Mission & History

OUR MISSION

We provide quality substance use and mental health treatment services to residents of the Greater Boston community, regardless of status or ability to pay.

Our Approach

The Collaborative Center is a community-based DPH licensed outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment program located in South Boston. The Collaborative provides counseling, psycho-educational and referral services as part of the Boston Health Commission's continuum of care, and provides each client with an opportunity to focus on individualized goals. The Collaborative assists adults and adolescents in a safe, confidential environment who are struggling to successfully and effectively cope with a variety of issues.

The Collaborative Center also assists parents in navigating a complex service system so that they can efficiently and effectively obtain services for themselves or their loved ones struggling with addiction. Because we are a community-oriented site for the South Boston and Dorchester neighborhoods, these family connections are a critical part of our ability to engage and retain clients in treatment and recovery services.

Our community location and long-standing reputation for accessible services have made the Collaborative Center especially attractive as a treatment site to vulnerable community members and their families—particularly for those individuals who are homeless or insecurely housed, but have a current or historical connection to the neighborhoods we serve.

our History

The South Boston Collaborative Center was founded in 1997 in response to the dramatic and tragic increase in adolescent overdoses and suicides in South Boston. Today, with the support the Department of Public Health, the Boston Public Health Commission, and the South Boston Community, the Collaborative continues to provide counseling, education, outreach, and referral services to the youth and families of South Boston and its surrounding communities. The Collaborative provides each individual an opportunity to focus on their goals and assist in the efforts to remove barriers to positive change in a safe and confidential environment. In June 2017, the Collaborative was re-dedicated as the "Joseph 'Dodo' Nee South Boston Collaborative Center" to honor an important and influential community member, Joseph "Dodo" Nee, and to memorialize the contributions he made to the Collaborative and the community it serves.

Areas Served

The Collaborative Center is licensed to provide services within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We primarily serve the Greater Boston Area, including Suffolk, Norfolk, and Middlsex counties. In addition, we can provide remote telehealth services to people throughout the entire state.