Bonita House, Inc is a highly regarded private, non-profit mental health agency offering a wide range of services to persons living with psychiatric disabilities, and specializing in treatment for individuals with a dual diagnosis of mental health and substance use disorders.
In 1971, Bonita House opened the first psychiatric residential treatment program of its kind in Berkeley, CA. Over the years, the agency has expanded its services to meet the needs of the community, and also provides outpatient case management, supported housing, wellness center day programs, outreach & engagement to the underserved, supported employment services, and mobile crisis response teams throughout Alameda County.
Bonita House’s evidence-based, psychosocial rehabilitation treatment practices seek to empower clients’ capacity to grow beyond their diagnoses. Our highly qualified licensed clinicians, mental health rehabilitation specialists, peer, and other support staff work in a caring partnership, engaging people where they are, to build resilience, develop autonomy, and achieve their personal goals. Bonita House recognizes that recovery from mental health and substance use disorders is real and attainable.
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Bonita House purchased the residential treatment program property. Operational
support was received from the SF Foundation, the S.H. Cowell Foundation, and the East Bay
Foundation.
Bonita House opened the first psychiatric residential treatment program of its kind in Berkeley, CA .
– Parishioners from nearby St. Mary Magdalene Church began assisting Bonita House with funding, furniture, and meals in a partnership lasting over thirty years.– Bonita House Inc. received its first contract with Alameda County to provide mental health services for adults within the county.
–Bonita House Inc. opened Junkman’s Palace Café, the first vocational rehabilitation program in Alameda County for adults living with psychiatric disabilities. The Café served as a model for other restaurant training programs throughout California.
– Bonita House Inc., one of the first six California non-profits funded by HUD’s 202/8 Program, built two adjacent 6 bedroom houses in Berkeley, providing congregate living for adults with serious psychiatric disabilities.
Bonita House Inc. started its Supported Independent Living Program by master leasing housing and apartments to become shared supportive housing for clients.
The Mental Health Department of Mendocino and Lake Counties invited Bonita House Inc. to open a 7-bed licensed residential treatment facility in Ukiah that served hundreds of county residents during its years of operation.Bonita House Inc. received funding from the State of California, Independent Living Housing
Assistance Program to provide services for clients living with serious and persistent mental illness
– Bonita House Inc. received a City of Berkeley Community Development Block Grant Award for acquisition and rehabilitation of a seven-bedroom home to house individuals with serious and persistent mental illness.
Bonita House Inc. received a HUD Rental Rehabilitation Loan to rehabilitate an agency owned residence providing supported housing for clients.
Bonita House Inc. redesigned its programs to work exclusively with adults with a dual diagnosis of serious persistent mental health and substance use disorders, to treat both conditions concurrently.
The Berkeley Creative Living Center, a clubhouse-like program for adults with serious mental health challenges, merged with and became a program of Bonita House Inc.
– Bonita House Inc. was acknowledged as an exemplary provider of Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment (IDDT), and along with 15 other organizations was funded by the U.S. Public Health Service to produce a manual on IDDT to be used nationally Bonita House Inc. began billing Medi-Cal for their services
– Bonita House Inc. started to integrate primary care into its behavioral health care services. Funded by a foundation grant, Samuel Merritt Hospital students and their attending supervisor provided Resident Treatment Program clients with on-site health care screening,
education, and referrals.
The Board of Supervisors of Alameda County Commended Bonita House Inc. on its twenty-five years of service to the county, for providing a quality social rehabilitation program that promoted optimal independent living for people with significant mental health and substance abuse challenges.CA State Assembly member Tom Bates Commended Bonita House Inc. on its twenty fifth anniversary for the vital role it had played in improving the quality of life in the Berkeley Community, with best wishes for continued success in the future.
–Bonita House Inc. staffed the Alameda Point Collaborative, a supported housing
community at the former Alameda Naval Air Station, with case managers trained in dual
diagnosis treatment practices.
– Bonita House Inc. was awarded a contract by Alameda County to develop the Homeless Outreach and Stabilization Team (HOST) Program, funded by the Mental Health Services Act (Prop 63). HOST provided outreach, engagement, wrap-around services, and housing to over 90 homeless adults living with untreated severe psychiatric disabilities.
Bonita House Inc. was one of eight agencies in California to participate in a federal study
on implementing evidence-based integrated dual diagnosis treatment (IDDT) at clinic sites.
– The nonprofit A Beautiful Night transferred funds and property in Knightsen, CA, to Bonita House Inc. to explore the possibility of converting it into a therapeutic farm.
EveryOneHome in Alameda County recognized Bonita House Inc. for meeting or exceeding the occupancy benchmark at its Channing Way residence for permanent supportive housing in 2013.
Bonita House Inc. was awarded the housing component of the CHOICES for Community Living Program; a collaborative effort to create a culture of recovery and positive “exits” for adults from the county-funded public mental health system.
– The State of California awarded Bonita House Inc. a two-year Workforce, Education and Training grant to promote increased retention of persons employed within the Public Mental
Health System.
Bonita House Inc. was awarded the IHOT (In-Home Outreach Teams) Program, by Alameda County to provide outreach and engagement to adults with untreated serious mental illness to connect them with appropriate supportive services in the county.
Bonita House Inc. was awarded a contract by the Alameda County to open a new Wellness Center in East Oakland, serving a primarily African American and Latino population. The center is named Casa Ubuntu, which means “House of Human Kindness.In partnership with Berkeley Mental Health and the Alameda County Behavioral Health Care System, Bonita House Inc. remodeled a new location for its Creative Wellness Center, and upon its opening, renamed it the Berkeley Wellness Center (BWC).
Bonita House Inc. was awarded the contract for CATT, the Community Assessment and Transport Team program, a pilot to provide a new model for responding to behavioral health emergencies in Alameda County. The program, developed in partnership with AC Behavioral
Health Care Services (BHCS) and AC Emergency Medical Services (EMS), pairs a Licensed
Clinician and an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) to respond to mental health emergencies
through 911 dispatch.
Bonita House Inc. was awarded an 18-month Mental Health Technology Pilot Project, to link qualified behavioral health providers with software developers to design, develop, pilot, and test mobile and desktop applications to improve communication, engagement, support, and care coordination with target populations and their service providers.
