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 7,000 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

Jessica Palvino
BOARD SECRETARY
Attorney at Jackson Walker

Anwar Sophy
BOARD TREASURER
Administrator of F&N Business Management

Hon. Josè “Chito” Vela
Austin City Council Member, District 4

Hon. Margaret Gomez
Commissioner, Travis County Precinct 4

Jimmy Anderson
Legislative Affairs Coordinator at Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Hon. Larry Wallace Jr., Ph.D.
Board Chair for the Black Men’s Health Clinic

Ana Marie Cox
Sober Questioning columnist for “The Cut”

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

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


Rey Arellano
Designee for Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk

Robert Luckritz
Chief of Austin-Travis County EMS

Gizette Gaslin
Designee for Chief of Police Joseph Chacon

Adrienne Sturrup
Interim Director of Austin Public Health Department

Sally Hernandez
Travis County Sheriff

Vicki Ashley
Designee for Travis County Judge Andy Brown
Staff Leadership


Laura Elmore, LMSW-AP
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Camille Atkins, MBA
Director of Finance & Operations

Brandon Hann
Director of Medical Services

Christine Hassall, LCDC
Director of Programs

Ashlyn Branscum
Development & Communications Manager