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Having a mental or emotional illness can be debilitating on many levels. It can keep people from working, holding jobs, and being around others.
However, a rehabilitation program is aiming to fill those gaps.
Hope Clubhouse was founded in March of 2010. The Fort Myers program is for those living with severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, clinical depression, schizophrenia and severe anxiety.
“We believe that work, friendships, and appropriate support help people manage their mental illness problems. People come here [and] they become members of the clubhouse,” said Debbie Webb, executive director of Hope Clubhouse.
The clubhouse model of recovery started in 1948 with the Fountain House in New York City. Today there are more than 300 clubhouses worldwide, including twelve other in Florida.
Dr. Omar Rieche is a Fort Myers psychiatrist and board member of Hope Clubhouse. He says the program fills in gaps.
“Many times I talk to people about how I can provide treatment whether it’s therapies or medication. But the treatment that’s missing sometimes most is that individual’s ability to regain dignity and feel useful and part of society,” said Rieche.
Members are referred to the program by their therapist and choose a job within the clubhouse to help keep the facility running. It maintains a typical work-business environment from 9AM to 3PM. The program is free and its members volunteer their time.
The clubhouse creates a support network among its members and also helps hone in on their skills and strengths.
“It gives me a sense of accomplishment, something to look forward to. It gives me friends [and] family,” said Noah Diamond, a member of the clubhouse for almost two years.
He lives with bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and he says, “a few more.” Diamond works as the clubhouse’s IT person and webmaster.
Members often stay working in the clubhouse for up to a year and a half. The program also helps them find a job and integrate back into the workforce.
Webb says programs like Hope Clubhouse play a vital role in mental health care.
“If you’ve got a clubhouse, we’re going to start to see less of these folks who have mental illnesses (our members) going into crisis stabilization beds,” she said.
Diamond says he’s starting to get his life back.
“I feel more courageous, more empowered, more of a self hero,” he said.
“I’m not treated like someone who is mentally ill or anything like that. I’m treated as an individual; they don’t see the mental illness.”
