LEWISTON — For a long time, Dean Harris spent his days watching TV and sleeping on the couch. Sometimes, he went for a bike ride. Mostly, he was bored.

Until he joined the Looking Ahead Clubhouse. 

“I think this place is the greatest place we’ve ever had in the Lewiston-Auburn area,” said Harris, 43, who has abandoned his couch in favor of daily trips to the Clubhouse, where he recently overcame crippling social anxiety to lead the morning meetings.

The Clubhouse model for helping people with mental illness began in New York in 1948. The goal: give people with depression, bipolar disorder and other illnesses a place to learn, work and socialize while being treated with respect. Unlike traditional mental health facilities, which focus on the disorder and treatment, Clubhouses focus on people’s strengths and goals, and emphasize a sense of belonging — like a club.

“We celebrate the success of everything. Seriously, everything,” said Christine Berry, director of Looking Ahead. “We’re a very positive environment.”

Kennebec Behavioral Health, a Waterville-based organization for people with mental health and substance abuse issues, runs the only three Clubhouses in Maine. The first, High Hopes Clubhouse, opened in Waterville in 1997. The second, Capitol Clubhouse, opened in Augusta in 2002.

In January, Kennebec Behavioral Health opened Looking Ahead on Main Street in Lewiston in a 7,000-square-foot building that once housed a doctor’s practice and then Richardson Hollow, a now-defunct business that helped adults and children with mental health issues.

The Looking Ahead Clubhouse serves adults with mental illness throughout Lewiston-Auburn and the surrounding area. Since it opened four months ago, it has enrolled more than 120 active members. About 25 show up each day. 

But while Looking Ahead fosters a club-like atmosphere where members share lunch and make friends, it isn’t solely social. Members work to keep the place running — answering the phone, cooking meals, writing and printing a monthly newsletter, manning the Clubhouse cafe, bank and small store. Members are encouraged to try different jobs so they learn a variety of skills that can help them in the work force. They’re also encouraged to take advantage of Literacy Volunteers and other educational opportunities.

Once they’re comfortable with their new skills, members are employed in the community. Some get a lot of job coaching and support. Others are completely independent. The Clubhouse currently has three members working in the community, at McDonald’s, Walmart and a food pantry. 

Each member has goals. Harris wants to learn to read and spell, and someday get his driver’s license. Before Looking Ahead, those seemed far off for someone who’d battled depression for years and rarely left his couch.

Now Harris not only leaves his Lewiston home every day, he has taken on responsibilities at the Clubhouse, including leading new members on tours and interviewing applicants for open staff positions.

“I love it here,” he said.

Tammy Neely’s goal is to get a bachelor’s degree, possibly in counseling, and to work in a Clubhouse.

“I know the right things to say,” she said. “Well, not the right things, but what that person feels is right for them.”

At 36, Neely, of Auburn, has been dealing with bipolar disorder for nearly two decades. She had problems meeting new people and socializing until she joined Looking Ahead in February. She likes that Clubhouse members and staff are treated equally, with all spaces and equipment freely available to everyone and nearly all decisions made by consensus. She feels more comfortable without a strict hierarchy that places one person above another.

“In the past, it’s like I had a therapist and she was way up here and I’d be down at the bottom looking up, saying, ‘Hey, I need help down here. You’re so high up there, how can I reach you?'” she said.

Looking Ahead is largely funded through MaineCare, with a daily reimbursement rate for each person who goes to the Clubhouse. Championed by Gov. Paul LePage, who served on the board of the High Hopes Clubhouse for several years, Looking Ahead also received a $150,000 from the state last year to help with start-up costs. 

Members pay nothing out of pocket to attend, though lunch costs $2 and some weekend or evening social events can cost a few dollars each.

Looking Ahead hopes ultimately to enroll 150 people. They would consider it a success if 50 attend the Clubhouse each day and 25 percent of those people worked in the community.

Harris said it’s already been a success for him.

“I’ve been here every day; I haven’t missed a day yet,” Harris said. “I like being around the people.”

ltice@sunjournal.com

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