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Alliance Alert: The Alliance for Rights and Recovery is thrilled to see ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog State investing in the expansion of the Clubhouse model, bringing these transformative, recovery-oriented services to more communities across upstate ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog. Clubhouses have consistently demonstrated that when people are offered opportunities for connection, purpose, employment, education, and mutual support, they experience better outcomes, including reduced hospitalization, increased community integration, and improved overall well-being. We applaud the state’s commitment to expanding this evidence-based model and look forward to seeing new Clubhouses open over the coming months.
This investment should be just the beginning. Every ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvloger living with a mental health challenge deserves access to a Clubhouse or similar recovery-oriented community support program, regardless of where they live. The Alliance will continue advocating for additional funding and expansion opportunities so that every region of the state has access to these life-changing services. As ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog continues to strengthen its behavioral health system, investments in voluntary, community-based supports like Clubhouses must remain a central priority.
These exciting developments come at a pivotal time as our Annual Conference approaches this September. Throughout the conference, attendees will hear from innovative and effective programs from across ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog and around the country that are transforming mental health through recovery-oriented, person-centered approaches. Participants will also have the opportunity to attend a comprehensive session examining the significant federal and state policy changes that have taken place over the past year, including new initiatives and services made possible through recent budget investments. We hope you’ll join us to learn how these policy changes, alongside innovative programs like Clubhouses, are helping build a stronger, more responsive mental health system for all ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlogers.
See below for the registration and hotel information. View the full conference program here or in the attachment.
*Due to popular demand, we’re extending our Buy Five, Get One Conference Registration offer through Friday, July 24 at 11:59 p.m. This is the final extension of this promotion and the last opportunity to take advantage of this special rate before regular pricing kicks in. We know many organizations are waiting to hear about conference scholarship awards, which will be announced soon. We strongly encourage you to secure your registrations now with confidence: if someone you register is later awarded a scholarship, we’ll gladly transfer that paid registration to another individual from your organization. Don’t miss this final opportunity to register your team and join us for this year’s Alliance Annual Conference!
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What is a Clubhouse? A Look Inside ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog’s Expanding Mental Health Support Model
By Beth Adams, Noelle E. C. Evans | WXXI News | July 15, 2026
This week, ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog state announced a multimillion-dollar investment in the expansion of clubhouses, community hubs for mental health support.
Some of that money will go to a Rochester agency called East House.
The following is a transcript of a conversation between WXXI’s Noelle Evans and All Things Considered Host Beth Adams.
BETH ADAMS: So, of course, there are places people can go to get diagnosed and treated for mental illness, but this resource, which is called a clubhouse, is not that at all. It’s something completely different.
NOELLE EVANS: Yes.
ADAMS: What is a clubhouse?
EVANS: So a clubhouse, at its core, is a group of people. These are folks that have mental illnesses like major depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar, mood disorders. But the idea is that community is healing. So a clubhouse exists in a space, but the clubhouse itself is considered the group of people. If you were to participate, you come in and there are different units you can plug into, whether that’s like cooking, whether that’s communications, the idea is that you’re building up life skills, social skills, being able to navigate relationships.
ADAMS: So, how does a clubhouse differ from what we might think of as a traditional clinical mental health psychiatric unit setting?
EVANS: This is not a psych ward. I think what people might think of in terms of like the traditional settings and all of that when it comes to psychiatric care is that sort of hierarchy of patient to doctor, patient to provider, diagnosis, the medication, the treatment. This is about community. It’s about building friendships. It’s about building a sense of self-worth and confidence, building up those life skills,.
ADAMS: And it’s the participants doing the building? Am I right?
EVANS: Yes. The idea is that the members are the ones driving the ship; they’re the ones that are determining what it is that they want to do and how to go about doing it with assistance from staff. But it is the members that are taking on that responsibility.
ADAMS: So, where does this concept of clubhouses come from, and is there a proven track record for its benefits?
EVANS: It started in the 1940s, so there was a group of psychiatric patients, as the story goes, group of psychiatric patients at a state hospital near ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog City, who were going to be discharged, and they formed this social support network together to sort of navigate that reentry into society. From there, it’s taken off elsewhere. It’s in at least 20-plus states in 30- some countries, and in terms of what’s the proof that this even works? There’s a wealth of research into the benefits: reduced hospitalization, lower rates of incarceration, higher rates of like longer term employment, and then overall sense of well-being improved as well.
ADAMS: Is there a timeline for when these clubhouses will be seen in Rochester, in communities around ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog state? The funding’s in place, now what happens?
EVANS: Now what happens? So I can speak for locally. So East House, they mentioned it could be six to 12 months. They have a startup group of folks who are already in a program called Connections. That program is going to transition into their clubhouse, and so these folks are responsible for establishing, OK, what location do we want, and then the next steps there could be a year from now, might be a little sooner. TBD, you know. This also is something that is moving at the grace of how fast state government moves too.
ADAMS: Noelle Evans, thanks again.
EVANS: Thank you.