Suzanne answers the reception desk phone with the ambition of a director, before patching the call into the main office.
For the last five years, she's been working on her communication skills at the Wallingford House in its business unit. It's because of the Wallingford House that she and many others have been working a steady job.
Lately, she and a group of her peers have been under the instruction of Helena Hillinga, a local artist who's been offering them free art courses two hours each week at the Wallingford House. For the rest of this month, their sketches are on display at the University Unitarian Church in the Ravenna neighborhood.
"Art is such a great release for everyone," said Hillinga, a Dutch-born artist who's been volunteering at the Wallingford House for the last two years. "I'm certainly no expert, but any work that combines the head, the heart and the hands is therapeutic."
AN OPEN, SECURE SETTING
The Wallingford House has been serving as clubhouse for those living with mental illness, offering them a safe and supportive destination to learn, develop and grow as individuals, employees and students.
The club currently serves more than 200 local adults who have schizophrenia, clinical depression and other forms of severe and persistent mental illnesses.
The clubhouse - a program of the Community Psychiatric Clinic (CPC) - is now operating as a certified International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD). After gaining certification last November, the Wallingford House joined the vast network of clubhouses that offer standardized rehabilitation programs for those living with mental illness worldwide.
"We provide an open and secure setting that helps develop skills in a community setting," said Wallingford House director Jim Fickens. "It is about the dignity of developing the skills of those suffering from psychiatric disabilities and mental illnesses and helping them utilize those skills in the community."
COMMUNITY ART
On Jan. 6, the University Unitarian Church, 6556 35th Ave. N.E., had an opening reception for the Wallingford House's newest art exhibit, "Innovation, Renewal, Root and Branch," which also features Hillinga's paintings.
The church originally approached Hillinga to occupy its exhibit space for January. Hillinga immediately suggested that the Wallingford House art be displayed as well.
"I wanted to bring this art into the community and allow for it to be seen," said Hillinga, who mentioned that most of her students are between the ages of 40 and 60. "I told them to make the art their own, without instructing them on the subject matter. It's been so wonderful to watch them develop through the art."
The Wallingford House serves as a treatment-free dwelling for mentally ill patients to rebuild their lives, while offering evening art and music programs to house members by community volunteers, like Hillinga.
"The art program has been so tremendously successful because of [Hillinga's] volunteer work," Fickens said. "We depend so much on the community stakeholders to create this safe community for the [Wallingford House] members."
SPECIALIZED TRAINING
According to Fickens, more than 50 percent of the clubhouse's members who find a job after joining the Wallingford House maintain those jobs. The clubhouse offers specialized training designed to find entry-level opportunities for those members who wish to work in office environments and the food-service industry.
"The perceived scare is that they won't be able to maintain in the work environment," Fickens said. "The reality is that they are quite happy and reliable once they find that opportunity. They provide great quality of work and are so happy once they are working in meaningful employment."
Wallingford House members' artwork are on view at the University Unitarian Church, 6556 35th Ave. N.E., through Jan. 31. For more information on Wallingford House, visit www.wallingfordhouse.org.[[In-content Ad]]