Clubhouse Model

Table Of Content

• The 15 Best Places for Fountains in New York City
• Meet four New Yorkers living with mental health conditions who are members of a Fountain House recovery clubhouse
• Jobs in New York
• Tackle the city, with our help.
• Supporting Artists With a Space for Their Work
• Fountain House pioneered the ‘clubhouse model’
• The Carousel For All Children Grand Opening 2024 Willowbrook Park

When I first found Fountain House, I was actually in a PROS (Personalized Recovery Oriented Services) program for people that come out of the hospital. I just knew that I had a mental illness and I was suffering from it. Some family members have worked in the field, so they knew about the place that I was in and I started going there, but I quickly found that it was not for me. But unfortunately, those are the type of programs that were available at the time. Fountain House is a national mental health nonprofit fighting to improve health, increase opportunity, and end social and economic isolation for people most impacted by serious mental illness.

Fountain House Offers Space and Support for Mentally Ill Artists - Next Avenue

Fountain House Offers Space and Support for Mentally Ill Artists.

Posted: Mon, 24 Jul 2017 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The 15 Best Places for Fountains in New York City

We always talk about the need to be needed, and I think clubhouses do a very good job in providing that. When you feel needed, you feel like you have a purpose in life, and that helps with rehabilitation. When you have confidence in yourself and your community has confidence in you as well, it really helps move you forward in whatever direction you want. If you have a mental illness, it’s a stigma that the only way to help you focus is to keep you in a group setting where you’re learning the same material every couple of weeks.

Meet four New Yorkers living with mental health conditions who are members of a Fountain House recovery clubhouse

But there was a point where I said, “I got to stay out of the hospital and take care of me.” Clubhouses seemed to work for me. Anyone can join, and no insurance is needed. It is one of the 14 clubhouses in the city, where members and staff work side by side, collaborating efforts in the facility's kitchen, garden, and other activities.

Fountain House Suffers Four Racist Attacks in Five Weeks at Downtown Store - W42ST magazine

Fountain House Suffers Four Racist Attacks in Five Weeks at Downtown Store.

Posted: Mon, 13 Sep 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Jobs in New York

It is the activity that speaks to the fundamental belief that people with serious mental illness can be productive members of society. Fountain House members work at over 120 unique businesses and have achieved an employment rate that is almost consistently double that of comparable employment programs for persons with serious mental illness in New York City. Fountain Houses current Employment Resource Center reaches more than 400 clubhouse members each year, offering a range of opportunities that meet the individuals where they are in their capacities and recovery. We don’t focus only on our diagnosis but because we work closely together, social practitioners tend to know when something is off and can help us. They also help with things like applying for government benefits. For example, Fountain House helped me find housing.

Tackle the city, with our help.

Fountain House has pioneered one of the most successful community-based mental health recovery models in the world to address the issue of social isolation, eliminate barriers to care, and overcome social stigma through an evidence-based approach. Social isolation is a critical issue for this population, as many people with SMI have lost jobs and become alienated from family and friends. Fountain House’s comprehensive suite of social interventions and supports include housing, employment, education, and wellness programs that empower members to reclaim their lives, realize their abilities, and cope with the normal stresses of life. This unique model continues to inspire and give hope to thousands of people with serious mental illness in New York City and around the world. Founded in 1948, Fountain House empowers people with serious mental illness in New York City to live and thrive in society. Every day, individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression come to Fountain House to contribute their talents, learn new skills, access opportunities, and build friendships.

Supporting Artists With a Space for Their Work

We did a lot of research and work on COVID, and it really helped me because I have had COVID two times in the last three years. I moved straight over here because of Hurricane Ida hitting Louisiana. They were losing a lot of jobs and everything else. I moved here because there are more jobs, more opportunities, but also I could do more in my life. I didn’t know a lot of people at the time when I moved to New York City.

For example, in a clubhouse, there are no “patients;” we are all members. It’s an important distinction because members choose to be there and are involved in every aspect of our organization—from janitorial work to shaping our advocacy efforts and decision-making. We believe in the principle “nothing about us without us.” Members also choose how often to come to the clubhouse—memberships do not expire—and which social practitioner they want to work with.

At the youth center on the second floor, Fountain House staffer Delaina Peek helped a club member with his resume. Peek has worked here for four years and she’s seen what a difference this kind of social connection can make. On a Wednesday afternoon in February a couple hundred members were at Fountain House and, just like Murray-Williams, they said they come to Fountain House to feel less alone. Richard Griesmann, a retired butcher who recently lived in a homeless shelter, comes here almost every day. “They give you that hope here that you can do anything and be anything you want, no matter what society is telling you.

Because they tell us, ‘You have a mental illness, you're stupid.’ You're not stupid if you have a mental illness. All of us can do something, you know, and we’re capable. We wanna be accepted and join in everything that the world has to offer too,” Murray-Williams said. This story comes from Call to Mind, American Public Media’s initiative to foster conversations about mental health. What I haven’t seen this year with Fountain House is the state working with the clubhouse to bring in people from the jail and give them an opportunity to prove that they deserve a better life.

In 2018, Fountain House opened the Silver Center to keep older members supported and connected as they age, and to address ongoing concerns of isolation, physical illness and decline, inadequate housing, and poverty. Fountain House’s award-winning programs provide opportunities for its members to belong to a vibrant community focused on work, wellness and social connections. Its engaged staff and members, working side-by-side, create housing, employment, education and health and wellness initiatives that renew people’s lives and reconnect them with mainstream society.

It is unclear just how much the city will commit to clubhouses, but Mayor Adams says the goal is to triple the number of people served. From its inception, Fountain House + Body has been a community endeavor, with staff and members working side by side to develop soap recipes, research market trends, and find the right location for our shop. 58 percent of members are diagnosed with schizophrenia, 22 percent are diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and 35 percent of members have been diagnosed with chronic depression. Fountain House Gallery (formerly Fountain Gallery) mounted its first exhibition in 2000.

NEW YORK—Mayor de Blasio today announced a new, comprehensive effort to support New Yorkers experiencing serious mental illness. Through a range of new investments, the City will build on its existing resources to create a new, flexible model for mental health care to reach more New Yorkers and help them stay connected to care. Fountain House Studio is a dedicated studio space in Long Island City that provides member-artists with the resources, training, inspiration, and support they need to succeed in the highly competitive art world. Full-time access to the studio, where free art supplies are available, assists these artists in moving to a new level of creativity, expanding their marketable portfolios, and advancing their efforts to achieve broader name recognition and commercial success.