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
Chad Hooten, MD
BOARD CHAIR
Chief of Emergency Psychiatry at Dell Seton Medical Center
Hon. Selena Alvarenga
VICE CHAIR
Judge to the 460th Criminal District Court
Jimmy Anderson
BOARD TREASURER
Legislative Affairs Coordinator at Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Jessica Palvino
SECRETARY
Attorney at Jackson Walker
Jana Ortega, JD
PAST CHAIR
Sole practitioner and founder of OrtegaLaw, PLLC
Hon. Josè “Chito” Vela
Austin City Council Member, District 4
Hon. Margaret Gomez
Commissioner, Travis County Precinct 4
Hon. Larry Wallace Jr., Ph.D.
Board Chair for the Black Men’s Health Clinic
Hon. Judge Laurie Eiserloh
Judge to the 455th District Court
Ana Marie Cox
Sober Questioning columnist for “The Cut”
Ex-Officio Members
Elise Renshaw
Designee for City Manager TC Broadnax
Stephen White
Designee for Chief of Austin-Travis County EMS Robert Luckritz
Michael Chancellor
Designee for Austin Chief of Police Lisa Davis
Adrienne Sturrup
Director of Austin Public Health Department
Robert Stanford
Designee for Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez
Jacqueline van Wormer, Ph.D.
Designee for Travis County Judge Andy Brown
Alan Schalscha, DO
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Travis County Hospital District
Dawn Handley
Designee for Integral Care Chief Executive Officer Jeff Richardson
Rishi Sawhney, MD
Assistant Professor and the Associate Chair of Community Psychiatry at Dell Medical School
Staff Leadership
Laura Elmore LeBlanc, LMSW-AP
Chief Executive Officer
Camille Atkins, MBA
Chief Operations Officer
Christine Hassall, LCDC
Director of Programs
Ashlyn Branscum
Development & Communications Manager
Government & Community Partners
