celebration. As the keynote speaker, Delgado relayed his experiences supporting unhoused people in Seattle’s University District (U...
ETS Fourth Annual Event Shows the Power of Community
Our 4th Annual Event: Roots of Recovery brought the community together and raised $145,000 to strengthen the community! This year’s Roots of Recovery event was held on the final day of National Recovery Month, September 30th. All month long, we emphasized the...
“It’s His Choice.” — Supporting Clients Through Success and Setbacks
“It is absolutely Dwight’s choice, because he knows the hardship of having a substance use disorder and the barriers this has created in his life.” Febben Fekadu has worked with...
Breaking the Generational Cycle
“My only memory of my great grandfather was him dying with a bottle of alcohol between his legs.” It’s a dark memory for a man who has dedicated his life...
“This place saved my life”
All of our patients have a story. We recently sat down with Sherry to hear the story of how she overcame the traumatic events of her early life to become...
“The people we serve are not ‘other.’ They could be any of us.”
This month is REACH’s 25th anniversary. We interviewed the four REACH directors to highlight each of the mission areas — community justice, outreach, integrated care, and housing. Brandie Flood is...
“Having a place to call home isn’t something you earn”
Header photo courtesy of the CoLEAD program and Minea Herwitz This month is the 25th anniversary of REACH. Throughout the month we will be interviewing the four new REACH...
“I wish Seattleites would self reflect, have compassion, and project empathy toward unsheltered people”
This month is the 25th anniversary of REACH. To mark the occasion, we’re interviewing our four new REACH directors to highlight the organization’s mission areas. Karen Salinas is the Director...
“Every human being has a stake in our mission”
This month is the 25th anniversary of REACH. Throughout the month we will interview our four new REACH directors to highlight each of our mission areas. Michelle Conley is the...
Recognizing Long-term Board Member and Former Administrative Director Jack Eckrem
After 33 years of serving ETS, Board Member and former Administrative Director Jack Eckrem is retiring. We sat down with Jack and asked him a few questions about his...
Changing lives through trust, outreach, and treatment
Becky Gilley does outreach with our unhoused community in the SODO neighborhood of Seattle. Becky has been with the REACH program since 2016, she is currently an outreach care...
Small ways to make a big impact
Start making a difference for the people ETS serves right now! Make hygiene kits at home and contact info@evergreentreatment.org to coordinate a drop-off. A hygiene kit can include: Shampoo/Conditioner Body...
“We live here. We give here.”
The numbers don’t lie. Despite making up only six percent of the overall population in King County, 39 percent of people who are unhoused are from Black and Indigenous communities....
“When people need help, we help them.”
Throughout the pandemic and before, ETS has been providing support to unhoused people following a core principle of harm reduction: meet people where they are. Recently this has come in...
Meet our new Chief Financial Officer Donavan Lam
Donavan Lam is Evergreen Treatment Services’ new Chief Financial Officer. He joined the team at the beginning of 2021. Prior to ETS, Donavan was the CFO at YouthCare, a Seattle-based...
Recognizing those on the Front Line of Recovery
Frontline behavioral healthcare workers provide a vital service in King County and often these roles are underpaid, undervalued, and underappreciated. In addition, many of these folks are Black, Indigenous, and/or...
A gift of music for patients and frontline workers
In the midst of the pandemic, when non-profits were scrambling to pivot the form of their service to the community, Emerald City Music reached out to Evergreen Treatment Services to...
We need to start over with drug policy | Interview with Maia Szalavitz
At our 3rd Annual Event: Roots of Recovery, King 5's Mark Wright interviewed journalist and author Maia Szalavitz. Among many topics in this dynamic interview, Maia discussed what's wrong with...
Pop-up services in a pandemic
One of ETS’ core principles—and a principle of harm reduction more broadly—is to meet people where they are. Figuratively, this means meeting people where they are on their recovery journeys...
“That’s What Family Does”
At Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS), we succeed when our patients succeed. In the video below, you will hear two stories of recovery. One is from Rachel, a patient at...
Watch our 3rd Annual Event: Roots of Recovery
In case you missed it, our 3rd Annual Event: Roots of Recovery was a huge success! We raised a record-breaking $136,000! Listen to author Maia Szalavitz and REACH’s own Brandie...
“Love them anyway”—Thoughts on Racial Equity, Harm Reduction, and Showing Up
Brandie Flood has been serving people who struggle with homelessness and drug use for more than ten years at REACH. Brandie was born and raised in the Rainier Beach neighborhood...
“My life is just continuing to get better”
We introduced our supporters to Brandon back in 2014 when he was well into recovery as a patient at Evergreen Treatment Services and studying molecular biology at Western Washington University....
We cannot treat harm with harm
By Michelle Conley and Brandie Flood, REACH program— Incarceration and recidivism rates in King County make clear that our overreliance on policing and the criminal legal system is failing....
ETS Board Chair Passes the Baton
When former ETS Board Chair Betsy Wells—a trained psychologist and research scientist—was hired to run a federally funded study at ETS in 1989, she had no idea what she was...
Motivational Interviewing at ETS
Evergreen Treatment Services is training all clinic staff—from counselors to public safety—in the practice of motivational interviewing (MI). ETS believes in having a common language and approach for our team...
From the ETS Board of Directors: Black Lives Matter. We Stand in Solidarity.
Evergreen Treatment Services Board of Directors live in King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties, and we oversee and steward one of our region’s most needed and trusted resources. ETS supports thousands...
A doctor’s view on the intersection of a pandemic and an epidemic
We want to give you an inside look at our response to the COVID-19 crisis from the points of view of our incredible staff. They’ve been working together to keep...
We’re finally treating homelessness as a crisis
We want to give you an inside look at our response to the COVID-19 crisis from the points of view of our incredible staff. They’ve been working together to keep...
”I might be the only person my new patients are seeing.”
We want to give you an inside look at our response to the COVID-19 crisis from the points of view of our incredible staff. They’ve been working together to keep...
Reminding people they’re not forgotten
We want to give you an inside look at our response to the COVID-19 crisis from the points of view of our incredible staff. They’ve been working together to keep...
Taking a Deep Breath
We want to give you an inside look at our response to the COVID-19 crisis from the points of view of our incredible staff. They’ve been working together to keep...
Committed to supporting people in recovery during this crisis
We are committed to bringing our patients a high level of care, and we are taking additional precautions to keep both staff and patients safe. Our CEO, Steve Woolworth shares...
Hands and hearts coming together
We are so thankful for our incredible hosts, the Metropolist Group who used their space to invite members of the Seattle community to discuss homelessness with those on the front...
Meet our Masters of Social Work interns
Tasha Pedersen and Kasey Cragg are both students at the University of Washington, pursuing Master's degrees in social work (MSWs). As a part of their first year in the program,...
Why neighborhood-based outreach is the best response to homelessness
Photo credit: Jim Meyers, Vertizon Photography “U District Partnership got a call from a business that a woman was in obvious emotional and mental health distress was outside of their...
Evergreen Treatment Services Welcomes Stephen Woolworth as CEO
This new year is a special one for ETS as we welcome our new CEO, Steve Woolworth. As someone with more than three decades of experience working in community-based...
Kelley Craig: Human connection comes first
—Human connection comes first By Kelley Craig Kelley Craig is a co-director of the REACH program at Evergreen Treatment Services. In 2015, she told her story on The...
Addiction, discrimination, and building a “rat park”
—Meet ETS Director of Clinical Services, Sean Soth “This beautiful, amazing man was so active in our college community, fighting for marginalized people. I watched him get destroyed by addiction. Then one day,...
Honoring our sustaining donors
"I give to ETS on a monthly basis in solidarity with people who have substance use disorders. They don't get to work on recovery just once a year! ...so I want my...
A moment of clarity
Born and raised in Seattle by a loving single mom, Joseph went from living in a large home with his family, to living in his car, and then a tent....
Mobile clinics break barriers to treatment
We first reported on Treatment in Motion (TIM) back in April. We’re proud to report that TIM made great progress taking treatment on the road over the summer. TIM is...
Reach on a Roll
Homelessness is a hot topic, both in our Seattle community and across the nation. The ETS REACH team is often asked to participate in media stories about effective solutions to...
South Sound Clinic Is Now Bigger and Better
Evergreen Treatment Services recently celebrated an expansion and renovation of our clinic in the South Sound area. Thanks to the increase in space, we are now able to serve more...
Life After Homelessness
When she needed it most, Lena benefited from our medicated-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders. At the same time, our REACH team helped her gain access to housing. For Lena, that combination...
Guest blog: What can I do about addiction and homelessness?
It’s hard not to look and feel heartless as you traverse the city of Seattle on your way to and from work and see the many people struggling with...
Forging trust and fostering change in Seattle neighborhoods
“The number one need is housing. It could also be things like getting a replacement ID, or getting assistance with food, or medical help... things like that. Everyone’s need is...
Celebrating the Grays Harbor Clinic
Evergreen Treatment Services is regretfully closing our Grays Harbor County facility in May 2019. Our patients are in the process of transitioning to a new clinic, Grays Harbor Treatment...
We’re taking our life-saving treatment on the road!
We're excited to launch Treatment in Transit! Our life-saving treatment will be traveling to our patients in the University District, Belltown, and North Seattle. The program is expected to start...
Preventing the Spread of Hepatitis C
Many people start down the road to addiction with a prescription from their doctors to manage pain – from getting a tooth pulled to major surgery to deal with chronic...
What’s Working in Seattle
By Chloe Gale, REACH Co-Director and Sean Soth, Director of Clinical Services— If you haven’t seen the recent KOMO special “Seattle is Dying,” watch it with a skeptical eye....
The Heart Reaches The Heart
Candis Dover is ETS’s first peer engagement counselor, supporting patients in their earliest days of recovery. She knows exactly where many of these patients are coming from; Candis has had...
Don’t Hang on to Meds!
King County campaign helps residents properly dispose of old and unwanted medications safely and easily. It’s something many people don’t often think about. The near-empty orange cylinder of hydrocodone from...
Honoring Molly Carney, ETS Executive Director
Please join us in honoring Molly Carney's service as our executive director. She has been a tireless patient and staff advocate and will be missed. Give to ETS in honor...
“I was such a different person. I had no hope.”
Ben started using at a young age while living with his mom in his hometown of Spokane. It started with abusing medication to treat his anxiety. He soon moved on...
REACH goes above and beyond
“Where are you from?” is a common question asked when people meet for the first time in Seattle, the assumption being that so few people are actually from the city....
Brandon’s story
“Every day of your life is already scripted for you. You wake up and you’re sick and you have to find dope,” says Brandon, a former patient at Evergreen Treatment...
April’s Story
“I was tired of living, had nothing, lost everything, just tired of it,” says April. April is a Flex Care patient at Evergreen Treatment Services. “I truly feel if...
WATCH: Rotary Club of Seattle Panel Discussion on the Opioid Epidemic
ETS Executive Director Molly Carney joins the Rotary Club of Seattle's panel discussion on opioid use disorders in Washington State. Molly, along with activist and former KIRO News anchor Penny...
When defining recovery, let the patient decide.
“Recovery looks different for everyone,” says Michael, a counselor at Evergreen Treatment Services South King County Clinic in Renton. “I’m not here to tell people how they should recover; I...
Why you should attend Evergreen Treatment Services’ 45th Anniversary Luncheon
On May 24th, ETS will hold our first-ever fundraising luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seattle. If you’re on the fence, we hope these four reasons to attend...
Employees Community Fund of Boeing makes getting into treatment easier – literally!
Daily treatment at Evergreen Treatment Services takes dedication. Our patients come to the clinic six days a week to receive the medication and counseling that help them recover from opioid...
Compassion and Collaboration: Keys to Ending the Opioid Crisis
The University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI) conducted a survey at 25 syringe exchange program (SEP) sites around the state. Informed by data and compassion, the sites...
Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Myths vs. Facts
The National Council addresses the myths of medication-assisted treatment and opioid use disorder. Myth #1: Medication-assisted treatment just substitutes one drug for another. Download this quick reference to see why this...
“Our patients aren’t perfect, but neither am I, and neither are you. We all deserve the opportunity to live our best lives.”
An interview with Bill Benham, director of clinical services Bill Benham oversees the new patient program as well as Evergreen Treatment Services' counseling services. Along with the medical directors, he...
Joseph’s Story
We recently sat down with Joseph Conniff, a treatment provider for people with substance use disorder at Therapeutic Health Services (THS) in Seattle. Joseph struggled with substance use for much...
Five Things You Should Know from an Addiction Medicine PA
Just like any other disease: congestive heart failure, hypertension, or diabetes, Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) should be treated with approved medication. The idea that OUD is some sort of shortcoming...
Why you should read our latest impact report
We want you to read our newly published impact report for three reasons: In the midst of a crushing opioid epidemic and homelessness crisis, this report provides hope. Last...
Ride on to Recovery
One morning while doing outreach in downtown Seattle, one of our REACH care managers, Garrett, met a woman who was packing up a bedroll into her Harley Davidson three-wheeled motorcycle....
From Recluse to Reconnection
When Becky, a REACH care manager, met Cody*, he was living in a trailer in South King County. It was desolate; he had no water or waste hook ups and...
In Conversation with Michelle Peavy
While pursuing her undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Washington in 1999, Michelle Peavy was introduced to Molly Carney, who was conducting research at the UW’s Alcohol and...
Unleashing Potential
News headlines serve as a bleak reminder of the toll the opioid epidemic has had on our cities and nation. But, groups like Evergreen Treatment Services are addressing these...
Recovery is Possible
Six days a week for 52 weeks a year, nearly 3,000 people come from all over Western Washington to Evergreen Treatment Services to get the support they need to recover...
ETS Executive Director Molly Carney in the Puget Sound Business Journal
“Molly Carney and her team hope every day that their hard work is saving people’s lives. Carney is executive director of Evergreen Treatment Services, a nonprofit that offers medication-assisted treatment...
A Positive Influence
Stolch is 35 years old, and describes himself as an American Indian or Alaska native. He was training to be director at the Nisqually tribe, but opioids stood in the...
Shatterproof: Stronger than Addiction
The evidence is clear. Opioid use disorder is a disease, and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) which includes counseling and other wraparound services – the ETS model – is the surest path...
Flex Care: Check out our new video!
Flex Care is a medication assisted treatment program that provides patients the option to be prescribed buprenorphine from a medical prescriber. Through this program, we pair the medical prescriber with...
A Helping Hand Leads to Housing
REACH case managers are steadfast in their support of clients. They meet them where they are, and forge partnerships with the community to achieve the best possible outcomes. Jerry and...
Murals Bring Hope and Inspiration to Patients in Seattle
Entering into recovery from opioid use disorders is about more than clinical treatment. The people and places we surround ourselves with have a tremendous impact on our sense of well-being....
Medication-Assisted Treatment: Essential in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
We are in the midst of a wide-spread opioid epidemic. Seventy-eight people die every day in the US from an opioid-related overdose, and yet only 20 percent of people with...
National Council for Behavioral Health Honors Excellence in Behavioral Health Advocacy, Innovation, Leadership
National Council for Behavioral Health Honors Excellence in Behavioral Health Advocacy, Innovation, Leadership Awards of Excellence winners honored at NatCon17 gala include the First Lady of New York City...
Seattle Times: Opioid treatment available but limited by funding, stigma
Originally published on SeattleTimes.com, June 7, 2016. Opioid-use disorders need to be recognized for what they are: a chronic, relapsing medical condition. It is a brain disease, not a...
Seattle Times: A lifesaving drug for opioid users, but it’s not easy to get
Originally published on SeattleTimes.com, May 17, 2016. Naloxone can mean the difference between life and death, but it’s not easy to get. By Molly Carney and Michelle Peavy, Special...
Posts
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Whatever it takes to keep patients in treatment →
For fifty years, Evergreen Treatment Services has had the privilege of serving the greater Puget Sound community. Since first opening… Read more… -
The Strength to Love People Until They Love Themselves →
I had been homeless for several years, but that night I did one thing I’d never done before. I slept… Read more… -
1990s: The HIV Epidemic and Harm Reduction →
Image caption: ETS expanded to 1700 Airport Way in 1997, the current location of our Seattle clinic! Pictured in 1938.… Read more… -
Image caption: Ron Jackson, directly left of sign, at a methadone clinic in Corpus Christi, TX (Ron Jackson, personal collection)… Read more… -
1970s and 80s: Opening Doors During the War on Drugs →
Image caption: The original service location of ETS, as it stood in 1966, just before it was remodeled for clinic… Read more…