Veterans Village of San Diego is a nationally renowned nonprofit that brings in more than $17 million dollars in public funds each year. But staff and residents fear that its drug and alcohol treatment center on Pacific Highway has strayed far from what it once was.

inewsource reporter Jill Castellano spoke with dozens of people who have lived or worked at Veterans Village. Her project has exposed overdoses at the rehab center, widespread drug use, unsafe living conditions, poor food quality and more.

Two months after the investigation published, county officials revealed that they had been quietly working behind the scenes to address many of the concerns raised in the reporting, ultimately leading them to put a freeze on new admissions at the rehab center “pending corrective action.”

Jill Castellano is an investigative data reporter at inewsource. She has worked for The Salt Lake Tribune, The Desert Sun and USA TODAY, and she earned a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2018 for her work on the deaths of undocumented border crossers. At inewsource, she has covered campaign finance, criminal justice, public health and veterans issues.

Contact her at jillcastellano@inewsource.org.