2023 Annual Report

Dear ETS Community,

We celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2023. Since our founding in 1973, we have had the privilege of serving the greater Puget Sound community with life-saving person-centered treatment. And while much has changed over the years, one thing has remained the same: we put the needs of those we serve first. For ETS, care is evergreen.

Despite continued hardship for many of our region’s most vulnerable people, we remain committed to our core mission of transforming the lives of individuals and their communities through effective addiction and social services. For example, in 2023 we had more than 17,000 visits to our REACH’s Belltown office where we also distributed over 4,000 Narcan kits. Moreover, through our Treatment in Motion (TIM) initiative we were able to locate a mobile medication unit just a block away from the front door of our Belltown office.  These efforts resulted in there not being a single fatal drug overdose within the immediate proximity of our building during the entirety of 2023, despite its location within a concentrated corridor for drug poisonings. While this represents a small section of the entire city of Seattle—let alone the entire county—it shows what can happen if resources are available when and where people need them.

At our clinics, we continued adapting how ETS provides care to make it more accessible, compassionate, and effective. During this year, we launched two new TIM vehicles and began the process of designing a health and recovery campus at our Airport Way property. This campus will reflect and actualize our new Philosophy of Care, which we also completed in 2023.

Central to our Philosophy of Care is the importance of providing whole-person care. In 2023 we took a significant step in this direction by adding Hepatitis C screening, testing, and treatment at our South Sound Clinic in Olympia with the goal of expanding this work to our other clinics.

This 2023 Annual Report highlights many of our efforts during 2023, which we are very proud of especially given the challenging contexts in which our team members find themselves working to support people every day. In this report, you will see outcomes from all our programs, learn more about our participants, and understand where and how we gained and deployed our funds. As you read, we hope you connect the statistics with the lives they represent and understand that those lives are what motivate us to keep at this work every day.

In community,

In 2023, Evergreen Treatment Services made a lasting impact on individuals and communities facing opioid addiction and unsheltered homelessness. We served over 7,500 clients through our REACH program, offering integrated care, outreach, and housing support. Nearly 5,000 patients received treatment across our clinics, with 60% starting care during the year, underscoring the ongoing challenges of the fentanyl crisis. Our efforts helped hundreds of clients achieve key health, housing, and recovery goals, highlighting the power of evidence-based comprehensive and compassionate care.

Watch this video that was released at our 2023 Roots of Recovery fundraising event, featuring David Delgado, Neighborhood Outreach Systems Coordinator at ETS REACH. Delgado’s street-based practice is an example of how we cultivate care in the community and how this work needs all of us.

Since 1996, ETS’ REACH division provides a continuum of services to support healing and recovery for people living outside in the greater Seattle area. Our four service domains (housing, outreach, integrated care, community justice) are designed for people facing overlapping, complex challenges: chronic homelessness, drug and alcohol use, serious health conditions, and significant impact from poverty, racism, and incarceration. We partner with more than 7,500 clients to navigate the complex system of social services, making sure to embrace their worth and humanity every step of the way.

Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS) has been providing transformative, evidence-based opioid use treatment since 1973. Our Clinic Services program provides counseling, case management services, and medication to support recovery. We use a comprehensive approach combining medications, counseling, and case management services. ETS partners with nationally- recognized researchers to improve substance use disorder treatment and the application of findings to clinical practice.

For fifty years, ETS has had the privilege of serving the greater Puget Sound community. Since opening its doors in 1973, much has changed about ETS. But one thing has remained the same: we put the needs of those we serve first. For ETS, care is evergreen. Learn more in our 50th Impact Report.

Throughout our 50th year, we shared stories from staff–old and new–in our “Lessons Learned” blog series.

We also explored ETS’ 50 years in “ETS By the Decades.” Each blog explored the national context of homelessness and opioid use, plus milestones for our organization that contributed to our path today.

Find these stories on our blog.

For fifty years, ETS has had the privilege of serving the greater Puget Sound community. Se are grateful to all who attended our sixth annual Roots of Recovery event!

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters—that includes you—we raised $266,165 to help our community recover and heal. Learn more about event highlights in our Impact Report.

EVERGREEN LASTING IMPACT AWARD: BETSY WELLS

From research collaborator to Board Chair, Betsy has been a tremendous contributor to ETS over the years. 2023 marks Betsy’s last year on ETS’ Board of Directors, closing out a remarkable tenure. ETS has been graced with Betsy’s presence and persistence for over 30 years and we will be forever thankful for her contributions.

KEYNOTE: DESMOND MEADE

Desmond’s powerful keynote speech was a call to center humanity: “the biggest change that we can make is learning how to love. Not commercial love, but true love.”

When we meet people where they are, wherever they are, we move one step closer to answering this call.

WATCH FULL SPEECH

AGE

GENDER

RACE

“I am grateful Evergreen is there for people when they decide to make a change, they’ve been there for me every time.”

“I appreciate the smiles and friendly atmosphere and staff. For the first and only time I feel welcome and at home in a program.”

*Quotes are not attributed to corresponding participant images.

CLINIC SERVICES PATIENTS

“You can’t work on your addiction and thinking processes until you get control of your life and that’s what methadone allows you to do, to get control of your life.”

“Five years of dosing and I feel that like the program is now really working well for me since I live a couple of blocks away from the TIM location.” 

*Quotes are not attributed to corresponding participant images.

ETS recognizes that homelessness and the criminalization of substance use and mental illness are deeply rooted in discriminatory and racist systems that utilize shame and exclusion rather than empathy and compassion. The punishment-focused approach of our criminal-legal and social service systems has compounded and aggravated the public health emergencies of overdose and homelessness. 

Despite these oppressive forces, many who are most harmed by these systems have incredible stories of strength and hope. ETS strives to provide equitable, person-centered, and compassionate services to those most affected by relational and systemic harm. Guided by this Philosophy of Care that was released in 2023, ETS commits to: 

• Follow a relationship-based, healing-centered approach that is non-judgmental. ETS honors the dignity and autonomy of every person and prioritizes restoration over punishment, guiding care based on the goals and values of each person. 

• Acknowledge that people are complex and use substances for many different reasons. ETS provides behavioral health care and recovery support for people who want to heal from harmful substance use and its causes. ETS commits to a harm reduction approach that challenges injustice. 

• Provide quality care grounded in teamwork. ETS fosters a culture of communication, collaboration, accountability, and transparency to support workplace environments where staff respect one another and operate with integrity. 

• Advance evidence-informed practices and the professional development of our diverse staff. ETS encourages our staff to learn new strategies and ideas and unlearn beliefs and practices that contribute to the punishment model. 

Emboldened by this Philosophy of Care, ETS seeks to enhance the health, dignity, and belonging of the most marginalized people, and in turn advance the health and safety of our entire community. 

Our Inspiring Participants

We want to acknowledge our patients and clients for showing up for treatment. We learn from our patients every day, and will for as long as we’re provided services in our community.

Our Dedicated Team

Our staff at Clinic Services and REACH are the backbone of our organization. Through the ups and down, amid the challenges of this work–and there are many challenges–our team remains dedicated to our shared mission. Thank you for your commitment to providing high-quality care on our participants’ terms.

Our Generous Donors

Thank you to each and every individual, foundation, and corporate sponsor who donated to ETS in our 50th year. Your unwavering support helps ensure we can continue to meet people where they are with recovery support and homelessness services.

Our Valued Partners

We cannot do this work alone–harm reduction and street-based outreach requires partnership. We are incredibly grateful to work with organizations and government agencies that help push our work forward, ensuring we can reach more people with lifesaving treatment options and housing resources.

Meeting people where they are with accessible treatment, housing, and recovery support services takes all of us. Share our efforts with your networks and give to ensure all people in the Puget Sound region can lead lives of dignity.

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