This is a shout out to all BJC BH caseworker and case managers. There are a lot of mental health clients that needs your help and our help! What I mean is simple. “The Friends in Action Clubhouse” that I have been a member of since October 2015 is a place that has turned my life around. With the help of the other members and staff, they have helped me through some rough and trying times. The members and staff are the most awesome people I have ever met. What I’m saying is that if you have a client that you would like to come to the Clubhouse. Please bring them! Unit team member Mike conducts a “Lunch and Learn” on the 1st Wednesday and 3rd Thursday of each month. Believe me he loves to talk about the Clubhouse!!! If you can’t talk your client into coming and you believe they could benefit from it, just call unit team member Tonya and she will have the mobile outreach contact them.
Please, let us help you; help them. Their life may depend on it!
Kenny O
Showing posts with label Independent Model. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Independent Model. Show all posts
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
What Clubhouse is to ME
When I first joined the Clubhouse, I was scared and depressed. But, right from the start the members and staff made me feel welcomed like I belonged there, and I do. The Clubhouse is home away from home. Whether living independently or in an RCF, everyone is treated equal. If you are suffering from depression or any knid of mental illness and are a client of BJC-BH, you cannot go wrong with becoming a member of Friends in Action. At the Clubhouse you matter in this wicked world. Really, try it out!
1. It’s a place where you can go and enjoy the company of people who will not judge you. These people will not talk about you behind your back. This is a place where you are not just a mental illness, you’re family.
2. Friends in Action Clubhouse is a member driven Clubhouse and a place where you can learn how to cope with your illness as a family, a family that will not abandon you when you need them the most. They are the most awesome people who will not let you down!
3. At the Clubhouse you learn skills that will help you in the real world. You learn how to cook, comparison shop (pick out the best price of things that you need), and to live independently. For the most part you can enjoy your life the way you’re meant to and the way you truly want to.
-Kenny O
1. It’s a place where you can go and enjoy the company of people who will not judge you. These people will not talk about you behind your back. This is a place where you are not just a mental illness, you’re family.
2. Friends in Action Clubhouse is a member driven Clubhouse and a place where you can learn how to cope with your illness as a family, a family that will not abandon you when you need them the most. They are the most awesome people who will not let you down!
3. At the Clubhouse you learn skills that will help you in the real world. You learn how to cook, comparison shop (pick out the best price of things that you need), and to live independently. For the most part you can enjoy your life the way you’re meant to and the way you truly want to.
-Kenny O
Thursday, November 5, 2015
What has Clubhouse done for you?
My name is Kenny and I am a member of the Friends in Action Clubhouse. I have been a member since October 28, 2015. I have not been depressed, as much, since joining the Clubhouse. I have met some interesting people and made some new friends and I have been able to help in the Clubhouse work ordered day. I have been asked everyday why I come to Clubhouse. I say “because it helps with my depression, but I really feel like I am a part of something. I belong somewhere. I have not felt this way in a couple of years. The Clubhouse is my sanctuary, a place that I can go to where, for a few hours a day, I don’t worry about or stress about my past few months or years. That is why I come to Clubhouse.
Before I became a member of the Clubhouse, I lived a life of constant stress. I worried about the smallest things. I stressed about where I was going to get the help that I needed to get back to where I needed to, in order to become the person that I know I am. The staff is “awesomatic,” which means automatically awesome. The members are the friendliest group of people. They have all treated me like family. This is my home away from home. The Clubhouse has also given me a sense of being. It has showed me that I do belong on this Earth and that there is a reason for living. I am here, as a man, I have a purpose. I do matter in life. My case worker is a God-sent, without her and my daughter I would not be here. They have saved my life. My case worker referred me to Clubhouse.
Thank you, all of you, with my life. Above all, thank you for your lasting friendship and love. Will I come back? YES, I WILL!
Before I became a member of the Clubhouse, I lived a life of constant stress. I worried about the smallest things. I stressed about where I was going to get the help that I needed to get back to where I needed to, in order to become the person that I know I am. The staff is “awesomatic,” which means automatically awesome. The members are the friendliest group of people. They have all treated me like family. This is my home away from home. The Clubhouse has also given me a sense of being. It has showed me that I do belong on this Earth and that there is a reason for living. I am here, as a man, I have a purpose. I do matter in life. My case worker is a God-sent, without her and my daughter I would not be here. They have saved my life. My case worker referred me to Clubhouse.
Thank you, all of you, with my life. Above all, thank you for your lasting friendship and love. Will I come back? YES, I WILL!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Keeping staff informed about Friends in Action new clubhouse model
On, November 26, 2013 Anna Portell and I attended the all staff meeting for BJC-BH Southeast site. Our purpose was to inform all staff members about the new clubhouse model that Friends in Action Clubhouse is moving towards. We talked about why the changes are happening and what some of the changes are. One of the changes we talked about was when a caseworker would come and visit a member at clubhouse, the member would be taken away from what they are doing. For instances if they are in the middle of helping make lunch the member would need to stop and ask someone else to finish the task.With our new Independent model we are there to help with all chores during a work order day. So caseworkers have been asked to visit members outside of clubhouse hours.
Article written by Sam
Article written by Sam
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Friends in Action Clubhouse moving toward the “true” Clubhouse Model
Staff members, Anna Portell and Donna Gilliam, along with clubhouse member, Samantha completed a 3-week training at the Independence Center (IC) which is the first step toward accreditation through Clubhouse International. Friends in Action Clubhouse (FIA) was one of three clubhouses participating in the training. Karen Miller, Associate Director, joined us the third week of training, along with Directors and Board Members associated with Magnolia Clubhouse of Cleveland, Ohio and Crossroads Clubhouse in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Samantha described her experience as, “we spent three weeks learning about the ‘ins and outs’ of what we need to be an accredited clubhouse and we learned how we can get help from other clubhouses.” Attending this training has been a five year goal for the SE site and we are so appreciative that the cost was approved in the 2013 budget!
The three week training consisted of engaging in the work ordered day at Independence Center, many hours of reading material related to the 36 Clubhouse Standards and discussion groups on that material, as well as tours of the IC housing and employment opportunities.
The International Standards for Clubhouse Programs define the Clubhouse Model of rehabilitation. The Standards serve as a “bill of rights” for members and a code of ethics for staff, board and administrators. The Standards insist that a Clubhouse is a place that offers respect and opportunity to its members.
FIA had been operating as the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program of BJC Behavioral Health, SE site using a “mixed bag” model. That is, half of the day was the work ordered day then the other half was structured groups/activities. According to Clubhouse Standards, the structured groups do not belong in the clubhouse setting (due to the clinical aspect) and the social/leisure activities should occur after the work ordered day-- evenings, weekends, and holidays.
As FIA moves closer to accreditation, eight action plans are in full force. The full work ordered day with members and staff building relationships as they run the clubhouse together is occurring, while the Evening/Weekend/Holiday (EWH) Program will begin on Thanksgiving Day as members and staff will celebrate together with a meal. Other action plans include developing an outreach program, changing the staff-member relationship from hierarchal to collegial, defining the space within the clubhouse to allow both members and staff to access all areas, developing a Transitional Employment Program (TEP), adding an education element, and developing the FIA Advisory Board.
Recently FIA members and staff spent the day at Harmony House, the clubhouse in Washington, MO affiliated with Crider Health Center. We participated in three of their meetings, enjoyed lunch with members and staff from their clubhouse and engaged in a ‘question-answer’ session. As part of the action plans, in addition to visiting the three Missouri accredited clubhouses, FIA members and staff have begun reading articles from the IC training and meeting for philosophical discussions to help everyone understand fully what is needed (and why it is needed) to change so the clubhouse is fulfilling the intent of all 36 standards. Members and staff from Independence Center will be guiding Friends in Action through the philosophical discussions and are available for assistance with all eight action plans.
Samantha described her experience as, “we spent three weeks learning about the ‘ins and outs’ of what we need to be an accredited clubhouse and we learned how we can get help from other clubhouses.” Attending this training has been a five year goal for the SE site and we are so appreciative that the cost was approved in the 2013 budget!
The three week training consisted of engaging in the work ordered day at Independence Center, many hours of reading material related to the 36 Clubhouse Standards and discussion groups on that material, as well as tours of the IC housing and employment opportunities.
The International Standards for Clubhouse Programs define the Clubhouse Model of rehabilitation. The Standards serve as a “bill of rights” for members and a code of ethics for staff, board and administrators. The Standards insist that a Clubhouse is a place that offers respect and opportunity to its members.
FIA had been operating as the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program of BJC Behavioral Health, SE site using a “mixed bag” model. That is, half of the day was the work ordered day then the other half was structured groups/activities. According to Clubhouse Standards, the structured groups do not belong in the clubhouse setting (due to the clinical aspect) and the social/leisure activities should occur after the work ordered day-- evenings, weekends, and holidays.
As FIA moves closer to accreditation, eight action plans are in full force. The full work ordered day with members and staff building relationships as they run the clubhouse together is occurring, while the Evening/Weekend/Holiday (EWH) Program will begin on Thanksgiving Day as members and staff will celebrate together with a meal. Other action plans include developing an outreach program, changing the staff-member relationship from hierarchal to collegial, defining the space within the clubhouse to allow both members and staff to access all areas, developing a Transitional Employment Program (TEP), adding an education element, and developing the FIA Advisory Board.
Recently FIA members and staff spent the day at Harmony House, the clubhouse in Washington, MO affiliated with Crider Health Center. We participated in three of their meetings, enjoyed lunch with members and staff from their clubhouse and engaged in a ‘question-answer’ session. As part of the action plans, in addition to visiting the three Missouri accredited clubhouses, FIA members and staff have begun reading articles from the IC training and meeting for philosophical discussions to help everyone understand fully what is needed (and why it is needed) to change so the clubhouse is fulfilling the intent of all 36 standards. Members and staff from Independence Center will be guiding Friends in Action through the philosophical discussions and are available for assistance with all eight action plans.
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