Our Story

In 1994, Crisis House moved to North Magnolia Ave. in El Cajon, CA and created a landmark multi-service Resource Center with emergency and social services, 24-hour crisis line and professional counseling services, and a robust intern-training program to provide counseling for those in crisis. The Center became the hub for emergency and social services in the region and the first place people turned to for assistance when in crisis. They supported men, women and children in overcoming complex and challenging circumstances, including homelessness, domestic violence, health conditions, and lack of access to food and housing. Thirteen years later, Crisis House added supervised visitation services for court-mandated parents to reunify with their children, after school care, human trafficking programming and a legal clinic. Crisis House hosts the annual East County Project Homeless Connect, a national initiative to access over 40 organizations in one day to support those experiencing chronic homelessness toward health and housing. Building on the belief that everyone deserves a safe home, Crisis House added transitional housing programs for women and children fleeing domestic violence, and for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Crisis House was the only Emergency Resource Center in the East County serving the homeless without an appointment. The Center offered crisis intervention, information and referrals, mail and safe storage, restrooms, showers, hygiene kits, emergency clothing, hot meals, Food and Infant Pantry, mobile clinic, case management and legal advocacy, respite from the street and more. In 2016, Crisis House significantly expanded its housing programs for families fleeing domestic violence into a comprehensive continuum of housing to include emergency, transitional and permanent housing with wrap-around counseling and case management services. Aligning programing with housing first principles, Crisis House also added two rapid re-housing programs for individuals and families experiencing chronic homelessness. All four of the cities in East County identified Crisis House as the agency to bring more rapid re-housing programs to the region. The Regional Task Force on the Homeless designated Crisis House as the only Point of Entry Site for homeless housing diversion and assessment services in East County, serving nearly 5,000 people with 18,000 different services in 2019. In collaboration with the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, Crisis House coordinates the annual homeless point-in-time count in El Cajon.