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May 29, 2008 · John Diaz has a shovel in his hands and he is thrusting it into the rocky soil. Between the clanks of hitting the chunks of flint buried where new plants are supposed to go he talks about his plans.
“I’m going to college right now so I can get my degree in business management,” Diaz says.
Thirty-four year old Diaz is landscaping. Planting little shrubs in front of the wooden two story house at 1530 North Alamo street, right across the street from the Pig Stand parking lot.
Diaz suffers from schizophrenia, and he is a valuable member of the Our House family.
“I like the atmosphere. People are friendly, and then they are my peers as well. Everything about the Club House, everything I like,” Diaz said.
Our House is a caring and nurturing community where individuals with mental illness can learn how to reconnect with society.
Mark Stoeltje, the executive director of Our House, says the members reconnect by running the center themselves.
“What’s more important than the final decision that happens is the process of making the decision,” said Stoeltje.
“An example I’ll use is whether to move the coffee pot from the kitchen to the workroom,” he said. “In most work places someone would just unplug the coffee pot and move it, but we gave everybody a voice. And everybody had an opinion. We talked about it for 45 minutes, and the process itself is healing.”
Stoeltje says the fact that the members have a voice and that their opinions matters is important.
The Bexar County Our House was the first in Texas. It was based on the clubhouse model which was launched more than 50 years ago in New York. Today there are over three hundred clubhouses around the world.
And since Our House opened in San Antonio 6 years ago, similar centers have opened in Houston, and there are plans to open ones in Dallas and Austin.
“Coming to a program like this helps folks stay out of the hospital and stay out of crisis centers,” said Stoeltje.
Tom Furman has been coming to Our House for the last three years. He says the center gives him the stability he needs so he can avoid going back to the state mental hospital.
“It’s a home away from home where you can do your chores,” Furman said. “It’s different from any other psychiatric facility because it’s not psychiatric. You do your chores and you shoot the bull and you get on out and you get home,” he said.
In the living room area of the clubhouse the morning meeting is underway, and the members volunteer for the daily chores.
Samantha Melvin is a rehabilitation specialist and an Our House staff member. She leads the meeting, but she doesn’t take charge. And she says that’s an important distinction.
“We’re all friends here. That’s the kind of environment that we as the staff try to create,” said Melvin. “Not that they see us as authority figures or that we are above them but we try to create friendships."
Lupe Torres is the spokesperson for the Bexar County Center for Health Care Services, the local authority when it comes to mental health issues. She says Our House has proven to be a benefit to the local mental heath community.
Torres said the Center for Health Care Services helped provide some of the seed money to start Our House, and that investment has paid off.
But Stoeltje says there is so much more that can be done for Our House and our mental health community. He would like to see a housing program connected to Our House which is a service that other cities have.
“Where members can live in their own apartments and they are managed by the members. Because of the lack of affordable housing they are paying $400 to $500 a month and you don’t get much for $400 to $500 a month. A lot of times its in a not safe area and so forth,” Stoeltje said.
But for now the clubhouse is busy giving members a place where they are welcome for the day, and encouragement to help them make it through the day.
Fast Facts About Mental Illness
The typical person living with mental illness:
- Lives with an income at or below the poverty level.
- Experienced the onset of their illness in young adulthood.
- Has a long history of psychiatric hospitalizations.
- Requires $500 - $1,000 in prescription medications on a monthly basis.
- Moves frequently from job to job or have been unable to work at all.
- Has been homeless at some point due to their illness.
- Currently depends upon government assistance for many of their basic needs.
- Wants to be a productive and self-sufficient member of the community.
- Considered at high risk of abusing alcohol or other substances without the stability offered by Our House.
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