Clubhouses

Clubhouses are free community-based gathering places designed to enrich the lives of New Yorkers who have serious mental health conditions and empower them to reach their chosen life goals. Serious mental illness can impact many areas of a person’s life — including family, relationships, job access, delays in education, and homelessness.

Clubhouses focus on addressing the social challenges of serious mental illness that medication alone cannot fix, including loneliness, feeling left out, pulling away from others, and low self-esteem.

Clubhouses offer members support in their mental health recovery:

• Clubhouses create a community and hold meaningful activities in a fun and safe environment.
• Members take part in activities that help the clubhouse run by working side-by-side with staff.
• During these activities, members build new skills, strengthen their talents, and develop a sense of dignity and belonging, while making progress towards their goals.
• Members can participate in person or virtually. Members can access clubhouse support regardless of insurance, immigration, or housing status, or criminal justice involvement history.

Opportunities and Activities

• Decision making: Participate in collaborative decision-making related to running the clubhouse. Each member is a valued participant, a colleague, and someone who has something to contribute to the group. Members can choose their daily activities and the amount they want to contribute.
• Fun things to do with new people: Go on trips, participate in movie and game nights, and do arts and crafts. Many clubhouses are also open on holidays, so members can celebrate together.
• Healthy meals and snacks: Free or low-cost meals and snacks are prepared and served by members. Members can help with planning and buying food for meals.

Services

• Education services: Get help applying for high school equivalency diploma classes, license trainings, and college degrees.
• Job services: Get help making a resume and finding and applying for jobs. Clubhouses also offer members temporary work opportunities.
• Help getting benefits: Get help applying or accessing affordable housing, health insurance, and other benefits.
• Health services: Get help finding no- or low-cost psychiatric and medical care, counseling, and wellness support, including fitness classes and support groups.

Accessing Clubhouses

How to Become a Member

Clubhouses are open to all individuals ages 18 and older who have a primary psychiatric diagnosis of serious mental illness, regardless of insurance status, immigration status, substance use, justice involvement, homelessness, or other diagnoses.

Membership is 100% voluntary and members should be able to travel independently to the clubhouse or can participate virtually.

Required Documents for Enrollment

• Formal documentation of a serious mental illness via one of the following:
• A psychiatric evaluation with diagnosis of psychosocial history (completed by a mental health professional)
• A psychiatric attestation form signed by a licensed mental health professional
• A clubhouse application, which can be requested at your clubhouse of interest

Request to Join a Clubhouse By:

1. Walking into a clubhouse location
2. Calling a clubhouse location phone number
3. Scheduling a tour for a perspective member at their local clubhouse via phone or email

Locations

Note: On some weekends, most clubhouses offer additional recreational activities and special excursions.

Additional Resources

• Clubhouse Flyer (PDF)
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• Learn more about the clubhouse model at Clubhouse International.

More Information

• Serious Mental Illness
• Find Peer Services
• Care, Community, Action: A Mental Health Plan for NYC