Spring City Corner Clubhouse, a Service of St. Aemilian-Lakeside, Inc.

Spring City Corner Clubhouse
Links: Spring City Corner Clubhouse | Vocational Services

"I have never had more self-confidence since
going back to work. I have more self-esteem
and a better outlook on life."
-- Karen, Clubhouse Member

view more testimonials

See the quick links to specific info below:
- Overview
- Membership Requirements and Benefits
- Directions and Hours
- The Clubhouse Model
- The Clubhouse Initiative in Waukesha

For additional services for adults with mental illness, please visit the
Friendships Unlimited page.

Overview
back-to-top

Spring City Corner Clubhouse is an environment that empowers individuals -- socially and vocationally disabled by mental illness -- to achieve or retain the confidence and skills necessary to lead vocationally productive and socially satisfying lives.

Clubhouse accomplishes this mission by building skills and self-esteem through its work departments and supportive employment programs.

As with other organizations that follow the clubhouse model, Spring City Corner Clubhouse shares the following beliefs:

The most severely psychiatrically disabled person has the potential to be productive.
Work is a generative and integrative force in the life of every human being. Work underlies and pervades all activities at Spring City Corner Clubhouse. All Clubhouse activities are designed to prepare for and increase confidence in a member's ability to seek and obtain competitive employment.
The Clubhouse is intended to provide a full set of vocational opportunities in addition to recognizing the importance of socialization and recreation along with opportunities for affordable and adequate housing.

Inside the Clubhouse

Spring City Corner Clubhouse helps provide Waukesha County with productive members of the community and a reduced need for expensive psychiatric hospitalizations. The Clubhouse offers its members guidance in setting career goals, and support and assistance in locating and maintaining permanent employment. We offer Transitional Employment Placements (TEPs) -- paid, part-time positions that last approximately six months and provide members with work experience.

Membership and participation in the Clubhouse is voluntary and free. The Clubhouse is member driven, with paid staff serving as a resource for members. Members and staff work together to build the kind of Clubhouse members want.

Clubhouse days are structured like workdays. Members contribute their time and skills in a business-like setting. The Clubhouse has several different departments, including reception/clerical, kitchen, and building maintenance, which provide practical work experience and job skills. In addition, Clubhouse job coaches offer individualized assistance to members. Low cost meals are available for members.

For more information, please visit our page on Vocational Services and Transitional Employment.

Four Promises of Spring City Corner Clubhouse

Guaranteed right to a place to come.
Guaranteed right to meaningful relationships.
Guaranteed right to meaningful work.
Guaranteed right to a place to return.

Membership Requirements
back-to-top

Membership and participation in Clubhouse is voluntary and free. Members must be Waukesha County residents with a verified diagnosis of a major mental illness. Applicants must not pose a significant threat to the general safety of the Clubhouse.

Membership Benefits

Job Skills: The opportunity to acquire new job skills and obtain independent employment through participation in daily operations of the Clubhouse and through (supervised) transitional employment placements. Clubhouse also helps its members enroll for services through Wisconsin's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR).

Goals: A chance to rebuild identity through setting and achieving personal career goals.

Self-Esteem: Build self-confidence through accomplishment of specific goals with potential for greater personal and financial independence.

Pride: Rejoin society with pride through greater social and economic participation.

Social Skills: Strengthen and practice social skills through daily contact and support in the Clubhouse.

Directions and Hours
back-to-top

Interested in employment and learning about a community that works?
Come to Spring City Corner Clubhouse to learn more about our programs and how you can become a member.

Spring City Corner Clubhouse
247 Wisconsin Avenue
Waukesha, WI 53186
(262) 549-6460
(262) 522-9754 fax

The Clubhouse entrance is located on North Grand Avenue,
across the street from Cutler Park and behind First Baptist Church.

Clubhouse Hours:
Monday through Friday : 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.

(Closed on Major Holidays)

The Clubhouse Model
back-to-top

Currently, 42 states have at least one Clubhouse program for adults dealing with mental illness. Spring City Corner Clubhouse in Waukesha County is one of five Clubhouse programs in the State of Wisconsin. Such programs have proven to be a cost effective community approach to helping persons with mental illness.

The clubhouse movement began with the founding of Fountain House in New York City in 1948. Fountain House is a planned community designed to create an environment in which individuals who have been socially and vocationally disabled by mental illness can achieve or regain self-confidence and skills needed to lead vocationally productive and socially satisfying lives.

Clubhouses have a "work ordered day" which parallels normal working hours. Members come to the club and have an opportunity to contribute to the completion of its daily functions, such as reception, orientations of new members, data entry, creation of newsletters and mailings, pubic relations, devising menus, food preparation and clean-up. One vital component of a clubhouse is job placement for persons who are either ready to work in a TEP (Transitional Employment Position) or ready to begin competitive employment. Clubhouses help members secure and sustain employment that fits their talents and capabilities.

Transitional Employment is the most successful vocational strategy for integrating adults with mental illness into the paid labor force. TEPs are part-time, time limited (generally 15-20 hours per week and six to nine months in duration) job placements at minimum wage or higher, drawn from a wide variety of business or work settings in the community.

The Clubhouse Initiative in Waukesha
back-to-top

Within Waukesha, a committee consisting of Waukesha County staff, future clubhouse members, and representatives from numerous community agencies - including the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), the Mental Health Association (MHA), St. Aemilian-Lakeside, the Vocational Educational and Training Program of Goodwill (VETAP), Community Development Block Grand (CDBG), Low Income Housing, United Way of Waukesha, and Heron House of Hospitality - identified the clubhouse model as an essential component of the continuum of services available for Waukesha County adults with serious and persistent mental illness.

Lack of social contact or a meaningful daily routine can contribute to feelings of hopelessness and put individuals with serious mental health issues at higher risk of psychiatric hospitalization. A Clubhouse fills service gaps by offering a full range of vocational opportunities and provides ongoing support through a vital community for members to recover or achieve their personal and vocational goals.

Initial research by this committee, through the help of a Venture Grant from United Way, supported the very valuable impact this model has on the lives of people in the target population - improved quality of life, increased independence, achieving employment goals, and a reduction in the need for psychiatric hospital admissions.

back-to-top