Forgotten People — Never-to-be-Forgotten: Lesson 15
on January 12th, 2015 at 11:05 amStewardship and Leadership from Within
One of the core values I learned from my experiences at Fountain House was the importance of the genealogical perspective provided by the original WANA membership. The notion that admission to the program was made possible by all of those who came before is fundamental to the ethos of this intentional community. Understanding that this is so demands that the present generation of members see themselves as stewards who need to maintain the community in order to pass it along to all of those who will follow.
President John Kennedy provided about the best description of what stewardship is about when he said:
“It is our task in our time and in our generation to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours.”
Stewardship evokes an intellectual and emotional linkage between the past, the present and the future and as of this date includes nearly 20,000 men and women who have had as a common “gene pool” the desire to overcome mental illness in order to reach positive goals. What is most satisfying to me about this approach is that it adds to the reintegration process by creating a “band of brothers and sisters” mentality further supporting the idea of self-help through mutual help.
At Fountain House the line of this stewardship began with the WANA group led by Michael Obolensky, a Rockland State Hospital patient and a strong force in the early years. In a genealogical sense, he was followed by the next generation that included Michael Gask and Peter DeFiedler. The third generation included some members who came on the staff.
Ronald provides an early example of a member who later joined the staff. Having been hospitalized from the age of 8 to 18 year old, Ronnie was referred to Fountain House at his discharge. As he had never seen non-fluorescent light bulbs or upholstered furniture, he didn’t come into Fountain House the first time because he felt it looked too good for a person like him. When he returned several months later, he recognized some of the members from his time in hospital and so decided to try it out. Ronnie had several TE placements before becoming the leader of a group placement at Chock Full O’Nuts restaurant. Following that he became a staff worker, and later a program unit leader in the Snack Bar. Having only completed the 4th grade in hospital, he got his GED while at Fountain House. Currently, he is the longest serving staff worker at the
Grace (as mentioned in earlier lessons) was hired as a full time worker at the Sears Fashion Distribution Center in New Jersey. More importantly, her continued involvement with Fountain House made her secondary job as supervisor of TE employees doubly meaningful. She served as a liaison between members, Sears’s management and Fountain House. She became part of the teaching function, returning to Fountain House bringing hope to other members bound for TE placements.
The next generation to assume this stewardship included Mark, John, Ray, Ellen and Michael, among others. This group, some of whom also became staff, initiated the practice of members serving as faculty in the training of visiting colleagues attending Fountain House to learn about the clubhouse model. As such not only were these individuals teaching others attempting to replicate the clubhouse elsewhere, but they also served as models to their own community as to the ways in which one can assume leadership and further serve as stewards for future generations.
It was during this time, 1979, that Fountain House obtained an NIMH grant specifically to training members in leadership roles. Fountain House initially identified seven such leadership roles:
- Intake and Orientation
- Reach out
- Evaluation and Research
- Tutoring
- Development of own Rehabilitation Plans
- Member Literature
- Advocacy
It is important to note that these seven member roles were by no means to be taken as all the leadership roles which are possible for members to assume. Soon after the project began, for example, Fountain House identified a role in which members who have done well in the Transitional Employment (TE) program started helping other members learn the skills, duties and responsibilities required for TE. Thus, the number and range of opportunities for major member responsibility has continued to expand as more and more clubhouses introduce the concept of member leadership in their own programs
Mark had some thoughts about leadership:
“I think all of the stories of members going onto staff are an interesting contrast to the fad in many states to have consumers sort of drafted directly into jobs as “peer counselors”.
To me this peer counselor idea subverts the use of leadership in the clubhouse as a big part of the process of recovery.
(Transitioning from) Member to staff has to be done with sensitivity because obviously that can subvert the process but at least it’s not a whole program and strategy.”
Michael was a marvelous person to meet and know. He came from a deeply religious background. His brother was a priest, and Michael also was highly spiritual. Among his many attributes, he served as a kind of conscience for those around him.
Michael had been at Fountain House for some seven years and had started and completed nine TE placements when he was rehospitalized, because, as he said:
“During most of that time, I was rarely at the clubhouse. I just used it as a drop-in center. When I came back, Donny (his worker) encouraged me to take on more of a leadership role. It was the first time I had thought of myself as a leader, and what that meant.”
Over the years, Michael increased this role by participating in Colleague Training and other in-house seminars. He also became the first member to serve on the Fountain House Board of Directors.
In a somewhat different context, such leadership provided a strong support to me and also with my efforts to change the attitudes of the larger mental health community. When I became Program Director in 1987 part of my duties included attending city-level meetings, including those called by the City Department of Mental Health, local State Office of Mental Hygiene, various local Mental Health Associations and so forth. Almost always these meetings were traditionally and exclusively the realm of specially chosen people, whether agency Director, Program Director or their designee. Again, almost always these meetings turned into gossip sessions, or otherwise dull childish humor about the mentally ill.
After I took on this role of Program Director, I made sure that a member such as Maria or Judy joined me in attending these sessions. Having members with me at these meetings, not only changed the tone of the meetings, but also led to a greater awareness in others that consumers should be involved in a proactive way of policy making.
As a result, some stewards have become advocates in the larger community:
Alice and Walter have worked together to represent the Fountain House community on the Clinton Community Planning Board and also the Roosevelt Hospital Advisory Council. In addition Walter attends most of the open meetings with the local office of the New York State Adult Career and Continuing Educational Services-Vocational Rehabilitation (ACCES-VR) — formerly New York State’s Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID).
Another group of such stewards completed their own education and training and moved on to provide service in the mental health field elsewhere.
Robert had something to say about the leadership role of a consumer in the mental health field:
“I have always wanted to work as a service provider in the mental health field, because I feel that my experiences make me suitable for such a career. In 1996, I did per diem work in a residence operated by a mental health program. Unfortunately, I was treated poorly by some of my co-workers, and I resigned. We call that stigma.
I did my last full placement as a mail clerk for Dow Jones. Eight months later, I was just a medication change away from being able to work full-time. Early in 2002, with the help of my employment counselor, I responded to a job listing of the Baltic Street Mental Health Board, which hires predominately consumers of mental health services. Together, we prepared an n undated resume and a cover letter. I did a mock interview and finally after a number of calls to the director of human resources, I went on real interviews…four of them. I passed each one. In April, I started as a housing specialist in the Fordham section of the Bronx.
I had a good first year, but then ran into trouble when we attempted to streamline my medication regimen. Quick action by the ‘Rehabilitation Alliance’* saved my job. However, I had to transfer to Staten Island, and for almost two years I have had the position of Peer Advocate. Another full-time worker from Fountain House was very impressed that I am willing to commute from Manhattan to Staten Island each day to maintain independent employment, and thus terminate my disability benefits. I hope to continue working past my 65th birthday.”
*In an earlier article on this webpage, “Clubhouse and Psychiatry (July 2012)”, the Rehabilitation Alliance has been described.
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