ORANGE SLICES
Since its inception in 1987, Club Nova has been a sanctuary for individuals living with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression.
The Club Nova story highlights a profound truth: addressing mental illness in society goes beyond clinical treatment. It requires creating environments where individuals can heal, grow, and reclaim a sense of belonging and purpose. Mental illness, like any chronic condition, demands continuous support, and Club Nova stands as a transformative space that offers this support while challenging the stigma often attached to mental health.
Since its inception in 1987, Club Nova has been a sanctuary for individuals living with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. It provides them not just with care, but with the community needed to thrive. The recently completed $5 million building project, a decade in the making, symbolizes society’s increasing awareness that mental illness is not something to be hidden but something to be faced with compassion and support. Club Nova recognizes that those with mental health challenges deserve the same opportunities as anyone else: a place to belong, meaningful work, and relationships that foster personal growth.
Club Nova recently completed a $5 million fundraising goal for its new building.
What makes Club Nova remarkable is that it provides more than just medical or therapeutic services — it offers a sense of community. Members aren’t defined by their illnesses; they are individuals with talents and aspirations. The Clubhouse model, proven successful in over 320 locations worldwide, creates a nurturing environment that helps reverse the alarming trends of higher suicide, hospitalization, and incarceration rates often linked to untreated mental illness.
Members aren’t defined by their illnesses; they are individuals with talents and aspirations.
For members like Nancy, who spent decades battling untreated mental illness, Club Nova has been life changing. Through medication and the community support offered at the Clubhouse, she has been able to rebuild her life. Similarly, Rob’s experience, marked by 12 years without hospitalization thanks to Club Nova’s support, showcases how effective the Clubhouse model can be in helping individuals regain stability and independence.
“Participating in the Clubhouse model promotes a sense of unity and belonging and the sense of shared achievement when members and staff work in partnership to operate the Clubhouse,” says Karen Dunn.
Club Nova Executive Director Karen Kincaid Dunn.
Mental illness often presents overwhelming barriers to productivity, independence, and social connection. Club Nova tackles these challenges head-on, removing barriers through meaningful work, and nurturing relationships, attending to over 100 people a year. It reminds us all of what is possible when mental illness is treated with dignity and care, rather than neglect or shame.
As Club Nova celebrates its new facility, it also celebrates something deeper: the importance of human connection in healing. Mental illness is not something that should isolate individuals, but a challenge that can be met with resilience when individuals are given the right tools and support. Club Nova, with its new home and decades of service, stands as a testament to this belief, showing that with community, purpose, and dignity, people can move beyond their diagnoses and live fulfilling lives.
As Karen Kincaid Dunn puts it, “Clubhouses are intentional communities that provide their members with support and help them feel that they can support other people, too. When you feel needed, you feel like you have a purpose in life, and that helps with rehabilitation.”
Club Nova provides its members community.
Quotes from Club Nova Members:
Nancy: “I was at Northwestern University when I was diagnosed with a serious mental illness… At some point my father had me placed in Long Term Care. I was placed in a back ward at Dix Hospital… For the next 22 years, I lived with chronic mental illness, going without a treatment that worked very well. Then, in 1994, two great things happened…” Read more: https://clubnova.org/stories/nancy
Rob: “I first came to Club Nova in 1997. I noticed members here seemed to have something I wanted. That was and still is today this: to live meaningful lives despite out conditions or diagnosis. The continual support of my family, friends, members and staff has helped me accomplish my goals. I have had many transitional employment jobs through Club Nova.” Read more: https://clubnova.org/stories/rob/
Learn more about Club Nova’s impact and membership here.
What makes Club Nova remarkable is that it provides more than just medical or therapeutic services — it offers a sense of community.
Former Senator Ellie Kinnaird, co-chair of the capital campaign, emphasized the benefit Club Nova brings to our community. “We save money every year helping people stay healthy, from becoming homeless, and averting hospitalization for mental health crises,” Kinnaird said. “It’s really a great value for the community, and we want to expand our service to more members.”
Helping others help themselves, caring for our neighbors as we would have them care for us — these are principles Orange County have always been committed to. And we are a healthier and happier community because of it.
Club Nova extends thanks to the Campaign Cabinet co-chairs, Eleanor Kinnaird and Rosemary Waldorf.
Club Nova will celebrate its new facility on October 30, 2024 with 150 donors.
Laurie Paolicelli is executive director for the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, a position she has held since 2005. Laurie has worked in tourism and marketing for twenty-five years, having served in leadership roles in Houston and California convention and visitor bureaus. She is a native of the Twin Ports of Duluth, MN/Superior Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Communications from the University Wisconsin-Superior and graduate certification in Technology In Marketing from the UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
This reporter can be reached at Info@TheLocalReporter.press
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