Welcome to The Cove, UCSC’s Harm Reduction & Recovery Community
The Cove hours and updates
Operating hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Services are also available outside of these hours by appointment only.
- Beginning Winter 2025, The Cove is temporarily pausing or adjusting selected services due to staffing transition and plans for relocation.
- Peer Mentoring with The Cove student staff is still available. Please fill out our appointment request for all service support requests, including Peer Mentoring/coaching appointments.
- Email: thecove@ucsc.edu
Memo
Dear partners, allies, and supporters of The Cove, Beginning in Winter 2024, The Cove will pause or adjust certain services due to staffing updates and plans for relocation. Although the Cowell College trailer has served as a key location for us over the years, it was intended to be a temporary space. A permanent home has been found and more information about the new location will be shared in the near future.
The Cove will remain open at the Cowell College trailer with reduced hours through this period of transition. We are also committed to minimizing any further impact on services during the relocation. With a temporarily reduced team and limited capacity at The Cove, we will concentrate on our essential offerings, including individual support meetings, coaching resources, and assistance with sober living housing on campus.
Our student peer-to-peer support will remain available throughout this period. To read more about Collegiate Recovery Programs, please read our section below. Thank you for your time and patience as we navigate these temporary changes. We will update Winter Quarter Cove hours in January 2025.
What Is a Harm Reduction/Recovery Community?
A Harm Reduction/Recovery Community (sometimes called a Collegiate Recovery Program) is a community of students and others in recovery and supportive of recovery from alcohol and/or other drug addictive disorders who can come together and help each other flourish. Staff and faculty who support and provide services to this community work with students to create an environment that maximizes community members’ potential for personal and academic success. At UC Santa Cruz, the program advances the university’s educational, research and public service mission. This includes support meetings, counseling and coaching resources, health and wellness services, social activities and networking, mentoring and space in which many of these activities take place. It may also include an on or off-campus sober living space.
To read more about Collegiate Recovery Programs, visit the Association of Recovery in Higher Education and the SAFE Project websites.
What is The Cove?
The Cove is an all-inclusive community for students recovering from alcohol and/or other drugs, loved ones of those with addictions, allies, and anyone else who supports recovery. We are a diverse group, varying in ages and lengths of sobriety. The Cove is supported by staff and faculty at the university and community members.
Why Have a Harm Reduction/Recovery Community?
Students in recovery from addiction to alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs, behaviors and relationships and their allies make up a growing population at UC Santa Cruz and other colleges across the nation and need support, resources, and services to thrive.
Additionally, a significant number of students who aren’t in recovery themselves choose to remain substance free for many reasons. UC Santa Cruz recognizes the vital contributions of students in recovery, their allies, and others who are substance free. The university also knows that in order to thrive, these students need support, resources, and services. For these reasons, UC Santa Cruz has built a coalition of students, staff, and faculty who form and support The Cove.
According to one fourth-year UC Santa Cruz student, “Without the support of my peers and those who contribute to and help maintain my recovery, I would be lost. Lost in the deep black hole that is addiction. To uphold my recovery I must surround myself with those people who nourish my life; those people are the ones who have a deep understanding of where I have come from and the challenges that lie ahead. Synergistically, we work together to achieve what none of us believed we could do on our own.”
About The Cove
The Cove is a safe space to be in community with other students that are committed to their recovery from alcohol and/or other drugs, are the loved one of someone with an addiction, are someone who wants to support those in recovery, are interested in recovery or just want to meet other students who are substance-free and looking for community. Slugs for Health and Growth is also for you if you are seeking:
- Involvement in fun, sober events (on and off-campus)
- Connections to resources for wellness and support
- Recovery support and accountability
- Opportunities to be of service
- Opportunities to debunk stereotypes and myths about addiction and recovery
The Cove has weekly workshops, recovery meetings and drop in hours (when campus is having in-person classes) for students seeking support from their peers.
Is The Cove For Me?
Whether you are seeking information about harm reduction, recovering from alcohol or other drugs, are supporting someone in harm reduction/recovery, or just interested in meeting other students who are practicing harm reduction and looking for a substance-free community, The Cove is here for you. We also welcome you if you are seeking:
- Involvement in fun, sober events (on and off-campus)
- Connections to resources for wellness and support
- Recovery support and accountability
- Opportunities to be of service
- Opportunities to debunk stereotypes and myths about addiction and recovery
For the Newest Cove Events: Visit our Instagram page
