Chinook Clubhouse
Chinook Clubhouse is a program dedicated to enhancing the recovery of men and women with mental illnesses. It provides opportunities for members to live, work, learn, and socialize while contributing their talents in a community of mutual support. The Chinook Clubhouse works with the Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to offer transitional employment opportunities. The Chinook Clubhouse is a program of the Mental Health Center Serving Boulder and Broomfield Counties, Inc. www.mhcbbc.org
Work is at the heart of our program, driven by the philosophy that it restores a person's dignity, self-respect and independence. For each member that comes through the Chinook Clubhouse doors, we believe in their future, success, hopes, dreams and happiness. By working together in the daily operations of the clubhouse we build relationships that help members regain their lives and develop a picture of a successful future. 45-50 members come to the Clubhouse each day. There are about 65 members working full/part time in the community and approximately 135 attend the Clubhouse on a monthly basis. Over the past 14 years, over 1000 adults with mental illness have been served.
History Of The Clubhouse Movement
In the mid 1940's, faced with the prospect of isolation upon discharge from psychiatric institutions, a handful of men and women with major mental illness formed an organization called WANA (We Are Not Alone), through which members supported one another in finding work and adjusting to life beyond hospital walls. Out of the organization, the first clubhouse - Fountain House in New York City was formed.