History of the Clubhouse movement inTexas
A private donor contributed over $600,000 to expand program capacities at Texas Clubhouses, allowing us to reach more people statewide.
Clubhouse leaders at the form communities meet with Judge James Teal and others from McMullen County and Camino Real Community Services to present on the Clubhouse Model and discuss other possibilities for rural mental health support in South Texas.
The Galveston County Clubhouse was opened in August 2024.
ClubhouseTexas ACE Project (Analysis of Clubhouse Engagement) has been initiated.
After strategic planning for the coalition, several committees began meeting regularly to support all member clubhouses in areas like Advocacy, Communications, Employment, and Training.
The annual ClubhouseTexas Summit was held in Dallas
The annual ClubhouseTexas Summit was held in Austin
The second phase of the ClubhouseTexas Master Planning Project has been initiated.
The form communities travel to Galveston to present the clubhouse model to stakeholders convened by Mental Health Specialty Court Judge Wayne Mallia. This group grew consistently over the next year, establishing the Galveston County Clubhouse by October 2023.
The annual ClubhouseTexas Summit was held in San Angelo.
With renewed funding from UT Austin, ClubhouseTexas participated in developing master plans for each clubhouse. These plans identified unique needs and opportunities, including Potential Partners, Community Collaborations, Strengths Assessments, Accreditation by Clubhouse International, Colleague Training, and Staff Development
The third ClubhouseTexas Summit was held virtually via Zoom during the COVID outbreak.
Surprise funding from the State, through the University of Texas at Austin, supported Texas Clubhouses in creating and implementing Operational Improvement Plans (OIPs). This funding was crucial during the pandemic when regular community gatherings, essential to the Clubhouse model, were severely limited.
A group from Tyler, Texas reached out to SA Clubhouse. They developed an interest and soon started building support to open a Clubhouse in Tyler.
Clubhouse Texas began meeting with an interest group from Alice, Texas that wanted to start a Clubhouse in that community. Interest continued to grow, and in August 2019, a traditional day program in Alice transitioned to become a Clubhouse. In October, Cowtown also opened in Ft. Worth, Texas.
New Hope Clubhouse in Brownwood was opened in February 2018.
The Funders Collaborative invited us to re-apply for a $29K project focused on financial sustainability. Through this project, we:
- Explored accessing Medicaid as a funding source for Texas Clubhouses (not currently available).
- Enabled Clubhouse members to serve in Peer Support roles (now active).
- Started a pilot project for Clubhouse to work with the Texas Workforce Commission (began June 2020).
- Launched a pilot project to deploy AmeriCorps volunteers into Clubhouses (began October 2019).
Clubhouse International facilitated a New Clubhouse Development (NCD) training session with the San Antonio Clubhouse. In attendance were: New Hope Clubhouse (Brownwood, TX), Hope Fort Bend (Richmond, TX), Cowtown Clubhouse (Ft. Worth, TX), and Everett Clubhouse (Everett, WA).
ClubhouseTexas began meeting with a group from Ft. Worth, Texas, paving the way for a Clubhouse opening in that community.
The second ClubhouseTexas summit was held at the San Antonio Clubhouse.
Following the meeting with the SA Clubhouse, a foundation in McAllen, Texas (Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation) offers SA Clubhouse a grant to provide training allowing three traditional day centers in the Rio Grande Valley to transition into Clubhouse model programs.
The following Clubhouses opened their doors to their communities: Pavilion Clubhouse (Round Rock) in October PLAN Clubhouse (Dallas) in August.
In 2016, we were approached by the Texas Mental Health Collaborative Fund (TMHCF), at the time supported by the Episcopal Health Foundation, St. David’s Foundation, Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation, Georgetown Health, and the Hogg Foundation. Their aim was to fund innovative, solution-oriented projects designed to promote high-impact mental health interventions, system improvements, or better mental health policies in Texas.
Their initial $77K investment;
- Facilitated technical assistance for over 20 groups
- Developed the Clubhouse Strengths Assessment Evaluation Tool
- Provided training on the Clubhouse Model and performance evaluation
During the US Clubhouse conference, representatives of the Texas Clubhouse Coalition met with Clubhouse International. They suggested that we align with a common naming structure used by Coalitions worldwide. Since then, we’ve referred to our work as “ClubhouseTexas” instead of the “Texas Clubhouse Coalition”.
SA Clubhouse began meeting with working groups in McKinney and Dallas, Texas. Both groups had an interest in starting a clubhouse in their communities. Visits were made to these communities, followed by information-gathering and training visits to SA Clubhouse. Both communities began working on plans to open clubhouses. Additionally, ClubhouseTexas engaged with a group from Round Rock, Texas, who also expressed interest in establishing a Clubhouse in their community.
San Angelo Clubhouse opens in San Angelo, Texas (October) and Hope Fort Bend Clubhouse opens its doors in Sugar Land, Texas (November)
The inaugural ClubhouseTexas Summit, hosted at the SA Clubhouse, brought together participants from across Texas. There were 9 communities in attendance. Following the event, new clubhouses emerged in San Angelo, Hope Fort Bend, and Pavilion.
During the first “Texas Clubhouse Coalition” meeting, we discussed plans to collaborate and expand Clubhouses across Texas, aiming to strengthen our collective impact. Austin and Houston Clubhouses nominated the San Antonio Clubhouse to lead the Texas Clubhouse Coalition.
SA Clubhouse gave a Clubhouse presentation to St. David’s Foundation in Austin, on behalf of Austin Clubhouse. This led to significant funding being awarded to Austin Clubhouse.
Initial Meetings in Dallas and Sugar LandPLAN of North Texas, a mental health program in Dallas, connected with SA Clubhouse to explore their initiatives. Following productive discussions, PLAN decided to transform their ‘traditional day’ program into a clubhouse model. SA Clubhouse initiated meetings with individuals in Sugar Land, Texas, who had an interest in starting a Clubhouse. They began building support for their clubhouse.
Following Methodist Healthcare Ministries’ advice, SA Clubhouse connected with the CEO of Concho Valley MHMR Services in San Angelo, Texas. Following an invitation to speak to San Angelo’s CEO leadership team, SA Clubhouse initiated discussions with Concho Valley to establish a new Clubhouse in the area.
In 2007, a group in Austin, Texas comprised of family members and members of the local NAMI chapter reached out to SA Clubhouse to learn about the Clubhouse mental health recovery model. After various visits between the cities, the Austin Clubhouse was founded in 2008.
Under the leadership of Mark Stoeltje, the SA Clubhouse opens its doors to 5 members.
