Help With Employment
Eighty-two percent of people living with a serious mental illness are unemployed. Our goal is to empower members to develop and regain the ability to participate successfully in meaningful, paid employment and to move out of poverty. In 2021, 47 Yahara House members worked in our three levels of employment. That means 42.5% of our members worked in that year. Before COVID, it had been 60% above average. Some members had multiple jobs, totaling 58 employment placements. Members worked 23,839 hours for combined earnings of $261,548.09.
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Are you ready to enter the workforce? As a right of membership, Clubhouses provide members with opportunities to return to paid employment in integrated work settings through the Transitional Employment Placement, Supported Employment, and Independent Employment programs. Members' desire to work is crucial to obtaining any of these supports.
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Transitional Employment Placement (TEP) is an arrangement between Yahara House and local businesses to employ members. Members who will work a TEP do not need to interview with the employer nor submit a resume. TEP employees are chosen by the staff who are placement managers for the TEP. Transitional Employment Placements are at the employer’s place of business, are part-time (4-20 hours per week), and include on-the-job and off-site support from Clubhouse colleagues for as long as you need help. These placements last from six to nine months. Members can then try another placement or move on to supported or independent employment. Transitional Employment is specifically designed as a vocational rehabilitation program where a member can gain or re-gain the skills and confidence necessary to have a job while he or she is employed in a “real world” position.
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​"My first TEP saved me from living on the street. I was homeless and living at Tellurian's THP. I had been there for six months with no income or benefits, and they were growing impatient with my inability to sustain work. My first TEP was working for Journey Mental Health Center as a file clerk. The money I earned was just enough to allow me to get a room at Porchlight on Brooks Street. It was modest, to say the least, but it beat living on the street as winter set in. That job was the first step to my ascent out of homelessness and poverty."
- Yahara House associate member Peter R.
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Supported Employment is a program of the Clubhouse through which members, when ready, are helped by the Clubhouse to seek and obtain a job of their own. This is a job the employee will keep indefinitely. Members in the work force who develop problems on the job, and would benefit from a job coach, are also eligible. The job coach will help the member at the place of employment and in the clubhouse until the member is confident things are working out well and the employer is satisfied with their performance.
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"Yahara House's Supported Employment helped me with my new job when I was overwhelmed and helped me manage a situation when I had a conflict with a coworker."
- Yahara House member Sonja T.
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Independent Employment is support at Yahara House for members who do not need help finding a job or who are already employed. If there is no on-site support at the place of business, members can still receive support and encouragement at the Clubhouse whenever needed from Job Squad or from other colleagues.
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The Work and Education Support Group is where colleauges can share a meal, discuss challenges, share successes, and talk about experiences at work or school. We meet one night per month.
