Updated Tips and Strategies Issue #3

COVID-19 CRISISOUR RESILIENT CLUBHOUSE COMMUNITIESTips & Strategies: Issue #3

As we continue to have online meetings and other communications with the worldwide Clubhouse community, we gather additional innovative and creative strategies that Clubhouses are implementing to meet the evolving needs of members during this time.

GOOD NEWS FROM THIS WEEK:

“We are spending more time talking to each other and as a result we are deepening our relationships.”

Clubhouses in many states/countries are successfully working together to ensure continued funding for Clubhouses through this crisis.

One Clubhouse reported that their new staff are really seeing what it means that the Clubhouse community can support members in a powerful, direct and immediate way. This experience is helping staff and members more fully understand the depth and meaning of

Clubhouse relationships.

A Clubhouse member said that she never understood how life-giving her connection with her Clubhouse community was until this crisis, and that it is the Clubhouse community that is now helping her to maintain her sense of security and hope as this crisis unfolds.

Clubhouses are finding that some members who have not been coming to the Clubhouse for long periods of time, are reconnecting through this current effort. Some have said that they will return to the Clubhouse when the crisis is over.

The COVID-19 crisis has inspired creativity and innovation in Clubhouse communities, and reignited their sense of the importance of community.Clubhouses are finding that they are invigorated and inspired and finding new ways to express the deepest values of our Standards.

The following are some of the ideas from Clubhouses this past week:

MAINTAINING COMMUNITY

• Clubhouses are stressing the importance of maintaining a daily structure, for both staff and members. Some Clubhouses are asking staff and members to establish goals for themselves for each day, and then report in on how they have done with those.
• Establish house and/or unit meetings, via conference call or online platform (Zoom or WebEx can be accessed through the internet or by phone), preferably twice daily, in the morning and afternoon.
• Put your weekly schedule of calls and meetings on your webpage and FB page. Include the links and/or dial-up information for each call. Clubhouse weekly meeting schedules can include: daily (or twice daily) all-house community meetings; individual unit meetings; health and wellness updates; education and employment meetings; young adult meet-ups; DRA meetings, etc.

TECHNOLOGY

Zoom has a platform that is specifically created to be HIPAA compliant, for use in healthcare settings. The link for this platform is: https://zoom.us/healthcare

STAFF SCHEDULING AND ROLES

Lengthen the hours of operation of the Clubhouse so members can have greater access to support. This can be done by staggering staff hours, some to start earlier in the morning, and some to work into the evening hours.

REACH OUT

• Deliver fresh flowers to members’ homes along with food deliveries.
• Members are saying they want to see the faces of others in their Clubhouse community, so one Clubhouse is creating Jib-Jab videos with people’s faces and sending them to their Clubhouse members and staff.
• Clubhouses should check with their local phone and internet providers. Many providers are extending free and/or enhanced service during this time. This can be extremely important with no (or very limited) phone and/or internet service.

HOUSE AND UNIT MEETINGS

• Have a daily Facebook Live meeting at an established time. Staff and members take turns hosting. Members and staff provide updates on themselves, share employment news, engage in Clubhouse discussion, go over a Standard of the day, are provided with a virus update, and request any resources they may need. Members without Facebook have the option to call in for the meeting or receive an email overview of the topics discussed. All meetings can be saved to be viewed at a later time, if desired.
• The following is a unit meeting agenda, created to ensure that Clubhouse relationships remain “work-mediated,” in spite of the physical distancing. You can see that this agenda ensures side by side collaboration between staff and members throughout the meeting: https://clubhouse-intl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Unit-Meeting-Virtual-White-Board_04-04-20.pdf

VIRTUAL CLUBHOUSE (UNIT) WORK

• Jobs from units can be discussed and assigned at the end of each meeting. For example, create a daily newsletter.          
• A member and staff team can be assigned to create an updated, accurate email database to send the daily newsletter to everyone before the morning meeting every day. Check out this example of a helpful newsletter during this ‘virtual Clubhouse’ time. Members and staff wrote the articles in partnership, and it includes listing of opportunities for Clubhouse connections including: book club, wellness challenge, and education club, as well as food resources and easy healthy recipes. https://clubhouse-intl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Genesis-House-Newsletter_March-2020.pdf
• Discuss and sign up for cleaning jobs and then complete them at home. This helps everyone become motivated to keep our own home clean and tidy. Then send pictures of completed jobs to post on Clubhouse site.
• Have a virtual kitchen hygiene safety class so members and staff can become certified to work in kitchens. Create food prep videos to share with your Clubhouse community. Have people send in pictures of their cooking endeavors to post on the Clubhouse Facebook page.
• Create handmade cards to send to all active and inactive members, and staff. The cards can simply be ‘thinking about you’ messages to strengthen the sense of connection and community.
• Use free Hallmark software to create birthday cards, reach-out cards.
• Use ‘call forwarding’ feature so that members and staff can ‘man the switchboard’ of the Clubhouse, and forward calls.
• Establish an ‘IT HELP DESK’ team of staff and members who can be on-call to help others members connect with technology, etc.

EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION

• Schedule individual phone meetings with members who are employed or looking for employment at this time.

• Assist members with filing for unemployment.

• Work one-on-one with members via phone to work on resumes, job applications, mock interviews, etc. 

• Clubhouse Supported Education: deliver materials from the Clubhouse to members’ residences to continue self-paced on-line learning for GED/High school equivalency courses/diplomas.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Use chat rooms for special interest groups in the Clubhouse. You can have a chat room for the young adults, for employed members, for seniors, for members in group homes, etc.

FOOD

• Coordinate bulk food delivery to members, getting a week of groceries delivered at a time.
• Partner with other community agencies/programs, with bulk buying, prep, and delivery.
• Ask donors to help support local restaurants as well as Clubhouse members by ordering a take-out meal that can be delivered to all members, for a special treat.
• Get donations from local Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, etc., and deliver to members.
• Grocery shopping once per week. Two or three members gather the lists on Monday and centralize them with the Clubhouse ‘mobile shoppers,’ who then purchase and deliver the items every Tuesday.
• Create on-line cooking demonstrations and have the community try to create the dishes at home.

COMMUNITY SUPPORTS

• Clubhouses in the U.S. that will be having upcoming primaries can help members obtain and submit absentee ballots.
• Staff and/or members in recovery can organize online AA, DRA, etc., 12-step meetings for the Clubhouse community.

SOCIAL PROGRAM AND WELLNESS PROGRAMMING

• Organize a game show on Facebook Live for the Clubhouse community.
• Use an app called ‘Houseparty,’ where members and staff can play group games such as Trivia and “Chips and Guac” (similar to Apples to Apples).
• Encourage all members to obtain a thermometer and establish their baseline temperature. If anyone notices that their temperature has gone up by more than one degree from the baseline, they should contact their doctor.
• Use the Clubhouse International ‘Directors E-groups’ for support in regard to how staff can best take care and protect themselves during this time. For more information and a link to join one of these groups, contact Lee Kellogg at lkellogg@clubhouse-intl.org
• Start an email thread in your Clubhouse community where people can post innovative and fun ways to exercise.
• One Clubhouse has started to have online Meditation Mondays, Social Wednesdays (virtual games like Bingo) and Fitness Fridays during lunch hour for members and staff to attend.

CLUBHOUSE FUNDING AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

• One Clubhouse that was going to have a 5K fundraiser has decided to go ahead with the event, but do it virtually.
• Some Clubhouses have received grants from their local Rotary Clubs.
• Contacting local media to make them aware of your supports/services. Local TV and radio stations are looking for positive, community-based stories.

BOARD/ADVISORY BOARD

Board/Advisory Board members could support a local restaurant and also provide a needed treat for Clubhouse staff and members, by ordering a take-out meal for everyone.

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Thank you to Clubhouses in the following states/countries that joined our regional update calls last week, and shared your strategies and tips:

Canada
Pennsylvania
Florida
Genesis Club, Massachusetts
North Carolina
AIM Center, Tennessee
B’More Clubhouse, Maryland
Gateway
Ohio
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Australia
Wyoming
Colorado
Norway
Hawaii