Dignity through Work: The Petoskey Club Offers a Way Up for Those most in Need

Nov. 13, 2002

For Kim Peters, membership in the Petoskey Club has been a saving grace. She met her husband John at the club five years ago, and the couple were able to purchase a home in Charlevoix as a result of their membership. John landed a job at the Weathervane restaurant through the club, while Kim is now one of its leading lights, working in the kitchen.
Kim is a cheerful, can-do person whose membership in the Petoskey Club has helped her overcome a long struggle with bipolar affective disorder, more commonly known as manic-depression.
As a member of the club located across U.S. 31 from Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey, Peters has seen “a lot of really good success stories“ to go with her own experience. Those success stories are drawn from throughout Charlevoix, Emmet, Cheboygan and Otsego counties with many members benefiting from the club‘s transitional employment program.

FAMILY TIES
Established in 1994, the Petoskey Club is a rehabilitation program for people who are challenged by mental illness. The club helps provide its 217 members to get back on their feet with jobs, housing and a variety of support programs.
Peters says the club gave her the boost she needed: “I was bipolar, but I cycle through it and have been really good for five years now.“
She adds that the club helps break old stereotypes about people who have mental illnesses, creating more acceptance in the community.
“People with mental illness aren‘t like on NYPD Blue, going to blow away someone,“ she notes. “We have to break that cycle of stigma.“
She adds that membership in the Petoskey Club is like belonging to a family. “Traditionally, people with mental illness are often ostracized by their own families, so the club becomes our family of choice. A lot of people here choose to do things together on the holidays.“

ALL TOGETHER NOW
You can tell that the Petoskey Club is working because when you walk through its doors, you can‘t tell who is a member and who is on the staff.
“There‘s not a big division between the staff and the members,“ says Amanda Bricker, an employment specialist with Northern Michigan Community Mental Health. “Anyone who comes here notices that you can‘t tell who‘s on staff and who‘s a member.“
Bricker says the members and staff meet collectively to decide how to keep the club ship-shape and on the job. There are no uniforms or even offices to designate who is “in charge,“ so to speak.
“It‘s better than a case worker telling the members what to do because orders from a higher level don‘t foster a sense of independence and confidence,“ Bricker notes. “Hopefully, what our club does is give its members a sense of independence.“
The transitional employment program at the club provides members with their first step towards getting back to work by finding employment of up to 20 hours a week.
“In order to be a member of the club, the primary diagnosis must be chronic and severe mental illness,“ Bricker says. These might include bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia and severe depression. Sometimes these disorders are combined with substance abuse problems. Of note, the club is not intended for developmentally disabled persons.

INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT
The Petoskey Club is modeled after an international movement which began at Fountain House in New York City in the 1940s.
“It was a time when mental institutions were being dismantled and patients were being thrown out into the streets,“ Bricker says. “People who had lived in institutions their whole lives didn‘t know how to live on their own.“
The former patients themselves helped institute the first club and the movement has since spread worldwide. The clubs help mentally ill persons to make the transition to the community with jobs, housing and support programs. “We call it a clubhouse because it sounds fun,“ Bricker says.
The Petoskey Club has the distinction of being one of only two clubs in Michigan that are certified byt he International Center for Clubhouse Develolpment (the other is in Cadillac). “Michigan is notorious for having the fewest certified clubs in the country, but the most clubs,“ Bricker says. “The problem is due to the fact that Michigan requires so much paperwork, and when you don‘t even have a desk to sit at, it‘s very difficult to get it all done.“

FINDING A JOB
Funds for the club come from Michigan‘s Department of Community Health, but the jobs themselves come from businesses in the community.
Craig Antoine, manager of Oleson‘s in Petoskey, says the supermarket got involved in the program when it reopened in 1995 after rebuilding from a fire. Oleson‘s has provided jobs to approximately 40 club members over the past seven years.
Jobs might include bagging groceries, cleaning up the stock area, and running a box crusher.
“These are jobs that we‘d probably have an entry-level person do, but can‘t be done by persons under the age of 18 because of state law,“ Antoine says.
A benefit for Oleson‘s and other employers is that the Petoskey Club trains all of its members on the job and also guarantees a replacement if the club member doesn‘t show up for work.
Brad Cormack, the co-owner of Cormack‘s Deli, says the program has worked well for him thus far. His club member employees put away stock, make pie boxes, clear tables and help keep the deli in impeccable condition.
“It‘s a great way to get help in that area,“ Cormack says. “Kids that used to do those jobs don‘t want them any more. Kids want to go right to the top jobs now -- right to the $15 per hour management jobs.“
Did he have any reservations about providing work to persons with mental problems?
“No. I know they are coming from a program that‘s trying to help people and transition them to the workplace,“ he says. I was confident the club would help the person on the job and show them the job. We don‘t have to do any training and it‘s great for the employer.“

WORK WITH DIGNITY
A big part of Bricker‘s job is finding jobs for club members. So far, she‘s been successful with such businesses as Johan‘s Pastry Shop, Bortz Healthcare, Alfie‘s Flower Shop, Stafford‘s, Bay Area Pet Resort and Edward Jones Investments, along with Oleson‘s Food Stores and Cormack‘s Deli.
There are times, however, when she has turned down a job offer.
“Sometimes, it‘s a lousy job,“ she notes. “If it‘s a job that I hate doing, then I couldn‘t ask a club member to do it.
“At one place there were management issues where the people were being real demanding,“ she recalls. “We‘d go there and get stressed out; they were unfriendly and not understanding at all. And I felt that this was not a place where I felt comfortable putting someone who was vulnerable and trying to get back to work.“
That assessment is important because quality, meaningful work is a major part of building self-esteem in persons who not only have serious mental problems, but may not have worked in years.
“For a lot of the people here, the goal behind working is just socialization and getting back into the community. That may not seem like much, but it‘s very important.“

A NEW START
Ultimately, the club benefits both members and the community by ending the stigma of mental illness.
“A lot of people who suffer from mental illness also suffer from isolation,“ Bricker notes. “When they get to the clubhouse they find structure, expectations, and a place where they can be constructive. The theory behind the club concept is that work is the most rehabilitative thing they can do.
“A lot of people here have done really amazing things,“ she adds. “The nature of mental illness is that it‘s often not something that people get cured from, but they can learn to manage and overcome their problems.“