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The Fountain House's collaborative approach differs from traditional mental health rehab centers, aiming to break social isolation through community and work. The Fountain House, the oldest and largest clubhouse in the world, is taking a pioneering approach to mental health. Expanding funding to clubhouses is a major part of Mayor Eric Adams' new initiative to tackle the city's mental health crisis. Fountain House members complete school at a rate of 77%, compared to 32% for the general population of people living with mental illness.
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In addition to private grants and honors, clubhouses receive some government funding, but advocates say it’s not nearly enough. I went to Fountain House and they said, “It’s whatever you want to do.” Every individual gets to pick what they’re working on. Even if you get tired of something, you can change what you’re working on. I went from people patronizing me and talking down to me and just not seeing me as being able to do something higher than what they feel I’m capable of. When I first came to Fountain House, I was so tired of dealing with groups and being around too much “mental health.” I just wanted to move past all that and work and go to school and work on my goal. I worked at the (Recharge Station) kiosk in Times Square for six months.
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“I didn’t talk, and I crawled under tables,” she recalled. About 30%of the organization's members are over 60; the Fountain House Silver Project was established to serve their needs. Fountain House Gallery Director Ariel Willmott estimates that 50%of the artists were established before they came to Fountain House and the rest became artists during their membership. She says that Fountain House Gallery helps them navigate the complex world of art in New York City and assists the new artists to transition into professionals. “I didn't know that people was going to start treating me like I was different than everybody else and looking down on me and acting like I couldn't handle things,” Carmen said. I saw “free coffee, free (phone) charging.” That’s how everything started.
Making mental health care more accessible
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Fountain House members experience reduced hospitalizations and a 21% decrease in costs to Medicaid. Members also have access to primary and psychiatric care, care management, and community-based services. All Fountain House Gallery artists are members of Fountain House, founded in New York City in 1948 with the belief that people living with mental illness can be active participants in their own and each other’s recovery.
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But I met Melanie (Foster) and then I met another member, and then I met Nancy (Young). They invited me to a whole bunch of places and they treated me like family. Murray-Williams is just one of millions of Americans dealing with loneliness and isolation. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans were facing an epidemic of loneliness, and that problem persists today. But this epidemic hits some populations harder than others, and for the more than 14 million people in the US — that’s about 1 in every 20 adults — like Murray-Williams, living with serious mental illness, loneliness is twice as high as in other populations.
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When I come in, I usually stay at least a few hours; there’s times when I have been here from 9 a.m. Fountain House does have a weekend and evening program. Once in a while, we’ll go to a park, a museum.
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Today, I’m on a bus minding my own business, talking on my phone. This woman started yelling at me for talking on my phone. You could tell she was not well, and she was saying racist things.
Giving caregivers the tools to cope
Now with mental health on the subway, it really affected me when I saw a news report about how they wanted to just put them in hospitals or shelters. Speaking from experience, someone who was homeless, you cannot make somebody stay in the shelter. It doesn’t help, it makes your mental health worse. I’ve always thought that more affordable housing is better than more shelters.
Taylor won the Natalie Wood scholarship at UCLA to study acting; theater gave her order and discipline. Before entering Fountain House, Taylor had an impressive 35-year career as a musical theater dancer on and off-Broadway and in national tours; she appeared in Broadway productions of A Chorus Line, Nunsense and others. Taylor has also written books including an autobiography and Shy Jenny, a sensitively-written children’s book, which she also illustrated. Working on Broadway is the pinnacle of success for any dancer, and Taylor's history made her journey all the more remarkable. One older artist who has found opportunity through Fountain House is Robin Taylor, the sculptor of Final Bow, the massive bronze ballerina statue I had seen earlier. Taylor, 65, created that sculpture during a manic phase of her bipolar disorder.
The tutu was made of pointe shoes worn by professional dancers, and the whole thing — all 750 pounds pounds of it — was cast in bronze. You'll also see a garden courtyard, research department, education office, employment office and even a horticultural unit with hydroponic lettuce growing in the window. At first glance, Fountain House in New York City may seem like any other lively community center.
But I’m always working on school or working for my apartment. When I was 18 and homeless, I could have used mental health housing. But I, unfortunately, had to go through the shelter in Newark. I was just trying to find where to go, what to do.
Clubhouse members and their supporters have been pushing for more research to show how effective the clubhouse model can be at combating loneliness and all the problems that come with it. MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Murray-Williams, 64, has lived in New York City most of her life.
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