With less accessibility to grants and state money, Stepping Stone, along with other nonprofits, has found it difficult to maintain consistent funding.

“As we all know expenses are rising every day and funding is going down, and the purses are getting tightened,” said Stepping Stone vice president Rich Ahrendt. “ … That will affect everyone in San Diego that does anything,”

To combat decreased funding, Stepping Stone, an alcohol and drug treatment program for members of the GLBT community, launched last week a new donation program called Gifts from the Heart.

“ … We feel we have to reach out to the community like they did in the 80s and 90s, when people reached out for personal contributions for HIV and AIDS,” Ahrendt said. “This [substance abuse] is just as big an epidemic in the gay community. People have to take care of their own.”

At the launch event, hosted at Ono Sushi, the nonprofit raised a total of $18,000 in donations from a pool of 10-15 donors. Five donors wrote checks for $3,000 each, and one signed up for a monthly automatic withdrawal donation. Ono Sushi owner Paul Somerset was among the donors.

In the Gifts from the Heart program, donors can purchase a heart-shaped tile that comes in three sizes: small (4x4), medium (6x6), and large (10x10). Donors receive a small tile for a $100 donation, a medium tile for a $500 donation and a large tile for $3,000. Donors can decide on the message they want inscribed on the tile, which will be placed along a staircase in Stepping Stone’s residential treatment facility.

“Part of what we are doing with this annual giving program is to have a steady income source coming in monthly instead of being so dependent on our big Living Out Loud events,” said Jim Ginelli, chief officer of Stepping Stone’s office of development and public relations.

There are two ways people can make a donation to the program. Donors can pay for the tile upfront or be billed monthly over time. Ginelli hopes to build a base of prospective donors who, eventually, give $33 per month.

The program is unrestricted in terms of where funding goes, but donors can restrict their donations to a specific service or program.

“A donor can always restrict or ask or actually tell us where they would like the money to go,” said Ginelli. “This program is unrestricted so it goes to fill gaps in the program.”

Donations go directly to Stepping Stone’s clients.

The program is also seeking ways to fund more services for women, who represent approximately 35 percent of Stepping Stone’s clientele.

“Women want to be in their own facilities – you know, we just don’t have that right now,” said Ginelli. A part of Stepping Stone’s long-term goal is to open a women’s facility in Palm Springs or San Diego.

Ginelli said there is a demand for recovery services in the GLBT community.

“We have such a long waiting list,” Ginelli said. “When they need help, you know, they want it right now, and usually it doesn’t work like that because we only have so much space.”

The Stepping Stone treatment facility houses thirty-one beds, with clients who stay approximately six months. The waiting list usually has 30 people on it.

“As you know, we are all stretched, particularly at this time of the year. It’s tax time, it’s political fund-raising time but I hope people can see it in their hearts to help us continue our programs and services,” said Stepping Stone president Bill Hargreaves.