ABOUT US

Fellowship Place: For 48 years Fellowship Place has welcomed people who find themselves unwelcome elsewhere. Compounding this alienation is the burden of homelessness. Every day that someone new enters Fellowship's doors, they catch a glimpse that it is possible to overcome the effects of severe mental illness and move from homelessness, poverty, and despair to a life of hope and self-sufficiency.

OUR HISTORY

In 1960, Phyllis McDowell had a vision...to provide opportunities for mental health patients who were leaving psychiatric facilities an opportunity to overcome social isolation. The daughter of the late Arthur Murray, she saw the connection between dancing and social activity as a way to engage people struggling with mental illness. With a handful of volunteers, Phyllis started a social club, meeting on Monday nights in the basement of the New Haven Jewish Community Center on Chapel Street. Entering its 45th year, Fellowship is now governed by an outstanding Board of Directors, and serves over 500 members. Fellowship has become a vibrant creative community and a holistic, social learning center designed to maximize the likelihood and pace of RECOVERY.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Our treatment interventions address the whole person: mind, body, and spirit; to improve individual functioning, and to improve the individual's own management of his/her illness. Members choose the areas in which they participate, set their own goals, and take on challenges whenever they feel ready. In many cases, members lead programs, inspiring others by example. The consistent interaction with a full menu of activities plays a major role in keeping people off the streets, and in volunteer and paid work.

We are convinced that it is the nurturing of physical, mental and spiritual health that results in the greatest degree of recovery possible. We see people struggling daily to get back on track. The effect that fun, creativity and productivity have on depression is extraordinary. We've seen it work.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Fellowship Place strives to integrate its services with other community agencies so that our members can have the best possible chance at recovery. We collaborate with several agencies in the New Haven area through the Community Service Network (CSN)