New York City's mental health clubhouses could be in jeopardy

NEW YORK CITY (PIX 11) — The future of mental health services for New Yorkers living with serious mental illnesses could be in jeopardy, according to organizers of a rally at city hall Wednesday.

They claim a proposal by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would threaten the future of mental health clubhouses, which would now have to adhere to new requirements to stay open. 

Mental health clubhouses have been a resource in the city for decades, providing adults living with mental illnesses a pathway to recovery, and giving those who might otherwise be isolated a safe space to socialize.

Sylvia Pizarro has been a member of the Lifelinks clubhouse in Queens for eight years.

“Without Lifelinks my recovery would’ve been impossible,” Pizarro said. “I started going to Lifelinks because I was depressed starting college and now, I feel I have grown, matured, and developed social relationships with the people there.”

The clubhouses have been a lifeline for thousands of New Yorkers who utilize the 16 facilities across the city daily. The new initiative by the city to invest $30 million into the clubhouses comes with what demonstrators said are unreasonable stipulations. 

“Having an average daily attendance of 90 and 300 active members, which most New York City clubhouses cannot meet those requirements,” said Monica Rahman, program director of Top Clubhouse on the Upper West Side. “Most of us would have to find a new location because we cannot support that many people in our current site and just even renting that amount of space is extremely expensive.”

The DOH outlined the request for proposal back in June, stating that the goal for the initiative is to expand the program in hopes of reaching at least 15,000 members in the next two years. While demonstrators are in support of the program’s expansion, they're pushing to work with the city on a plan that would benefit existing clubhouse members.

“Some people thrive in larger clubhouses but a lot of people prefer a smaller, close-knit community,” Rahman said. “Being able to grow in size in such a short time, that will be very difficult to achieve.”

A spokesperson for the DOH says the money being invested into clubhouses is for additional services to reach even more New Yorkers. They also add that those resources will help members thrive in 2024 and beyond.