The Wabash Valley Friendship Clubhouse in Vincennes is a place where those who've had their lives disrupted by mental illness can connect with those in their community.
The members of the clubhouse get and give encouragement to others while gaining back their lives lost to their illness.
Friendship Clubhouse coordinator Dave Engstrom has been in the mental health field for over 30 years and says this is one of the best programs he's seen which aids in recovery.
The clubhouse model dates back to 1948.
"When they were starting it, they discovered that working with mentally ill folks was better to be working side-by-side with them, giving them a purpose and a meaning and not just setting around doing groups," Engstrom said. “So, we don’t do groups here, we have work to do in the clubhouse, and the members with all that. This model has been replicated in over 300 clubhouses in 33 different countries.”
To join, members have to express an interest, have a doctor's diagnosis, be over 18 and be safe and not pose a threat. They work Monday through Friday during typical working hours and help run the clubhouse by manning the reception area, cooking meals for members, working in a snack shop, food pantry or the garden and cleaning the house.
Opening the local clubhouse started over two years ago when Engstrom was a case manager at the Samaritan Center. A supervisor wrote a grant and state funds were received and part of the money went to start the facility which opened in November of 2020. The house is now self-sustaining.
Eleven months after opening, they were accredited by Clubhouse International, the organization that starts and grows houses across the world.
Vincennes started with 12 members a day and are now up to 18, and the small house sometimes has 30 or so people inside during special events.
Engstrom said he expected they would have to move within a year, but it's taken longer than that. The Good Samaritan Hospital's Board of Governors recently approved moving to a much bigger building on South Sixth Street to continue the mission of helping members regain self-worth, purpose and confidence.
“We run off 700-square feet here,” Engstrom said. “We’ve got an upstairs and a downstairs here, and we don’t really use any of it rather than for storage.
“So, we put it to the CEO of the hospital and said, ‘We’ve got to be bigger.’ So, we started looking, and they were involved with that, they were helping members look at one building.”
The board of governors settled on the old Ralph Stewart Building at 501 South Sixth Street.
“That’s four times bigger than what we have here,” Engstrom said. “So, the members were all involved in the floor plan for that. We would talk with the architect, then I’d show them the floor plans and say, ‘This is what we’ve got here. What do you think? What do we need to add?’ So, they were involved from the get-go.”
One of those members is Monica Stuckey. She's been working the clubhouse since it started.
One of her duties is participating in what's known as the Speakers Bureau where members tell their stories to community groups.
“I first got sick when I was 23. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia,” Stucky said. “And I had nervous breakdowns.”
Through the course of time Monica spent time in the mental health unit at Good Sam and later in a state hospital. When she was released, she came to a group home in Vincennes and worked a couple of jobs including an area nursing home for 14 years where Dave Engstrom was her job coach, but she says she had to move and had to quit her job.
“I struggled really bad,” she said. “My kids ended up in foster homes and were adopted by families. They struggled, too.”
She told us she's very excited about the move to the new location.
“The clubhouse is an awesome place,” Stuckey said. “It puts structure in my day, gives my life meaning. I love it.”
One of the programs that will be worked on more when the move is complete is an employment program where members re-enter society through working for a local company or business. Engstrom said they've approached one local employer about it and will be contacting others in the future.
Engstrom expects the clubhouse to be around for many more years, because it allows members to reach goals they may have never thought could be accomplished, and he gets to witness and take part in it.
“I get a front row seat of seeing lives transformed, but the major life transformed was my life being transformed for the better, and I’m just thrilled that I have this opportunity to invest in life,” Engstrom said.
The Wabash Valley Friendship Clubhouse is expected to open their new location in September.
