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A community that works
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History of Grand Avenue Club
In 1990 a group of 23 Milwaukee organizations came together to advocate for the creation of a program based on the clubhouse model of psychiatric rehabilitation. This coalition was successful. Grand Avenue Club was incorporated in 1991 and opened its doors in January 1992. The early years at Grand Avenue Club were spent establishing the clubhouse culture that was absolutely essential to the community. This meant that members had to want to relinquish the patient roles to which many had been socialized and that the staff that was hired had to be people who wanted to step down from the professional pedestal. Fortunately, we were able to find people who found the relinquishing of these roles exhilarating! Clubhouse culture is defined by the International Standards for Clubhouse Programs. Throughout the clubhouse world the Standards are known as "a bill of rights for members and a code of ethics for staff." Some things are worth highlighting: the clubhouse assumes relationships among members and staff that are work-centered, and that are characterized by mutuality. The clubhouse must be run by members and staff, working together, and the daily life of the clubhouse must be organized around the work-ordered day. While staff carry bottom-line responsibility for the program, it is the staff’s responsibility to engage members in every aspect of program design and execution. Members have access to all the work at the clubhouse. Recreation is restricted to evenings, weekends and holidays. There must be opportunities for employment. A clubhouse is about a new kind of citizenry for adults with mental illness. Grand Avenue Club assumes the potential of every clubhouse member; that relationships between members and staff transcend the understanding of relationships as defined by the "helping professions;" and that the "work-ordered day" is a powerful, unappreciated force in the lives of adults with mental illness. Imbued with clubhouse philosophy and a genuine desire to make Grand Avenue Club a success, members and staff have created a strong clubhouse program. That work is central and therapeutic in the lives of adults with mental illness is an idea that went against the prevailing wisdom in psychiatry, social work, and several of the other helping professions until relatively recently. Grand Avenue Club is proud to be at the center of the effort to integrate our fellow citizens who have experienced mental illness into every aspect of life in Milwaukee County. Grand Avenue Club is a charter Member of the International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD), the accrediting and training center for all Standards-based clubhouse communities. click here to return to Contents |
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