Our Story
Hope and Chance was born from one clinician's determination to make recovery truly possible — not just clinically, but in every dimension of life.
Our Mission
Hope and Chance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to one powerful belief: that every person struggling with addiction, substance use disorder, or mental health challenges deserves a real chance at recovery — not just treatment, but the entire support system that makes recovery sustainable.
We provide the wraparound layer that transforms clinical treatment into lasting change: safe housing, reliable transportation, peer mentorship, accountability, and community.
Our ServicesEvery day, people in active recovery face barriers that have nothing to do with willingness or strength:
Hope and Chance exists to remove every one of these barriers.
The Founding Story
Dr. Mercy Wainaina began her career as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with a deep, unwavering commitment to behavioral health — to understanding the complex intersections of mental illness, trauma, and addiction, and to helping individuals navigate these with dignity and clinical excellence.
But after years in clinical settings, a painful pattern became impossible to ignore.
"I watched patient after patient work incredibly hard in treatment — make real progress — then fall back because they had nowhere safe to sleep, no ride to their next appointment, and no one genuinely in their corner."
These were not failures of willpower. These were failures of the system surrounding treatment. Clinical care, no matter how excellent, could not overcome the destabilizing force of homelessness, isolation, transportation barriers, and survival stress.
Dr. Wainaina saw what was missing: a comprehensive wraparound support system that surrounded individuals in recovery with the stability, structure, and human connection that clinical care alone could not provide.
She also saw what was possible. When her patients had safe housing, reliable rides to appointments, and peer mentors who had walked the same road — their outcomes transformed.
"Recovery is possible. I've seen it. But it takes more than a prescription or a therapy session. It takes a whole community choosing to show up."
With that conviction, Dr. Mercy Wainaina founded Hope and Chance Integrated Health — not just as a nonprofit, but as a promise to every patient who deserved a real second chance.
Today, Hope and Chance partners with New Era Mental Health to create a complete recovery ecosystem in Washington State — one where clinical treatment and wraparound support work hand in hand, and where every individual who walks through our doors knows: there is hope here.
What We Believe
Every decision we make — from who we hire to how we design our housing — flows from these fundamental beliefs.
Every person who comes to us is met with warmth, respect, and the absolute belief that their recovery is possible.
We never reduce a person to their diagnosis or their past. Recovery begins with being seen and treated as fully human.
Stability is not a luxury — it is the foundation on which all recovery is built. We provide environments that feel genuinely safe.
No one recovers alone. We cultivate genuine community — between residents, between staff, and with the broader world.
We believe every person who enters our doors carries the capacity for profound, lasting transformation. We build toward that.
Delivered with compassion, not judgment — accountability is the consistent structure that helps recovery take root.
Our Journey
Hope and Chance began as one clinician's response to a systemic gap. It grew into a full recovery support organization that touches hundreds of lives each year.
Meet Our TeamDr. Mercy Wainaina notices a pattern: patients with clinical support but without housing and wraparound care struggle to maintain recovery gains.
The organization is incorporated as a nonprofit, with a mission to provide wraparound recovery support services throughout Washington State.
Hope and Chance formalizes its clinical partnership with New Era Mental Health, creating a seamless ecosystem of treatment and support.
The RES program launches — recruiting, training, and deploying individuals with lived recovery experience as peer support professionals.
Hope and Chance now serves over 200 individuals, with an expanding team of RES professionals and growing community impact across Washington State.
Ready to Begin
Whether you're seeking support, making a referral, or looking to join our team — we're ready to help.