WATERVILLE —Kennebec Behavioral Health’s High Hopes Clubhouse was recently awarded the highest level of accreditation from Clubhouse International. The accreditation for the Waterville area’s vocational clubhouse, which first opened in 1997, was awarded in July and prompted a visit on Oct. 7 by Mark Lanier, chairman of the Board of Clubhouse International, based in New York, according to a High Hopes Clubhouse press release.
The Clubhouse International accreditation is awarded to Clubhouses that demonstrate appropriate and effective implementation of the evidence-based Clubhouse model, patterned after the original Fountain House which was founded in 1948 in New York City.
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Lanier chose to travel to Waterville to visit the High Hopes Clubhouse after hearing about their accreditation review. “Accreditation is at the core of what Clubhouse Internationals do. We are held up to the highest standard.” Lanier stated in the release.
The term “Clubhouse” is deliberately chosen and its use strongly reaffirmed by Clubhouse members worldwide as an accurate summation of each Clubhouse’s community-based therapeutic environment. High Hopes Director Lisa Soucie stated in the release “we are not just another job program, we are not just another day program, we are not just focused on vocational goals, we are a community and like many communities we have a center, a safe place, a place to have pride in, a place where membership is a privilege not a right, that is our Clubhouse.” Soucie is recognized internationally within the Clubhouse membership for her achievements in and knowledge of the Clubhouse model. She is part of the international accreditation team that goes in to assess and assist applicant Clubhouses elsewhere in the U.S. and the world.
High Hopes Clubhouse is a program of Kennebec Behavioral Health. For more information, visit kbhmaine.org or call 873-2136, ext. 1905.
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