This past week we welcomed colleagues from California, Oklahoma, Washington, Massachusetts, and Miami (Florida) for a 2-day training on “Sustainability for Clubhouse Programs.” This was the first time we opened our doors for this type of training experience. It was exciting to engage our colleagues on roundtable discussions of best practices, challenges, solutions, and innovations. 

We were joined by amazing local guest speakers: Stewie Bitterman shared his thoughts and suggestions on Ambassador programs; John Annis of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation presented on relationship building with charitable foundations; Jeff Steinwachs (after dropping off some delicious, fresh caught grouper and snapper) stopped in to share strategies on mission, sustainable growth, and outcomes; and Robyn Faucy presented on Results 1^st. It was truly an all-star cast of guest speakers.

Our guests included Linn Blohm and Melanie Reese of Thunderbird Clubhouse (OK), Rachel Riani and Luke Knowles of Genesis Club (MA), Bernadette Jacobs of Hero House NW (WA), Tamara Hunter and Lisa Breton of Mental Health Connections (CA), and Debra Webb, Amy McClellan, and Lalita Airan of Key Clubhouse (Miami). 

Academy members and staff enjoyed the experience of hosting our colleagues. Member and Academy board member Paul Hennekes joined William McKeever as co-facilitator of the workshop. Maureen Flaig provided our guests with a thorough tour, and our Culinary Team served a delicious breakfast and lunch each day. Several Academy board members and Ambassadors joined colleagues for an amazing BBQ on Tuesday night, all prepared by our Culinary Team. We had so much fun hosting this smart, fun, and engaging group of colleagues! This collaborative workshop provided as much benefit to our Academy community as it did to our guests. We look forward to more opportunities like this in the future.

Kion provided us with a digital media calendar that we can use to forecast our posts well in advance and stay up to date with events. He helped us to shape our posts for the specific audience we reach, and to ask ourselves “in what way do we want this post to move our audience?” We discussed everything from the role of influencers and mental health allies to the timing of posts, content size, visual impact, and more.

Big thanks to Clubhouse International, Fountain House, and to Kion for giving us a jump start on our digital presence. It’s no secret that we love what we do here but getting the word out past our county line can be a challenge. A consistent, strong, positive message in the right ear could change a life.

This time they had a personal tour from member Paul Hennekes, who guided them through our vocational areas—including Arts, Business & Technology, and Culinary—to meet our members and hear about their individual journeys. Already supporters of the rehabilitation process, Ed and Craig were inquisitive about Academy services and expressed interest in exploring avenues of collaboration and partnership with the Academy.

The State Attorney’s office is committed to building safe communities and working with community partners to address citizens’ needs and promote a high quality of life in Manatee, Sarasota, and DeSoto Counties. District Attorney Brodsky and his team recognize that supporting the recovery of persons living with mental health challenges will help strengthen their mission, so we see much potential for collaboration. We look forward to building our partnership, and we await a future visit from their leadership team for a Lunch & Learn!

Colleague training is one way for Clubhouses to reinforce their understanding of Clubhouse culture and the 37 Standards, while also sharing their own best practices. As with most things philosophical, the interpretation of the Standards can vary from Clubhouse to Clubhouse. Colleague training is a rich resource to approach the standards anew and maybe even discover a nuance not previously considered.

Colleagues in training will typically spend the mornings immersed in lively discussion, breaking down the Standards and sharing the ways in which their Clubhouse actualizes them. It can be illuminating to learn how other Clubhouses operate within the Standards, and those take-aways can be invaluable. The afternoons will see Rick and Patty each joining a different unit, working side-by side with Genesis Clubs’ members and staff.

Academy board member Shelly Crofut will join Rick and Patty for the second week of training. The latter Standards address the administration and governance of Clubhouse. Shelly will provide the perspective of our management and board of directors. Of course, she will also spend her afternoons in the units as well, soaking up the culture and flavor of Genesis Club.

While at Genesis Club, our group of three will be writing a detailed Action Plan to bring back to the Academy. They will present their findings to us at an Academy meeting in an effort to bring fresh new ideas back to the Academy to potentially implement.

If it seems like this trip will be all work and no play, rest assured that Genesis Club will have evening and weekend outings with plenty of opportunity to socialize while taking in the town of Worcester (and maybe even Boston!). Our crew will enjoy lovely accommodations at Genesis Club’s guest house, conveniently located right on campus.

All in all, this is an exciting opportunity for them to gain deeper knowledge and understanding of the Clubhouse model, to gain perspective on how different Clubhouse programs can be even though we all follow the same Standards, and to bring their newfound knowledge back to the Academy to help us grow and improve. We wish them safe travels and an inspiring, productive, FUN training experience.

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.

Pictured above, left to right, are William McKeever and Candy El-Azzaoui

I thank all who helped me along the way in creating this project. I look forward to collaborating on other projects with other talented artists. I’m guessing somewhere in the future, staff member Jodi-lee and I will collaborate on a song; I would love that. Just remember; we’re all talented in our own ways, so let’s really bite down and press on our gifts until it turns into many diamonds.

Note to our readers: To watch video of Terrell’s speech and rap song (10 minutes total time), please click on the link below. This recording was produced in the Academy’s multimedia studio. Enjoy!

Five years of planning and designing went into creating the Academy. Founding staff and Board of Directors, along with our amazing Ambassadors, collaborated on every detail. Yet, on that day in 2017, there was still one more thing that we had to do: we took a leap of faith.

Since that day, our courage and conviction has paid off beyond our expectations. With an active membership of nearly 100, we have helped 23 members become gainfully employed. We achieved a 3-year accreditation with Clubhouse International. Our Teams-Culinary, Business, Arts, and Wellness- are vibrant and always innovating.

We celebrate this day with a bit of community service; a neighborhood clean-up as well as the start of a three-week food drive benefiting Church of the Palms food pantry. But lest we be all work no play; we are throwing ourselves a picnic followed by lawn games. We are a productive workplace for sure, but we are so much more. We are a true community.