I work at a clubhouse for young adults (known as “TAY”-Transitional Age Youth) who are between the ages of 16-25 years old. These kids all have some sort of mental health disorder, such as schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, borderline personality disorder, etc. Anything you ever studied in abnormal psych. The program was created to help these young adults transition into becoming responsible, self-sustaining adults (hence the "transitional" part), so that when they turn 26 they will be able to function mainly on their own without too much dependence on the system. We have two programs-one with case managers, therapists, substance abuse counselors, nurses…the whole works. The second program is the clubhouse, the side of the building that I work on. It’s basically sort of a drop-in center. The kids don’t live there—most of them live in board-and-cares or independent living homes. However, they come to the clubhouse during the day. At the clubhouse we have groups, classes, activities, outings, games, etc. My official title is “Activities Coordinator.” So one would assume that my main function is to coordinate activities, correct? Well, not really. I mean, I do plan outings to take the kids out to, but that really only takes a little imagination, Google, SanDiegoGetaways.com (a great site if you ever want to visit here), and gas for the company van. All in all, it probably only takes me two days to plan the next months’ activities.
What I mainly do is as such: Break up fights (that’s a big one lately, and it usually involves me sacrificing my body by throwing myself in between two young men who are much bigger and much more feisty than I am), kick people off the computers who are listening to foul music or looking at foul things, cook lunch, run chores, teach 5-6 groups a week, write and publish the clubhouse newsletter, plan and carry out parties, fundraise (who would have ever thought selling lollipops from my cupboard and at the local deli would have been so effective?), organize volunteering experiences and outreach opportunities at shelters, update directories that I didn’t create and therefore, in my mind, are not as functional as they could be (I spent almost an entire week on that one), and, of course, sign more people up for the program. There are more things as well, but I’m tired of listing them. Keep in mind also that the entire time I am doing these things there is always someone asking me questions, pestering me about something not-so-important, pestering me about something oh-so-very-important, and sometimes just bouncing in and out of my office to get attention. I’m sure all you moms can relate. Yesterday, I was trying to work on something and one of the clubhouse members literally sat and talked to me for forty minutes non-stop. And when fights do occur between staff and a clubhouse member, they are usually because the clubhouse member wants to either push limits, push buttons, or they simply want attention. The most clear example of attention seeking I've ever had was when one of the kids stole a bag of frozen chicken nuggets. Instead of simply putting them in to his backpack that he was carrying around and walking out of the building, he came to my office door, shook the bag in front of his face, and yelled out “I’m taking these chicken nuggets!,” then attempted to leave. I’ll never look at chicken nuggets the same again. All I can think whenever I see them is "I'm taking these chicken nuggets!" It was hilarious. So, while it is challenging (and you can never hide from these clubhouse members to get something done, like paperwork...) it's also highly entertaining, and...well, just plain satisfying work. I even taught a punk-rock style kid to use a sewing machine this week. They're great.
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