Mariposa Women and Family Center

Since 1977, Mariposa Women and Family Center has been serving low to extremely low-income residents of Orange County. Mariposa offers high-quality, compassionate, and affordable mental health and recovery counseling, life skills education, supportive services, and enhanced care management for women, men, children, and families. Its mission is to help individuals make positive changes in their lives and empower them to lead healthier, happier, and more productive lives. As a center for healing and hope, Mariposa treats those it serves with dignity and respect, assisting them in creating a better future for themselves and their community.

Mariposa's dedication to holistic care began in 1977, when Fran McGowan founded a gender-specific substance use treatment center for women, recognizing their unique needs. Building upon this foundation, Mariposa has maintained a CalWORKs contract for over 40 years, and has expanded its services to include mental health treatment, addressing the root causes of addiction. In 2013, the organization broadened its reach to serve men, children, and families, adopting a family-centered approach. To increase accessibility, virtual services were implemented in 2019, and in November 2023, the Enhanced Care Management and Treatment program was launched to provide intensive support. Furthering its commitment to community service, Mariposa was awarded three multi-year contracts with the City of Anaheim in 2024, set to begin in 2025, solidifying its role as a comprehensive care provider.
Since our inception, we have expanded our services to include various treatment areas and have opened programs for men as well. We address issues such as domestic violence, sexual assault, bereavement, parenting, and many other topics. What started as a small program serving a few hundred women each year has grown to provide services for over 3,000 women, men, and children annually.

Most recently, we've added our Enhanced Care Management and Treatment Program, assisting individuals experiencing homelessness, transitioning from incarceration, navigating mental health disorders, or other significant life obstacles by offering wraparound service, combining case management, mental health treatment, and access to resources.

Accomplishments:
1. Pioneering Gender-Specific Substance Use Treatment: Establishing a dedicated treatment center for women in 1977, recognizing and addressing their unique needs, set a precedent for gender-responsive care.
2. Sustaining a Long-Term CalWORKs Contract: Maintaining a CalWORKs contract for over 40 years demonstrates a consistent and reliable commitment to supporting women's stability and well-being.
3. Expanding to Holistic Care: Successfully integrating mental health services and extending support to men, children, and families, showcasing a commitment to comprehensive, family-centered treatment.
4. Implementing Accessible Virtual Services: Adapting to the changing needs of the community by introducing virtual services in 2019, significantly increasing accessibility and continuity of care.
5. Securing Multi-Year Contracts with the City of Anaheim: Being awarded three multi-year contracts in 2024, to begin in 2025, signifies recognition of Mariposa's value and expertise and allows for expanded community impact.
 
Goals:
1. Establish a Dedicated Day Center: Create a safe and supportive day center to provide clients with structured activities, resources, and community engagement opportunities.
2. Enhance the Enhanced Care Management and Treatment (ECMT) Program: Bolster the ECMT program by recruiting and hiring additional counselors specializing in intensive care management.
3. Implement Mobile In-Field Service Vehicles: Introduce mobile service vehicles to expand outreach and provide on-site support to clients in their communities, increasing accessibility and reducing barriers to care.
4. Strengthen Community Presence and Engagement: Increase Mariposa's visibility and active participation in the community through partnerships, outreach events, and educational initiatives.
5. Secure Additional Funding: Pursue diverse funding opportunities to expand service capacity and enable Mariposa to assist a greater number of individuals and families in need.

Our most pressing needs are:
1. Unrestricted funds for patient registration fees.
2. Unrestricted funds for program development.
3. Unrestricted funds for operational costs.
4. Professional Partnerships with various community members in Orange County.

Mariposa has a facility in Orange, CA and a facility in San Juan Capistrano, CA.  Both sites provide CalWORKs services, Substance Use Treatment, Enhanced Care Management and Treatment Services, and other mental health services for Women, Men, Children, and Families. 

Mariposa is unique in that we provide gender specific services for our clients.  We understand that men and women have different treatment needs and so we have groups designed to meet those specific needs.  In addition to all the amazing groups and services, Mariposa offers free childcare for ALL of our clients.  We've taken what has so often been a barrier for women (in particular) seeking services and provide them with a safe place to leave their children while they are in treatment here at Mariposa.
 
Our core value is to provide an excellent level of care to every person who walks through our doors. We don't descriminate and we keep our "finger on the pulse" in Orange County to know what the needs are of our community and making sure we are providing services that the men, women and children of Orange County need.
 
Mariposa is dedicated to treating the entire family and creating systemic changes and stopping the maladaptive cycles in families.

One board member actually came through Mariposa years ago to help her deal with some traumatic experiences in her life.  She later became involved as a board member and is so passionate about Mariposa.  She often says, "I was fortunate to have access to therapy and support... Mariposa is a place for people to go to get the help they need, but wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise".  Meryl