Visiting Norway

By: Jason Woody 

B’More Clubhouse was and is the only Clubhouse in Maryland. I am proud of the work that we have accomplished during the past 15 years and I’m excited about the opportunities ahead. One potential opportunity is to expand Clubhouse presence in Maryland by opening new Clubhouses in Baltimore County. 

I have been talking to other Clubhouses around the world about their experience in expanding their Clubhouses. During the 2022 World Seminar in Baltimore, I met two colleagues, Harvard and Torhild, from Fontenehus Norge (English translation - Fountain House Norway). I was very impressed by their work on Clubhouse expansion! Less than two years later I had the opportunity to travel to Norway to visit their Clubhouse! Norway has a similar population to the state of Maryland and they currently have 23 Clubhouses. Fontenehus Norge is the Clubhouse Coalition for the country of Norway. They have five staff members who work in a central office to support the existing Clubhouses and help to open new Clubhouses. It was very interesting to learn more about the work that they do and the ins and outs of how they accomplish their goals. Generally speaking, they focus on five key areas of work to support Clubhouses: political advocacy and funding, data collection and research, marketing and communications, new Clubhouse development, and building partnerships with employers and education programs.

While I was in Norway, I was also able to visit four actual Clubhouses. While they were all unique in their appearance and vibes, they were also so familiar to me, as most Clubhouses are. It is amazing to have that consistent feeling when you walk into any Clubhouse in the world that is following our standards based model. I was pleasantly surprised that during my visits, I ran into a couple of people that I’ve met before at various Clubhouse conferences. It was a really nice feeling to make the world feel a little smaller for a moment. 

Since my visit to Norway, I’m excited about the possibility of Clubhouse expansion here in Maryland. I have some fresh ideas about where we can go from here. We have already made a lot of progress but it will take a lot of time and patience. If anyone would like to learn more, stop by and chat anytime!