Our Mission

Pepstart connects harm reduction, recovery, workforce development, mental health support, and emergency response into a single ecosystem — so people in the DMV region can find the help they need in one place, rather than being bounced between disconnected services.

Why We Exist

Too often, support systems treat people as a single issue: a person who uses substances, a family in conflict, a teenager who got in trouble online. Real life doesn't work that way — the same person or family is usually dealing with more than one thing at once, and the systems meant to help rarely talk to each other.

Pepstart was built to close that gap, bringing multiple forms of support together under one roof so people don't have to start over with a new intake form every time life gets harder.

Our Founder

Pepstart is led by Pep Garrido, a semi-retired auto technician turned community outreach worker, with six years of hands-on harm reduction experience in the DC/MD/VA region and certification as a restorative justice circle keeper. That background — fixing things that are broken, and sitting with people through hard conversations — shapes how every Pepstart program is built: practical, direct, and centered on repairing relationships rather than just managing problems.

What We Do

Pepstart Reviving Cart

A mobile emergency response and harm reduction unit, built to bring supplies, testing, and support directly into the community.

Pepstart Family Circle

Restorative justice circles for families — starting with youth screen/social media conflict and cyberbullying, and extending to family reunification and general family conflict.

Pepstart Podcast

Conversations and education around harm reduction, recovery, workforce development, mental health, and emergency response — built around the work already happening across Pepstart.

Recovery & Reentry Support

Connecting people in recovery and people returning home after incarceration, with the resources and community they need to stay on track.

Our Partner Organizations

Pepstart works alongside two affiliated businesses that extend its reach in the DMV community:

Pep Testing Solutions

Provides alcohol, drug, DNA, HIV, and other testing services, along with ignition interlock support and mobile testing — supplying the testing infrastructure behind Pepstart's harm reduction work.

MackZeon

Provides professional cleaning, elderly care, and community support services, extending Pepstart's reach into everyday household and elder-care needs.

Our Approach

Every Pepstart program is built on the same foundation:

Restorative, not punitive — using the Circle Keeper model to repair harm and rebuild trust, not just assign consequences

Meet people where they are — mobile, community-based, and accessible, not confined to an office

Connected, not siloed — one person's harm reduction need, family conflict, and job search are treated as connected, not handled by three different agencies

Get Involved

Need support? [Reach out →] Want to partner or refer? [Become a Partner →] Want to fund this work? [Support Pepstart →]

Pep Garrido founded the Pepstart name and brand in 2010, and has spent the years since building it into a coordinated harm reduction, recovery support, workforce development, mental health, and emergency response initiative serving the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia region.

Pep brings six years of direct harm reduction work throughout the DMV area to this effort. That experience led to the founding of Pep Testing Solutions LLC, which provides mobile drug, alcohol, DNA, and HIV testing along with ignition interlock program support, and Pepstartreentry.org, a nonprofit organization supporting individuals reentering the community after incarceration.

Pep is a certified restorative justice circle keeper and applies that training across Pepstart's programs, including Pepstart Family Circle and Pepstart Digital Wellbeing, which address family conflict, youth digital dependency, and family reunification through the Circle Keepers model.

Pep's approach is grounded in the view that harm reduction, reentry, and family support are interconnected challenges requiring an integrated service model, rather than a set of disconnected programs. This philosophy has shaped Pepstart's growth over more than a decade and continues to guide its pursuit of partnerships with government agencies, funders, and community organizations across the region.