Writers: Matt, John M, Theresa, Nikita, Robert H, Greg T
Editors: Morgan, Maurice, Kat, Dee, Sharon, Stephanie, Matt, Joe, Mary, BenB’More Clubhouse has been operating in a different way since March 2020 and we all know the reason why. Until July, we followed our work-ordered day tasks virtually most of the time and transitioned into a hybrid work-ordered day after that. We have three ways in which we have been trying to stay connected and have a meaningful work-ordered day while helping members reach their goals.
At the present moment, the building is partially open. Members sign up for different shifts; morning, afternoon or the entire day. The goal is to not have more than eight people in the building at a time. In the building, we focus on tasks such as preparing lunch and packages for reach out, cleaning and sanitizing, and also helping members with any community resource or job needs. Greg Tucker, a member of B’More Clubhouse has been attending the clubhouse at least twice a week since our partial reopening in July. He shares, “I struggle when I stay at home all the time because of my mental illness. Coming to the clubhouse helps me manage my symptoms and I also get to work on my goals. I like coming here to be around people and have positive interactions with everybody. I try to talk to everyone I meet during the day.” Robert also shares a similar experience but recalls days before the pandemic when we had a lot more members, “Things were different when we had more members inside the building. I am glad we are being safe and having limited attendance though.”
Another way in which we try to stay connected is by participating in reach out car visits. Staff members take turns to visit members on different days, catch up and provide social and emotional support. Theresa shares, “ I saw another clubhouse take this approach and I thought it was a great idea. Even on days when I am not feeling my best, when I go on a reach out car visit and see the light in our members’ eyes, everything feels good after that.” It is indeed amazing to see how we remain creative in finding different ways to connect despite the challenges we are facing.
In addition to the building and reach out car visits, we also have a thriving virtual work ordered day. The clubhouse community meets on weekdays at 9:15am and 1pm on UberConference for our daily meeting. We follow a meeting agenda to check in and get updates on plans for the day. John Miles, a member, enjoys the individual check ins. It gives him an opportunity to share what he is going through. We also have different meetings and social events virtually such as Job Hour, Menu Planning, Wellness Hour, Gratitude Call, Community Meeting, Houseparty games, Blog updates etc. We are in the process of starting virtual in-house training as well. All of these scheduled meetings and events is an opportunity for our members to participate in whatever sparks their interest and be a part of the meaningful work that we do. Matt has been working with Theresa on organizing virtual tours and orientations and also making group reach out calls. “It’s a different experience to do things virtually but we have adapted fairly well and have everything down”, he shares.
In spite of the challenges brought in by the pandemic, we have been able to make the best of what we have and accomplish many great things. Our board members worked really hard with fundraising and we were able to purchase our own building. Our lovely members Raven and Mike have been an integral part of food distribution for our members with the help of staff. We have also been able to do a couple virtual pizza parties to celebrate holidays and accomplishments and also distribute 68 meals during Thanksgiving, which is the largest number of meals we served till date.
Navigating a different way to work is challenging. However, the power of a supportive, resilient community is always powerful and we think B’More Clubhouse is a good example of that.
In 2021, our intention is to keep up with our safety procedures so that there isn’t a lot of community transfer and help our members get vaccinated. We also want to make sure that our members are engaged and involved in the clubhouse community and that will come from more engagement and reach out. Some of the ideas that have been share include scheduling individual walks with members, having more reach out family calls virtually and encouraging member to member connection.
With these plans, we hope to carry the clubhouse spirit with us, wherever we go.
