What is a clubhouse? A clubhouse is a community of people working together toward the common goal of recovery from mental illness. Recovery is achieved through work and work-mediated relationships, which provide a firm foundation for growth, self-respect, and individual accomplishment. Certified clubhouses around the world effectively help people rebuild lives that have been disrupted by mental illness. Read more. What do people do at a clubhouse? The work-ordered day provides structure for the daily activities of a clubhouse. During typical business hours, clubhouse members and staff work side by side as colleagues to perform the work that is vital to their community. The work of members is always voluntary. Clubhouse work usually includes preparing and serving food, offering banking services, helping members find and keep community services, reaching out to absent members, communications, and keeping records. Members find jobs with area employers through the clubhouse's transitional and supported employment. A clubhouse offers social activities on evenings, weekends and holidays. Read more. Clubhouses certified by the International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD) provide their communities with a cost-effective solution for dealing with the devastating impact which mental illness has on society. According to available research, ICCD Clubhouses achieve the following tangible results for members and their communities:
A team of Elkhart County residents who care about mental illness has initiated this project. They have the support of area organizations. You are welcome to join with us. Read more. How can I get involved? Here are some possibilities...
Transitional
employment (TE) has proven success at enabling people who have been out of the workforce to return to work and earn a paycheck from a local employer.
Should a member be absent from the job for any reason, a staff member
will cover the job at no cost to to the employer. This policy allows
members with significant employment barriers to experience work success
and not lose the job due to a health relapse. TE placements are part-time and last 6-9 months. A member who completes a TE placement may take another or receive assistance to move on to supported or independent employment.
Read more about the benefits of this model for members and employers. Who certifies clubhouses? The International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD) certifies clubhouses through a multi-step certification process. Read more. How will the clubhouse in Elkhart County be funded? Will a clubhouse burden taxpayers? We are currently exploring a wide variety of funding strategies. Private contributions are welcome. Ideally our clubhouse will not rely on public money, in order to avoid the strings attached to such money and to have full freedom to implement the ICCD certified clubhouse model. Other clubhouses in Indiana have thus far relied
on
reimbursements from Medicaid under the Medicaid Rehabilitation Option;
however
this funding option is closing for these clubhouses beginning July
2010. Indiana's Commission on Mental Health recognizes that certified Clubhouses provide their communities with a cost-effective solution for dealing with the devastating impact which mental illness has on society. The funding possibilities our project ultimately decides to pursue will be influenced by the outcome of current conversations between the Indiana Clubhouse Coalition and Indiana state decision makers. Are there other clubhouses in Indiana?Carriage House in Fort Wayne and Sunshine Clubhouse in South Bend are Indiana's two certified clubhouses. Six other clubhouses participate in the Indiana Clubhouse Coalition. Most are on the way to certification.
Won't this duplicate what Oaklawn and other organizations are already doing? Available treatment options in Elkhart County for those living with serious mental illness are physician-driven and focus on illness management, guided by the requirement of medical necessity set by insurance companies and Medicaid. No services currently available utilize the Clubhouse model, which focuses on recovery. Existing mental health programs are stretched financially and are unable to add this model to their continuum of care. The Clubhouse will complement and collaborate with existing mental health services in Elkhart County by offering unique services not provided elsewhere. Read a letter of support for the project from Oaklawn. No. Clubhouses do assist members in finding housing when needed. A few large clubhouses have developed housing programs.
Can't we get started now? We have been advised by our ICCD mentors, who have experience with many
different start-up clubhouses, that clubhouses do best when they start
with as many of the structures of a mature clubhouse in place as
possible. Clubhouses that begin with a partial program not based on
the work ordered day usually have a difficult time making the
transition to the culture of a certified clubhouse.
We are taking our mentors' advice to heart and, much as we would like to have something up and running as soon as possible, we are taking the time to proceed carefully. We want to keep the ICCD certification standards front and center every step of the way. This sometimes feels like we are sitting on our hands when we could be doing something, but in reality many behind-the-scenes steps are unfolding. It's just that at this step of the way our most active need is for those with the gifts of thinking theoretically and speaking and writing articulately. We will be ready for hands-on work down the road, when we will welcome the active involvement of people with many different kinds of gifts. Our projected schedule for opening our doors is March, 2011. For a more detailed timeline, see our Case Statement. In the meantime, we would welcome your invitation to speak to your club or group. Contact us. |
FAQ |