About Stepping Stone

50 years of saving lives.

Since 1976, the LGBTQ+ community taking care of its own — in San Diego, on our terms.

Founded 1976

A house, then a building, then a community.

Stepping Stone began as a four-bed residence for gay men in early recovery — at a time when most treatment programs either turned LGBTQ+ people away outright or asked them to closet themselves at the door. The founders refused both options.

Today the organization runs residential, outpatient, and sober-living programs across San Diego County, serves people on Medi-Cal, and remains the only LGBTQ+-specific recovery provider of its kind in the region.