Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Harnessing science, love and the wisdom of lived experience, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions.

Hazelden Betty Ford is the premier nonprofit provider of comprehensive behavioral health care—with locations in Rancho Mirage and San Diego, California, and services nationwide.
The Foundation was formed by the 2014 joining of two storied institutions: At Hazelden (est. 1949) in Minnesota, our earliest clinicians were pioneers in developing evidence-based treatment. The Betty Ford Center (est. 1982) in California was founded by former First Lady Betty Ford to bring unprecedented compassion and dignity to the treatment of addiction.
Hazelden Betty Ford is leading the way in helping society rise above stigma and overcome addiction and our clinical outcomes consistently exceed national averages. Our programs include comprehensive clinical care; services for family members; an accredited graduate school that educates addiction and mental health counselors; an academic research center focused solely on addiction; thought leadership and advocacy; professional and medical education programs; school-based prevention resources; and a publishing division. Our unifying vision is to empower recovery and well-being for all.

As a nonprofit provider of treatment for substance use disorders and mental health conditions, our mission compels us to break down barriers so more people can get the help they need to find recovery. While we actively work to combat stigma and pursue scientific research to advance treatment and recovery, our Patient Aid program ensures that recovery is not a privilege only for those who can afford it.

In 2025 alone, donor support allowed us to distribute $1,146,254 in Patient Aids funds to individuals receiving treatment at our sites in California. These funds serve as a financial lifeline, allowing more people to access treatment and complete it. As a result, an average of 92% of our patients complete their treatment as planned—a critical indicator for success in long-term recovery.

With the support of caring donors, Hazelden Betty Ford is saving lives and restoring families in California every day.

Approximately 48.4 million Americans have a substance use disorder. Roughly half of U.S. families have dealt with addiction problems in their family, resulting in chaotic relationships, unstable home life, financial and legal challenges and worse. In Orange County, the rates of substance use and mental health challenges are slightly higher than nationally, with 1 in 6 residents reporting needing help with mental, emotional or substance use issues. The county has higher hospitalization rates due to substance use, and higher rates of overdose and drug or alcohol related death than most other counties in California.

The pervasive stigma around addiction means the field is chronically under-resourced, lagging behind other medical conditions in availability of care, research advancements, government resources and insurance coverage. Now, rising healthcare costs and economic uncertainty have made treatment even less accessible to most people.

We serve all of Orange County.