“Together For The Mind” A Project to Increase the Inclusion of Young People with Mental Health Problems into Society and in the Work World
Project location: Italy, Florence and Palermo, Italy
Project start date: February 2013 -
Project end date: May 2014
Project number: 2012-123
Beneficiary: Progetto Itaca Onlus
The Clubhouse is based on the ICCD model (International Center for Clubhouse Development), born in New York under the name "Fountainhouse" www.fountainhouse.org). ICCD follows a certification program and sets the standards of the Clubhouses.
Now over 300 worldwide, Clubhouses are community-based centers that offer members opportunities for friendship, employment, housing, education, and access to medical and psychiatric services through a single caring and safe environment, so members can achieve a sense of belonging and become productive members of society.
The Clubhouse model is based on the principle that recovery from serious mental illness must involve the whole person in a vital and culturally sensitive community. A Clubhouse community offers respect, hope, and the opportunity to access the same worlds of friendship, housing, education and employment as the rest of society.
After Milan, Progetto Itaca has been developing the project in other Italian cities: Rome (2010), Florence and Palermo (2011). A group of volunteers is already active in Genoa and has organized two courses "Family to Family".
On July 5th 2012 Progetto Itaca Onlus Milan has constituted Fondazione Progetto Itaca, with the aim of raising the necessary funds to support the expansion of the Clubhouses project in different Italian cities.
From 2010 to 2013, the Nando Peretti Foundation supported the launch of the Roma's Clubhouse, covering the cost of human resources (the staff of the Club). Thanks also to this support, in two years the Club in Rome has achieved the following positive results: 22 active members; 3 full-time staff; the work in all Units has been started (clerical, communication, gardening, cooking, social activities); 3 members, thanks to their well-being, have already started a job and another member has resumed her university studies.
Now the Nando Peretti Foundation has awarded a grant to support the launch of Progetto Itaca Firenze and Progetto Itaca Palermo.
The main objective of the project is to allow for the start-up of the Clubhouse in the two cities, supporting the training of the staff members, the start of internal activities and the development of contacts with the local public institutions, and other organizations working in the mental health sector.
