Center for Human Services (CHS) began in 1970 as Head Rest, a drop in center for youth struggling with drug abuse, with a single paid staff member and a handful of volunteers. Today we’ve grown into an agency with over 300 employees, serving every community in Stanislaus County by providing access to treatment, prevention, education, counseling and shelter programs.
Explore Our Interactive Timeline
We opened our doors
The Center was founded in 1970 as Head Rest, a drop-in center for youth, by a group of dedicated community leaders who were concerned about the growing problem of drug abuse among young people in Stanislaus County.
Start
We became an official nonprofit
Within one year Head Rest had already made huge headway in the war against drugs, grew to 3 paid staff and 20 dedicated volunteers. In 1971 Head Rest registered as a non-profit organization.
We started counseling services for students
The Ombudsman program, a precursor to the Student Assistance Program, started in area schools and Police Departments. Head Rest counselors were placed in schools to work directly with students in crisis and with those needing personal counseling.The Juvenile Diversion program also began and provided an alternative to incarceration and probation for first time youth offenders.
A decade of growth
By the end of the decade the agency had grown to 48 paid staff members with a budget of 1 million dollars.
By our 10 year anniversary…
Head Rest had a budget of over 2 million dollars and 55 employees. Our service capacity continued to grow as we added several new programs including Emancipation House, a place for youth under 18 leaving the Juvenile Justice system, Tough Love, a parent education and support group program, and a Peer Jury program.
We became Center for Human Services
We moved to an office complex behind McHenry Village in Modesto and a new logo was created. We renamed our Outreach Counseling program to the Student Assistance Program (SAP).
We held the 1st Annual Edible Extravaganza
We celebrated the 10th Anniversary of Hutton House and held the first annual Edible Extravaganza, a fundraiser focusing on area restaurants. To this day, it is our longest running fundraiser as we celebrate the 34th Annual Edible Extravaganza in 2020.
Serving 4,000 clients annually
New grants and funding were later secured, and by 1989 the agency served an average of 4,000 clients annually. A Community Counseling Program was also established this year and we expanded our school based services to k-12 sites county wide.
By our 20th anniversary…
Many programs were created or expanded in the 90s and the budget quadrupled by the end of the decade. Friday Night Live for high schools to promote drug/alcohol free lifestyles, Club Live for junior highs, Friday Night Live Kids for elementary schools, Arrive Alive Seatbelt Safety program, a support group for LGBTQ youth called Diversity+, and First Step, a collaboration with Sierra Vista Child and Family Services to combat substance use among pregnant women.
A decade of continued growth
The early 2000’s were another decade of continued growth for CHS. In 2001, Pathways was created as a transitional independent living program for youth ages 18 - 21. We opened the Patterson Family Resource Center, Patterson Teen Center and Oakdale Family Resource and Counseling Center. Ceres Partnership became an official CHS program and mental health services expanded to our satellite offices.
Serving over 18,000 individuals annually
At the start of the decade, Cindy Duenas became the ninth Executive Director, a new logo was created, and a new mission and vision was created. During this decade, CHS moved to our current home at 2000 W. Briggsmore Ave. (in 2015) which we own and a capital campaign helped raise over 1 million dollars in support of this.
Celebrating 50 Years
In 2020 Center for Human Services celebrated 50 years of service to our community. We began construction on a Youth Navigation Center (YNC) to offer shelter and comprehensive supportive services for homeless and in-crisis youth and young adults, all under one roof. We launched a capital campaign to help raise funds for the new facility, the first of its kind in Stanislaus County. In response to COVID-19 we sheltered in place, navigated school closures, implemented safety measures (including social distancing, masking and increased sanitation) and continued providing essential services to clients both remotely and in-person. We relied extensively on platforms like Zoom and Office 365 to continue our work.
Ending Youth Homelessness
In Summer 2021 we held a grand opening for the Youth Navigation Center (YNC) of Stanislaus County and began providing shelter and supportive services to youth and young adults in crisis. Our capital campaign successfully raised $1.3 million to support the YNC. We reopened our offices to the public in accordance with state guidelines and returned to in-person services. COVID-19 safety and sanitation protocols remained in place for the protection of our staff and clients.