LISTEN: Studies show that social inclusion — being around friends and people you like — lowers rates of suicide, hospitalization and incarceration associated with mental illness. That's why funding community support programs help prevent the need for behavioral health crisis care. GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports.

Chris Price sits at his desk at Clubhouse Atlanta in Dunwoody.

Clubhouse member Chris Price sits at his desk at Clubhouse Atlanta in Dunwoody.

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

Founders of Clubhouse Atlanta Susie Kyle and Bill McClung

Susie Kyle (left) and Bill McClung founded Clubhouse Atlanta after years of working together with organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness Georgia chapter.

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

The dining room with tables and a giant cross on the back wall

A giant cross on the back wall is seen in Clubhouse Atlanta's dining room.

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

clubhouse members at a table

Members of Clubhouse Atlanta gather in a common area.

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

Lily Hesketh

Lily Hesketh, a Clubhouse Atlanta member, said, "If I had something like this when I was younger, I believe that I would probably be a little bit in a better space."

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

Denise Brodsky

Denise Brodsky is Clubhouse Atlanta's executive director.

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

Sen. Sally Harrell

State Sen. Sally Harrell is a supporter of Clubhouse Atlanta. "it just made perfect sense to me," she said.

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

In St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Dunwoody, a handful of people gather around a white, plastic table. Some talk while others hold virtual conversations on their phones. Desks decorate the open space of what could be a gym or a cafeteria. 

The reflection of a life-sized cross shines on the maroon floor the church.  

There’s a coffee bar in the corner.  

These people have come to what’s called Clubhouse Atlanta to work. Work here can mean a lot of different things to clubhouse members like 39-year-old Chris Price.  

“I've been here since the first day and I've been involved in all the different units including the culinary unit, and then the snack bar,” Price said. “And, yeah, I've just been kind of helping out, helping keep the program running.”

In this peer-support model, work is purpose and education. It’s part of the path to a stable life.

For example: the coffee bar in the corner? It's staffed by other clubhouse members.

A business unit teaches communication and outreach skills. Members take care of reception, write letters and reach out to their colleagues who haven’t been around recently and make sure they aren’t self-isolating.

There's also a full kitchen for members to learn various tasks, including cooking.

“We want them to know that they are welcome, no matter where they are in their area of recovery,” Denise Brodsky, the Clubhouse’s executive director said. “We want them to feel connected.”

About 30 active members visit on different days and at different times, but the Clubhouse lists more than 50 members.

After four years here, Price now has part-time paid work as a communications coordinator for a local chamber of commerce.   

Susie Kyle and Bill McClung founded Clubhouse Atlanta after years of working together with organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness Georgia chapter.

Lily Hesketh

Lily Hesketh, a Clubhouse Atlanta member, said, "If I had something like this when I was younger, I believe that I would probably be a little bit in a better space."

Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

“Susie and I have both lost children to mental illness problems,” McClung said. “I lost a daughter about 12 years ago, and Susie lost her son about three years ago.”

Kyle said this was around the time Clubhouse was getting off the ground.  

“I lost him a month before,” she said.

Her son needed community support, she said.

“He was riding MARTA around with no place to go,” Kyle said. “And this is a place to come and to have friends and to learn how to be the best you can be.”

Like Susie Kyle’s son, member Lily Hesketh said she needed a place like this long before it ever existed.  

“If I had something like this when I was younger, I believe that I would probably be a little bit in a better space,” she said.

After about a year, Hesketh now has a job at a nearby salon. But she still visits the Clubhouse weekly when her schedule allows. 

Clubhouse membership is lifelong.  

Studies show that social inclusion — being around friends and people you like — lowers rates of suicide, hospitalization and incarceration associated with mental illness.   

Georgia Sen. Sally Harrell said she earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Georgia and followed state mental health issues and legislation before becoming elected in 2018.

People who are suicidal or homicidal need crisis stabilization, she said.

“But it's sad if that's all we're doing, because a life in crisis is no life at all," Harrell said. "That's painful.”

What Clubhouse does is focuses on prevention so that people never get to crisis, which is why Harrell steered a quarter million dollars in state money to Clubhouse Atlanta, which allowed the nonprofit to double its reach.

“When she told me how Clubhouse Atlanta operates and the services that it provides, it just made perfect sense to me,” Harrell said. “I wanted to see a Clubhouse everywhere. I wanted to see as many Clubhouses as there are McDonald's in our communities.”

Clubhouse Atlanta is the first of its model in Georgia, but other peer- and community-based support programs are growing through state and private partnerships, including $14 million for a new facility in Macon-Bibb County slated to open by the end of 2025.

Tags: Georgia  clubhouse  Mental Health  Georgia Politics