About

The Sobering Center Contributes to a Safe Community
Founded in 2018, the Sobering Center was built with the intent of providing the community with a safe place to recover from intoxication in lieu of the jail or the emergency room and to then be referred to community based resources as needed. Today, we have provided this service to over 3,900 individuals, and continue to evolve our services to meet the needs of our community. Our clients reflect the Austin/Travis County community in that we are regularly providing sobering services and brief interventions for college students, festival goers, partakers of downtown entertainment, and the chronically homeless. All are welcome and our staff will work to individualize the intervention.
Board of Directors


Jana Ortega, JD
BOARD CHAIR
Sole practitioner and founder of OrtegaLaw, PLLC

Christopher Ziebell, MD
VICE CHAIR
Director of Health and Innovation at Dell Seton Medical Center

Hon. Kathie Tovo
BOARD SECRETARY
City Council Member
Austin City Council, District 9

Vacant
BOARD TREASURER

Paulette Blanc
MPH, CPHQ Co-Founder & Chief of Research, MEASURE

Hon. Margaret Gomez
Commissioner, Travis County Precinct 4

Jessica Palvino
Attorney at Jackson Walker

Jimmy Anderson
Legislative Affairs Coordinator at Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Chad Hooten, MD
Chief of Emergency Psychiatry at Dell Seton Medical Center

Rick Ybarra
MBA & CTFA Director of Development at Texas State University

Hon. Selena Alvarenga
Judge to the 460th Criminal District Court
Ex-Officio Members


Rey Arellano
Designee for Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk

Jasper Brown
Austin Interim Chief of EMS

James Mason
Designee for Chief of Police Joseph Chacon

Adrienne Sturrup
Interim Director of Austin Public Health Department

Sally Hernandez
Travis County Sheriff

Roger Jefferies
Designee for Travis County Judge Andy Brown
Staff Leadership


Laura Elmore, LMSW-AP
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Camille Atkins, MBA
Director of Finance & Operations

Brandon Hann
Paramedic Manager

Christine Hassall, LCDC
Program Manager

Ashlyn Branscum
Development & Communications Manager