Reflecting on My Experience Working at A Clubhouse for Adults with Serious Mental Illness

I resigned from my position at Genesis House today. It was harder than I thought it would be. You know how people say you don't realize how much you love something until you let it go? Usually they are talking about relationships when they say that, and they're right. I'm not only losing a job, I'm losing a lot of relationships that I've built over the past two years. Of course I'm not literally losing them. but I'm having to move on to the next chapter of my life without them. It wasn't until that second I told the staff and the members I was leaving that I felt the weight of my decision. I felt my leg start to shake and my heart race. Even though my mind didn't want to admit it, my body felt the sadness.

For those who aren't familiar with clubhouses, they are places in the community that are designed for adults with serious mental illness. They offer a space for social interaction, skill-building, and access to resources. They are non-clinical, member-driven, and strengths-based. Members and staff have a shared responsibility of running the clubhouse and participating in the work-ordered day. Clubhouses offer social activities, and they offer support in areas such as employment, education, housing, and healthcare. Some known benefits of clubhouse are improved social functioning, increased employment, reduced hospitalizations, and improved quality of life. I want to add that clubhouses are protective factors against stigma of mental illness as they offer a nonjudgemental free space.

The Fountain House in NYC is known as the original clubhouse and has served as a model for many others around the world.

At Genesis House, we have social activities in the community every Thursday and one Saturday a month, and we have in-house socials on Friday nights. We offer supported employment and transitional employment (TEs), and we support members who have independent employment as well. We have TE partners with businesses in our community and members work there for around 9 months. It's a great way to get back into the workforce. When members aren't feeling well, staff fill in for their jobs as part of the clubhouse structure. At Genesis, we have a member currently working on trying to get his GED, so education is another focus.

We have a business unit and a cafe unit. The business unit is where many of our Excel tasks are done, including attendance and auditing. We also mail cards. The cafe is where members help cook the meals for lunch and do meal planning and grocery shopping for the clubhouse. Part of the cafe is the Snack Shop where healthy options are offered. Lunches and snacks are no more than $1.50 to make it more affordable for members who may come from low socioeconomic households. Also within the business unit, we work on media and do a newsletter as well as a news broadcast. We also currently have a Book Club. Smoking Cessation Group, Education Club, and Wellness Club. In addition to this, every day after lunch our clubhouse goes on a Wellness Walk. Every Tuesday, we have a House Meeting where members and staff make decisions together.

Many members have creative talents and take leadership in all of these different areas. I can genuinely say that in my time at Genesis, I have learned just as much from the members as staff, if not more. I still remember my first day as if it was yesterday. I thought one of the members was a staff member.

When I first started, I did Clubhouse Training with a member. We spent the summer going to other clubhouses throughout Michigan. It was so cool seeing how others were run. I remember Gathering Place and being amazed at how big it was. I remember being intrigued by their boutique shop. As an avid book reader and passionate writer, I gravitated toward their library. I loved that on their walls they had images of celebrities and famous scientists with mental illnesses. The member and I ended up putting education in our plan, and we presented it to our clubhouse when we finished the training. Soon, another member donated a bookshelf and we had several members donate books and movies, and before we knew it, we had a library room. I think my favorite part about the training was having our discussions over zoom with members and staff from other clubhouses who were doing the training with us. Hearing the stories of the members felt so empowering and it made me see firsthand just how big of a difference clubhouse has on people. The stories get to me every time.

When I think of other memories of clubhouse, I think of camp and the fundraisers we do. We go to Camp Talahi every August, and we do lots of fun activities and eat really good food. Mostly, we laugh and enjoy one another's company. My first year going to camp, me and two other members won the dance competition. We danced to "Jump" by Kris Kross. There's memories of talking down by the beach in the sun. Memories of the weather getting bad and crossing fingers that the tents would survive the storms. Corn hole, there's a lot of that. Walks through the trails. Truthfully, clubhouse is more than a workplace. It's a family. It's what I was told on the day of my interview. Members described clubhouse as their second family. And looking back on my last two years, I can now see exactly what they meant.

I'm a huge mental health advocate, having struggled with my own mental health in my adolescence, and nothing beats the atmosphere of clubhouse. It's so positive and uplifting and I'm going to miss it so much, being in a place with people who all care about mental health like I do.

My mentor once said something to me that I've never forgotten. He said saying goodbye to toxic or bad people in our lives is easy. What's hard is having to end good relationships on good terms.

It's hard to accept that some people are only meant to be in our lives for a period of time. They make their positive impact, and then they leave. In a way, this departure kind of feels like that. I've made an impact, I've planted seeds, and now it's time for them to grow.