Clubhouse 101

The Academy presents a webinar to an audience in Palm Beach County.

The Academy was pleased to be invited by Mental Health America Palm Beach County to co-present with Clubhouse International on a webinar entitled “The Clubhouse Model: Recovery Through Work, School, Housing, Friendships.” The presentation was held on Zoom and featured Chief Operating Officer of Clubhouse International, Jack Yatsko. The purpose of the webinar was to share an overview of the Clubhouse movement and keys to creating a vibrant recovery-oriented community.

Academy Director William McKeever, along with member Candy El-Azzaoui presented to an attentive audience interested in learning about the Clubhouse Model. Candy, who is no stranger to public speaking, shared her journey, touching on her past, present and hopes for the future, and she described how the Academy has changed her life for the better. The Clubhouse model can be tricky to describe to someone who isn’t familiar with it. Candy used her own experience to paint a picture of how members come here to feel safe and accepted and learn skills through our different teams (Business & Technology, Graphic Design & Multimedia, Culinary Arts) that they can use with future employers as well as in their personal lives.

Other topics included Clubhouse employment programs -Transitional, Supported and Independent, the work-ordered day, and evening and weekend social programming. The presentation was lively, and definitely showcased the fact that fun and camaraderie are as much a part of our program as the work itself. Of course, ours is just one of over 300 Clubhouse stories. We look forward to seeing the growth of the Clubhouse movement in Palm Beach County and across the state of Florida.