A St. Louis-based rehabilitation program is working to cut Missouri’s high unemployment rate among adults with severe mental illness.
The Independence Center received a $290,000 grant from the St. Louis Mental Health Board’s Community Mental Health Fund to expand the center’s Employment Services Program. Joe Shaffer, the center’s clubhouse director, said securing the grant was welcome news.
“[It’s] just instrumental in our ability to expand our employment services, which are really core to what we do at the Clubhouse at Independence Center,” Shaffer said. “[It] really aligns with our belief in employment as a vital part of mental health recovery.”
In Missouri, roughly 90% of adults with severe mental illness are unemployed, according to a 2014 report from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That’s despite 60% of people with mental illness wanting to work.
“Every day we’re working to reduce the stigma of mental illness so that people can view individuals that are living with a mental health diagnosis as contributing members of society,” Shaffer said.
He adds that fewer than 2% of people with severe mental illness are connected to resources with supportive employment opportunities. He said the Independence Center is filling that gap through the Employment Services Program. Participants will have access to job opportunities, workplace support, benefits counseling and support to maintain long-term employment.
“Work is much more than a paycheck,” said Shaffer. “It speaks directly to self-worth. It speaks to how someone identifies themselves.”
The center was founded in 1981 under a clubhouse model. That’s a community-based and peer-supported approach to rehabilitation for adults with severe mental illness. Participants work alongside staff members to help run daily operations.
There are more than 380 clubhouses globally, with 250 in the U.S. The Independence Center is the only clubhouse in St. Louis.
