Hello! Thank you for taking the time to read this. For our first post, we wanted to write a little about B’More Clubhouse. If you are a member, supporter or part of the clubhouse family in some ways, you may already know about us. If this is your first time hearing about the Clubhouse, we are so happy you are here!
B’More Clubhouse is a nonprofit mental health organization designed to help and improve the lives of adults living with mental illness. It is a membership based organization where anyone with a mental illness is welcome to join. As a member, you get the opportunity to take an active role in your recovery and lead a meaningful life. By voluntarily participating in team based unit work and working on your employment, education or personal development goals while being supported by fellow members and staff, you take part in your own growth and recovery.
We have been a part of the Baltimore City mental health community for the past ten years. We started off small at our Read Street Location. Since then , we have grown in terms of membership, the services we provide, our partnership with businesses and leaders in the city. We have been accredited since 2011 and last year we were also accredited by Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). We are so proud of how far we have come.
A typical day at the clubhouse involves working in one of the four units. Each unit has a set responsibility in smooth running of the clubhouse. Membership unit schedules tours and orientations, manages the greeter’s desk and keeps the database updated. Career Development helps our members achieve their career goals. Communications unit focuses on keeping everyone updated about the latest happening and the Culinary unit is responsible for cooking and serving healthy, wholesome meals.
In addition to that, we are very proud of our partnership with businesses for our employment program. We provide support to our members through various programs such as Transitional and Supported Employment. We will be highlighting some of them in the future. What keeps our community connected is an effective reachout system. Whether we are in the building or not, we call, mail or visit our members, both new and old, to let everyone know that they always have our support, in here or out there.
Just like everyone else, we have also been affected by the pandemic which isn’t all that fun. With resilience, creativity and community strength, we have been making an effort to help our members cope with the stress, uncertainty and lack of certain resources. Some of the things we have been focusing our energy on are in- person and telephone reach out, organizing outdoor activities such as picnic and garden trips and a few virtual social events and meetings to keep us all connected. The building is open on a very limited basis. We take reservations for our members to come in and focus on safety and sanitation for all while doing meaningful work.
Well, that is it for today. Please comment below about topics you want to read about, any questions about this post or just some lovely words of encouragement.
Contributors: Sharon Ford, Jerry Goldman, Raymond Nichols, Tavone Lee, Chris Dennis and Nikita Sharma
Editors: Matt Berry, Ben Arrowood, Joe Weiss, Mary Do
