 
|
|||||||||||||||||
              
|
Chance at Liberty Clubhouse helps the mentally ill work toward independence Thursday, January 28, 1999 By Sally Kalson, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Low expectations. People trying to manage mental illness are used to them. Viewed through the veil of their diagnoses and medications, the mentally ill often are measured against what they could be doing if only they weren't who they are.
But when they enter Liberty Place Clubhouse at 955 Liberty Ave., Downtown, the veil lifts.
Here they are seen for their strengths and abilities, not their weakness and shortcomings. Here they are members, not patients. And here they act that way, making friends, learning social and work skills, all with the goal of leading fulfilling, independent lives.
One of the key components is work. Some eventually will move into a paid position with one of eight "friendly employers" who provide a transitional job slot - temporary, part-time work reserved especially for Liberty Place members to fill on a rotating basis.
Two clubhouse members have worked their way into permanent jobs through this job program - Greg Sanchez at Mellon Bank, and Bruce Haughin, who has become a supervisor at the Allegheny County Clerk of Courts.
Last week, a clubhouse member was preparing to move into his first independent apartment. And still another has improved her conditions enough to begin the process of regaining custody of her child.
"I started coming down here two years ago," said Dave Morse, 40, of the South Side. "I took some math tutoring and computer science, did a little maintenance. Then I got a temporary job delivering food for Liang's restaurant and working in their kitchen. When my six months were up, I didn't want to leave, I liked it so much and made so many friends, especially the owner."
Morse got his own job after that, at a supermarket, but found the public too difficult to deal with. "They can be very tough," he said. So he took another transitional job, this time with Mathias Printing. Once again, he loves his work.
"It's done wonders for my self-esteem. I lost it when I got my diagnosis, but now I'm getting it back."
Morse was one of the speakers yesterday at a Liberty Place open house. About 50 visitors attended, including private and public funders, mental health professionals and the transitional employers. In addition to Liang's, on the ground floor of the clubhouse, and Mathias Printing, they are Mellon Bank, PNC Corp., HDR Engineering, Blockbuster Video, the Pittsburgh Zoo and Marc Advertising.
Liberty Place opened its doors in August of 1996, on the second floor of a building that has seen better days, up a stairway that promises very little.
But inside, the ambiance is transformed. A bright, colorful lobby with modern lines leads into a spacious work room, a kitchen and dining area with wood tables and chairs that are decidedly noninstitutional. Other rooms hold a library, computer lab, a thrift shop for donated clothing and accessories, and offices.
"Do you have any idea how many people with mental illness are sitting alone in a room right now, chain-smoking with the television blaring, when they could be benefiting from a program like this instead?" asked Jim Mihalke, founder and director of the clubhouse.
"There are probably 35,000 people in Allegheny County with serious mental illness, slightly over 2 percent of the population," he continued. "The only thing a lot of them get to help them manage is an anti-psychotic drug prescription once a month."
The clubhouse has 140 members, ranging in age from 18 to their late 50s. Some hold advanced degrees that capped stellar academic careers derailed by mental illness. Some never had the chance to get that far.
Most are referred by doctors or mental health agencies, but that's not a requirement. The only conditions: Members must have a diagnosis of a serious mental illness and be willing to participate.
There is no fee, nor is there a required level of involvement.
"We've had people who sit and do nothing for a lengthy period of time, until eventually their fellow members draw them in," Mihalke said. "One fellow did nothing for months; now he does the dishes every day and doesn't like it when anyone else tries to help."
The clubhouse has 7,500 square feet of space and three units - food service, administrative and employment. Members work in their areas of interest, planning and preparing meals, working the cash register at mealtime, answering phones, publishing a monthly newsletter, handling correspondence, giving and taking training in computers and other work skills. They work in partnership with clubhouse staffers Michael Zeller, Jennifer Lisotto and Evie Eberle.
Members and staff also select, train and manage the transitional employment placements.
"We decide who fills those slots internally," Mihalke said. "It gives our members a chance to work while avoiding the resume, application and interview process," which can be difficult and stressful.
When a job opens, each unit nominates a member to fill it. Then they put it to a vote.
"They know their peers have selected them. What they do on the job reflects not only on them but also the clubhouse. It's a great motivator."
Mihalke has three grown sons, one of whom has struggled with mental illness for 15 years. That experience brought the father to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, where he first learned about the clubhouse concept.
He visited Chestnut Place, a clubhouse in Philadelphia, and the pioneering Fountain House in New York City, where the clubhouse movement was born 50 years ago. He came away so impressed with their life-changing work that it changed his life as well.
After years of working in sales and marketing at large corporations and small businesses, Mihalke gave himself over to opening a clubhouse in Pittsburgh.
He raised almost $1 million from four foundations - Staunton Farm, Richard King Mellon, Scaife and McCune - to cover start-up and operation costs for the first three years. Allegheny County Mental Health/Mental Retardation kicked in $100,000 a year. He sought out Renaissance Center, a private, nonprofit organization, to become the clubhouse's umbrella organization and formed an advisory board with people such as Dr. Ken Thompson of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.
Next, Mihalke found the space, which had to be Downtown so that members could get there in one bus ride, and supervised the design and remodeling efforts.
By that point, he was being helped by future members, who heard about the program and started showing up to assist in planning, organizing and recruiting other members.
With three years of success behind it, Liberty Place is beginning its second phase of fund raising. New foundations are being courted to provide the next $1 million for three more years of operation. And with managed care in place, the clubhouse is working in cooperation with Community Care Behavioral Health Organization, the Medicaid HMO for people with mental illness and substance abuse.
The next dream is expansion into a horticulture unit in a rooftop garden, where members can tend to flowers and plants. Digging in the dirt can be therapeutic, Mihalke points out, and nurturing life in any form helps the nurturers as well.
To contact Liberty Place Clubhouse, call 412-338-2180.
|
||||||||||||||||
