ABOUT MAAC — CASA DE MILAGROS
MAAC (the Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty) is a San Diego-based organization founded in 1965 by a number of local associations. MAAC offers housing, child development, and economic development services and a community charter school, alongside health services including two culturally sensitive addiction recovery homes, of which Casa de Milagros is one. Located on a residential street in the Southcrest neighborhood five miles southeast of central San Diego, Casa de Milagros offers long-term residential treatment for women only.
Residents often arrive at Casa de Milagros as a last resort: they might have been incarcerated or be unemployed or homeless.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Clients must be referred to treatment by one of MAAC’s partners, such as the County of San Diego or Mental Health Systems. Incoming clients must commit to a six-month minimum stay, and must undertake an initial assessment to determine their readiness for the program.
Residents participate in regular individual and group counseling sessions, and are required to attend 12-step meetings on a regular basis. The center also offers educational workshops on topics such as relapse prevention, parenting, domestic violence, conflict resolution, and health. In addition, the staff organize regular bonding and team-building activities, and provide referrals to community resources such as vocational training, education and housing services, and food vouchers.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The center’s website indicates that staff includes individuals trained to conduct individual and group counseling sessions, but does not detail their credentials. The single individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the center four stars for its staff’s level of training and experience.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
This is an 18-bed facility that’s staffed 24 hours a day. Most residents share rooms for two, and the home also has a kitchen, a dining room, a community room, and a courtyard.
Residents share chores such as cooking and cleaning, and eat together, family-style. The single individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the center five stars for its accommodations and meals, and four stars for its cleanliness.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
At the time of this writing, Best-rehabs.com had received no reviews directly from alumni of this facility. Secondary sites yielded just three reviews, all of them positive: the center had a five-star rating and a four-star rating on Google, and a single five-star rating on Facebook, where Beverly wrote: “This place has saved my life and is very near and dear to my heart. I can’t thank them enough for having their door open for me! I am one of many miracles that this place has saved.”
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
The single loved one polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave mostly positive feedback, despite being unimpressed with the facility’s location. “Great Councelors… My mother finished one year there and she is better now,” they wrote, giving the center four or five stars in most of the evaluated treatment metrics, including its overall effectiveness, holistic options, and family programming. They did, however, give the center a lower rating of three stars for its counseling options and its treatment for co-occurring disorders.
FINANCING
There is currently no information provided on the facility’s website regarding its costs, however, the single individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the center four stars for its affordability.