How Fountain House is using sports and fitness names to expand mental health clubhouse

Nobody wears a name badge at Fountain House, the original mental health clubhouse located in Hell’s Kitchen. The point is not to know whether someone is staff or a member who lives with serious mental illness behind the space’s famous dark green doors. But several new faces were hard to keep anonymous.

The clubhouse enlisted ex-NBA star Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly known as Metta World Peace and Ron Artest) and Peloton trainer Kirsten Ferguson as guest speakers for Mental Health Awareness Month, which takes place each May. WNBA broadcaster Ros Gold-Onwude, a Fountain House board member, moderated both talks and launched this “Sharing the WELLth” speaker series in 2024 with her sister Annie.

“At first the series started out for just Fountain House members, who are people living with serious mental illness, but we found the messages we were hearing were for everyone because no matter who you are, and what you’ve accomplished, we’re all human and we all go through challenging experiences,” said Gold-Onwude.

Fountain House originated the clubhouse model, which gathers people living with serious mental illness in a positive, social environment. Then, they hang out. Members can volunteer for chores and take ownership over units around the building — they choose to do as much or as little as they desire. Additionally, Fountain House assists with job-hunting and provides meals.

The model plays a key role in mental healthcare with tried-and-true results, including for a member who went from recurring hospitalizations to spearheading an assemblywoman’s successful campaign after joining Fountain House. So the clubhouse offers a fitting forum for public figures to talk about their own experiences intimately.

“I’ve had experiences with members of my family being impacted by serious mental illness and that experience launched me into a mission, throughout my career, to help them,” said Sandiford-Artest in a statement. “By helping my family, I’ve been able to help others navigate mental health and that’s why I’m here at Fountain House hoping that my story — from my NBA career to my current focus on philanthropy and mental health advocacy — will connect with and help someone here in the room.”

“Any opportunity I get to push the conversation forward about mental health, I’m going to say ‘yes,’ in hopes that my story can resonate with and motivate others to seek the support they need,” added Ferguson. “The work being done here at Fountain House is amazing, I’m honored to be part of it.”

Member Safi Chaudhry initially attended Ferguson’s talk expecting an actual Peloton workout course. But he found himself inspired, all without needing his workout clothes. “I was very moved by Kirsten Ferguson,” said Chaudhry. “I wasn’t expecting such a raw and authentic talk. I thought it was gonna be a surface-level discussion but she became so involved in conversation.”

Another member, Craig Bayer, attended Sandiford-Artest’s talk and similarly resonated with the conversation. He recounted buzz among the Fountain House participants on the bus home after the event. “He didn’t act like he was ever … stigmatized,” said Bayer, who has been a Fountain House member for over a decade. “He said that he’s been in therapy since he was a child. He said he had no problem announcing on national television that he was thanking his therapist.”

Fountain House dates back to the 1940s and stems from patients themselves meeting regularly while at a Rockland County hospital. Those origins also formed the clubhouse model now employed across the world. Beyond the Hell’s Kitchen location, Fountain House also opened clubhouses in Harlem, the Bronx and Los Angeles.

Over the past few years, the organization’s profile grew as mayors like Zohran Mamdani and Eric Adams championed the model as a public health and public safety solution. Dr. Ayesha Delany-Brumsey, the city’s inaugural Office of Community Safety commissioner, previously worked for Fountain House. Dr. Ashwin Vasan was serving as the organization’s president and CEO when Adams handpicked him as first health commissioner.

A policy roadmap issued by the New York Clubhouse Coalition late last month revealed legislative priorities for Fountain House and other participating clubhouses around the city. The blueprint pointed to priorities like bolstering funding and adding staff support within the clubhouse model.

“Clubhouses have been a godsend for New Yorkers struggling with their mental health, providing community-based health support, alongside help with job placements, pathways to education, peer support, and access to stable housing,” said councilmember Tiffany Cabán. “Clubhouses work. That’s why we have to baseline them in the budget so that we can build out the Clubhouse network and broaden the access to this vital resource.”

The post How Fountain House is using sports and fitness names to expand mental health clubhouse appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.