About

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc. (The Council) is a private non-profit prevention, education, advocacy, assessment, intervention, and recovery support organization, serving the counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery & Philadelphia. The Council, founded in 1975, provides a wide range of services to reduce the impact of addiction and improve related health issues for the entire community including families, schools, businesses, individuals and the community, regardless of ability to pay, ethnicity, race, gender, age or sexual orientation. 

Our services for prevention, education, advocacy, assessment and intervention help to reduce or eliminate the stigma of addiction, which prevents people from seeking treatment.

Our staff and volunteers are our number one asset. It’s through their integrity, professionalism, and dedication that the message of overcoming and/or avoiding addiction and our services are communicated to those who need them most.

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization – contributions to which are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. The official registration and financial information of The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

Our Vision

Transforming Lives Through Sustained Recovery

Our Mission

The Council offers hope and support to reduce the impact of addiction by providing resources and creating opportunities for the entire community which guide the journey of recovery.

Our Values

Hope Respect Strength Belonging

Anti Racism Statement 

A message from the Executive Director - 

I want to state clearly and unequivocally that Black lives matter, and that this statement underlines critically important work that The Council will undertake in the coming weeks and months and thereafter. As we reflect on what we have experienced in the past few months, in our homes, communities, nation and the world – months living with the impact of a devastating pandemic, followed by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and even more since then, which inspired the engagement of hundreds of thousands of people around the world gathered in community protests – it has become imperative that we declare our commitment to working towards the elimination of systemic racism. 

Our perspectives, lived experiences, identities, and privilege are all different and that may make full agreement on the meaning or impact of these demonstrations unlikely. The Council’s community of caring – our participants, our volunteers, our Board and staff, helped identify the guiding values governing our work: Hope, Respect, Strength, Inclusion and Transparency, Fidelity, Honesty & Candor, Forgiveness, Consistency & Endurance.

In the spirit of Honesty & Candor, as a white woman with the privilege that entails, I haven’t always known exactly what to say, and too often, I stayed silent as a result. These past weeks have awakened a commitment to end that silence, and instead, raise our collective voices to work together towards becoming an organization that embodies a deep and enduring commitment to equity and inclusion for all in our community. I also believe that our shared mission means we must explore where our work to ensure “Recovery is Possible for All” intersects with what our community and country may need to do to make that true for every person, and we will want to do that in a trauma informed way that understand the impact racism plays. 

Recently our Board of Directors met and committed to the following:

-     As The Council will be undergoing a Strategic Planning Process, we will embed our organization’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion throughout that work. We will engage a Strategic Planning Steering committee comprised of Board, Staff, Volunteers and Participants to guide that process.

-   Planning a series of agency staff trainings on anti-racism, anti-bias and micro-aggression. This initiative may well be articulated in the recommendations Strategic Planning Process, but we will begin that planning now.
-   Incorporating a Community Conversation on the Intersection of anti-racism work with the work to prevent, treat and support recovery from substance use disorder as a key component of the Recovery Walks! 2020 Virtual PRO-ACT Village.

We know that there will be more to learn, and much more to do, but these are an important start. In these ways, we can work towards better alignment with our values of Hope, Respect and Strength. The past months have significantly highlighted the importance of self-care, and it remains key to find the ways that are meaningful to you, and that are possible with social distancing, to stay safe and emotionally healthy. As always, I am grateful for the privilege of working with our community to bring our mission of care to those we serve.  I look forward to working with you in these important ways.

 Sincerely,

Jennifer L. King, MA, CFRE

Executive Director