May 15, 2026 // Diocese

The Clubhouse Transforms Mental Health Support

Elyse Maldonado

 

At Clubhouse of St. Joseph County, adults living with mental illness are not defined by diagnoses or limitations. Instead, they are welcomed as members of a community rooted in dignity, purpose and belonging.

Founded through the vision of Lisa Anderson, Clubhouse of St. Joseph County, located in South Bend, offers a distinct approach to mental health support, one that prioritizes relationships over rigid structures and strengths over symptoms.

For Anderson, the mission is deeply personal.

“My husband and I have been blessed with two beautiful sons,” she told Today’s Catholic. “I consider being a wife and mother the two greatest joys of my life.”

Her life was shaken when one of her sons was diagnosed with a serious mental illness in high school.

“It changed everything — for him, for all of us,” she said.

As Anderson searched for ways to support her son, she found that many existing services, though helpful, felt limited.

“There are wonderful services in town,” she said, “but they’re often very clinical.”

Her son struggled to connect with group-based programs.

“He said, ‘Why would I want to sit for hours talking about what’s wrong with me?’”

The experience brought not only confusion but also isolation.

“Our focus became searching for answers: How did this happen? Can he be healed? How do we cope?” she said. “And on top of everything, there was this sense that it should be kept private. There was so much shame.”

Those early years, she recalled, were “lonely and confusing.” Yet in the midst of that struggle, she encountered something that would change the course of her family’s story: the international Clubhouse model.

“I realized this was something different,” she said. “A place where people are valued for who they are, not their illness.”

‘It’s About Living Life Together’

At its core, Clubhouse of St. Joseph County is not simply a program for members; it is a community built by them. Each day begins with a planning meeting where members and staff work side by side to organize everything from meals to daily operations. Tasks such as cooking, answering phones and maintaining the space may seem ordinary, but they carry deeper meaning.

“It’s not us telling people what to do,” Anderson explained. “Members help run everything. They make decisions. They take ownership.”

Participation is entirely voluntary, and members engage at their own pace and discretion. The model is grounded in flexibility and trust, meeting people where they are and supporting them as they move forward.

“No one talks about their diagnosis here,” Anderson said. “It’s about living life together.”

Anderson’s faith informed her desire to create this community in South Bend to help others. “It seemed to me like the type of community Jesus would create,” she said.

Clubhouse of St. Joseph County is part of a broader international network. Through Clubhouse International, hundreds of clubhouses operate worldwide, including several across Indiana, which collaborate regularly to support one another.

‘Our Intervention Is Community’

In Fort Wayne, the Carriage House, which also follows the Clubhouse International model, has served members for nearly three decades. Tom Weir, associate director of the Carriage House, describes the model as both simple and transformative.

“Our intervention is community,” Weir told Today’s Catholic. “People come because they want to. They choose what they do. That sense of ownership is everything.”

Weir points to two defining principles of the Clubhouse model: radical welcome and meaningful contribution.

“Before anything else, people experience acceptance,” he said. “Then they begin to rediscover their gifts by contributing to the community.”

Research on this model consistently shows strong outcomes, including improved well-being, increased employment and reduced reliance on costly services.

At the Clubhouse of St. Joseph County and the Carriage House, those outcomes are reflected in everyday lives. Some members pursue education, others find stability, friendship and a renewed sense of purpose. Others move on.

“There’s no single path,” Anderson said. “Some people may return to work or school. Others find meaning in simply being part of a community that values them.”

‘To See Each Person as a Child of God’

For Anderson, her Catholic faith is inseparable from her work.

“I’ve always felt called to live my faith in a concrete way — to see each person as a child of God,” she said.

That same spirit draws the program’s volunteers, including Aldo Tagliabue, a University of Notre Dame professor who regularly serves at the Clubhouse of St. Joseph County alongside a group of friends and colleagues. Each month, they help host gatherings at the Clubhouse of St. Joseph County, usually karaoke and Pictionary, that foster connection and joy.

But the experience, he said, goes far deeper than service.

“When you go there, you encounter people who are completely themselves,” Tagliabue told Today’s Catholic. “They share their struggles, their hopes, their desire to be loved.”

These encounters have reshaped his understanding of both his faith and daily life.

“It helps me rediscover what it means to be human,” he said. “To see the other as a gift.”

‘Led Us to Something Beautiful’

As both the Clubhouse of St. Joseph County and the Carriage House continue to grow, their leaders told Today’s Catholic that their greatest needs are sustainable funding and broader awareness.

“We don’t want to grow just for the sake of growing,” Anderson said. “But we know there are more people who could benefit from this kind of community.”

At its heart, the mission remains simple but urgent: to ensure that no one faces mental illness alone, and in a culture where mental illness is often misunderstood or hidden, these organizations offer a different vision rooted in encounter, dignity and community.

“What began as one of the hardest parts of our family’s story,” Anderson said, “has also led us to something beautiful.”

For those who enter a clubhouse, it becomes more than a program. It becomes a home — and a reminder that no one is alone.