Mission

The Mission of Sun Street Centers is to prevent alcohol and drug addiction by offering education, prevention, treatment, and recovery services to individuals and families at all income levels.

The Big Idea

Sun Street Centers' substance abuse prevention staff will mentor high school leaders on their campaign to confront the causes of unintended overdoses throughout Monterey County. A few grains of fentanyl can be lethal to teens and young adults who don't know it's hidden in a different drug, vape pen, or over-the-counter medication. In 2022, opioid deaths in our County grew nearly 22%, largely linked to fentanyl, a cheap drug, 50 times more powerful than heroin. Sun Street Centers' three-decade experience coordinating powerful, youth-led, local approaches to reduce substance abuse, along with accredited addiction recovery programs, protect youth and adults in local communities from overdoses that are the second leading cause of death among California residents ages 15-24. We are making an impact. In FY23 Sun Street Centers provided Prevention Services to 8,169 young people – and their parents in 26 schools and youth programs in Monterey County.

I came in with the mindset of how can Sun Street Centers help me? But it did. It allowed me to develop my reconnection to society. It allowed me to think and gave me tools to express and advocate for myself. I got services through a medical group; I got a social worker; I got a therapist; I got a doctor on my team and two nurses. When I shared my story at Hartnell College, I asked ‘how many addicts are here?’ Nobody raised their hand. ‘How many gang members are here?’ Nobody raised their hand. Those people came up to me after, there was three of them, one was in recovery, one lost a friend to addiction, and another one said I touched her life by showing that an addict can change his life. That made an impact in my life because I spread the message.

- Gabriel Z