With over 10 years of experience working in addiction treatment, Elizabeth is highly qualified to act as the executive director for Covenant Hills. With a bit of a developing role in the company, Elizabeth directly oversees the day-to-day operations and clinical programs for the women and with the men’s programs. She oversees improvements through evaluation of our current processes and procedures to ensure consistency and effectiveness. She also handles the clinical program development to ensure that our programs are dynamic, engaging, and educational.

In her own words, “I struggled with addiction throughout my teens and into early adulthood. I have been to treatment quite a bit myself, so I think it really helps me to empathize with the client experience. Going through treatment is often one of the more challenging experiences that our clients will have in their entire lives. When they aren’t internally motivated or want to leave, I understand that, because I have been there. When they can’t imagine the rest of their lives without a drink or a drug, I get it. I was also an incredibly difficult client in treatment, so I tend to have a special place in my heart for the clients who may have some behavioral issues; I always try to keep in mind that if there weren’t staff members willing to fight for me even when I was a little more rough around the edges, I likely wouldn’t be alive today.”

Elizabeth loves working with clients and families. She strongly believes that recovery should be fun and that getting sober should open doors, as opposed to closing them, so she always tries to build clinical programs that reflect these principles.

Again she says, “Bottom line, I am sick of seeing young people dying unnecessarily, and I want to help support clients in living a life beyond their wildest dreams.”

Carice Blazo is a Pastoral Counselor at the Company’s women’s treatment facility in Dana Point. Carice holds a B.A. in Psychology, an M.A. in Pastoral Counseling, and is an ordained minister. As a regional director at Christian non-profit educational organization, TeachOverseas.org, Ms. Blazo discipled, evangelized, taught, trained and equipped individuals and groups in their educational and spiritual journeys. Ms. Blazo has 6 years of experience in management and administration in addiction treatment centers.

Judie Merrow is a Case Manager at the Company’s women’s treatment facility in Dana Point. Judie has been with the Company serving in various capacities since 2009. She has been a sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous since 1996 and is an extremely valuable member of the treatment team, with a wealth of experience and caring disposition. Judie is a Certified Alcoholic and Drug Counselor, having attended both Saddleback College and Training Institute for Addiction Counselors. Judie has been with her husband for 28 years and has 1 son and 6 grandkids that light up her life.

Jennifer started working as a receptionist and worked her way up from insurance verification and Utilization Reviewer/Biller. After completing her alcohol and drug studies in 2018, she became a Case Manager at the CH Women’s facility.

Her role at Covenant Hills finds her assessing the needs, goals, and preferences of the clients. She participates in the planning and presentation of didactic/education groups, assist clients in achieving their treatment plan objectives, provides professional referrals for medical, and offers other services post-treatment.

As a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, she is able to relate to the pain of what the women are experiencing. As a transformed woman, herself, she is able to share her hope and faith in God, which gives her the opportunity to feel the Holy Spirit work through her to help the women who walk through the doors of Covenant Hills.

She cares most about seeing the ladies walk through the doors, broken and run down, then witnessing the transformation—seeing them smile and feel good about themselves again. She feels a particular mission in this field and feels God has called her to Covenant Hills.

According to Heather, the greatest pleasure of being the primary therapist at Covenant Hills women’s facility is watching the beautiful evolution of change in others. She remains “ridiculously passionate” about the work she does on a daily basis, which includes being an integral part of the multi-disciplinary treatment team providing individual, group, and family therapy, as well as formulating unique and specific treatment plans of each resident.
Her educational background includes a BS in pastoral ministries and psychology (Vanguard University) and a Master’s of Science in Clinical Psychology (Vanguard University). She is also a California licensed marriage and family therapist, a certified eating disorder specialist, and is EMDR certified.

She educates from the efficacy of positive interventions and believes that everyone gets stuck once in a while, but she maintains that “it’s never too late to be who you might have been.”