Mental illness can result in isolation, loneliness and hopelessness, but a new organization is striving to create a community of support in the face of mental health struggles.
Gateway, a clubhouse for those facing serious mental illnesses, has opened up a world of options for those in that battle, no matter their background.
With July being Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, Gateway opened its doors for a lunch and tour of its clubhouse, along with offering an opportunity to speak with some of Gateway’s members.
Representatives from the Hispanic Alliance, Furman University, Walt’s Waltz and Kingdom Life Church got a chance to see what Gateway was about and speak with its staff and members.
The clubhouse model
The “clubhouse model” is a mental illness treatment approach that provides people living with mental illness opportunities for friendship, employment, housing, wellness, education, and access to medical and psychiatric services. With standards set by Clubhouse International and the International, the model brings all these opportunities together under one single environment designed to be caring and supportive.
The model has helped people like Tricia Burts, who has been with Gateway since 2017. Burts briefly left the program but returned shortly thereafter and stuck it out, helping her to get her life back on track.
“I realized Gateway was stirring something in me,” Burts said.
Now she is among the members who help out new members during orientation for Gateway and has greatly benefited from its services, she said. She’s now ready to get her driver’s license, get a car and get a job, and Gateway provides Burts with one of the 70 apartments it rents to members.
Minority Health Awareness Month
Burts, who is Black, is one of the thousands around the Upstate who’ve struggled with additional severe problems that come with mental health disorders.
Nationally, those identifying as Black don’t report mental disorders as much as other groups — with 16.8% identifying as having a disorder — but Black adults are 20% more likely to experience problems like major depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder, according to information provided by Gateway. Depression among Black and Hispanic Americans is more likely to be disabling and persistent.
In the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color group, childhood depression has been associated with increased welfare dependence and unemployment. Black Americans living below the poverty line are twice as likely to report serious psychological stress as those living two times above the poverty level, according to Gateway.
Changing the trajectory of a life
Ciera Young of Recycled Energy was one of the medical health professionals who came to tour Gateway. Young, who calls herself the Mental Health Homegirl, practices in the Greenville area. She looks to be more relatable when talking to clients, and she was impressed with what Gateway had to offer.
“It will totally change the trajectory of someone’s life,” she said.
For those looking to join Gateway, they’ll need a referral from a professional, likely at facilities like Prisma Health Marshall I. Pickens Hospital or Patrick B. Harris Psychiatric Hospital. They also may need a list of the medications they are taking.
Once they’ve visited the clubhouse and have applied for membership, cost isn’t a factor in helping get patients treated.
“There is no membership fee,” said Gateway Executive Director Randy Redlinger.
Instead, Gateway relies on private donations, fundraisers, reimbursements from Medicare and private insurance or families contributing to memberships.
That funding allows the group to see the individual, not the illness.
“We really don’t see mental illnesses,” member Chimere Sherale said.
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