Can hanging out with friends really fill the gaps in New York City’s mental health crisis? Seven decades of peer clubhouses operating in the Big Apple say yes, it can — and more.
Harlem welcomed a city-funded peer clubhouse on 138th Street from provider Phoenix House on July 28 in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. City Councilmember Yusef Salaam, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and Assemblymember Jordan Wright helped with the honors. The site soft-launched on June 2 and membership currently is at around a dozen people.
“Phoenix House, I would like to say, is going to make sure that people grow through those things that they were going through just yesterday,” said Salaam. “They’ll be able to, on the other side of healing, be a valued member in society.”
The new Harlem Clubhouse provid