About | United States | Serenityhouseoakland.org

About us

Our organization serves women who are tired of living their lives carrying unresolved issues caused by emotional, physical, mental and sexual trauma. The majority of the women who come through our doors have been raped or molested as little girls. With the help of Serenity House, many are now living full, joyful lives.

WHAT WE DO

Serenity House is located in West Oakland. We accept clients who have been incarcerated, as well through referrals from family members, detox centers, and numerous agencies and organizations. Our intake process is generally 3-fold, and consists of a telephone screening, an initial face to face meeting and assessment, and a final intake process.

We recognize that substance abuse and many behavioral health problems are symptoms of deeper issues, often involving trauma. Many of our clients are survivors of sexual assault and abuse. At Serenity House we work with women to help them identify the roots of their pain and struggle, which subsequently led to substance use and other issues which have impacted their lives. We understand that healing doesn’t happen in 30 or even 90 days, and have developed a comprehensive, nine-month program to help women to heal from trauma and move forward in their lives in positive ways.

Our services include the following:

Individual and group counseling, substance abuse treatment, education, access to health care and mental healthcare services, assistance with legal issues, and ongoing case-management.We provide our clients with a shared housing model in which they learn to live and work together to accomplish their common goals.

We collaborate with Bay Area Community Services (BACS) to assist clients with benefits enrollment, including GA, Cal-Fresh, MediCal, and SSI.We also assist our clients with obtaining their GEDs or their high-school diplomas, as wells as enrolling into vocational training programs and community college.Our case-management team works with clients in locating long-term housing and employment.

Our groups and classes include 12 Step Recovery groups, Relapse Prevention, Anger Management, Domestic Violence (F.R.E.E.D.O.M), Understanding Grief,Life Skills, Arts & Crafts, and Dance.We collaborate with Conscious Voices to offer our clients trauma-related healing groups.

We are currently launching several new projects, including Family Reunification Services and training programs for clients interested in becoming Peer Counselors or Holistic Health Coaches.We have also added Nature Therapy and Healing Art Workshops.