Bridge House Board of Directors

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Bridge House: Board Member Roles and Responsibilities

About Bridge House

A Clubhouse is a community-based program specifically designed to help individuals overcome the disruptive effects of mental illness and rebuild the hope and opportunities needed for recovery. One in four people will experience mental illness in their lifetime and one in 25 will be challenged with serious mental illness like schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, and major depression. Founded in 1986, Bridge House provides a refuge from social isolation for approximately 225 active members. Bridge House’s education, employment and housing assistance programs provide important avenues for reintegration with the community.

Successful Clubhouses adhere to the International Standards for Clubhouse Programs(tm) (Standards) which define the Clubhouse Model of psychosocial rehabilitation. Bridge House is the only Accredited Clubhouse in Southern Connecticut. There are more than 300 Clubhouses in the world, more than 200 of which are in the US. At U.S. Clubhouses like Bridge House, virtually all members are low-income, or "no income" when they arrive.

Expectations of the Board as a Whole

• Determining and supporting the mission and purposes of the organization.
• Fundraising and resource development.
• Recruitment of Board nominees who can make significant contributions to the success of Bridge House.
• Strategic and organizational planning.
• Enhancing Bridge House’s public image.
• Assessing its own performance as the governing body of Bridge House.

Expectations of Each Individual Board Member

• Know the organization’s mission, policies, programs, and needs.
• Commit to an annual $2,500 "give or get" financial contribution to Bridge House.
• Faithfully read and understand the organization’s financial statements.
• Serve as active advocates and ambassadors for the organization.
• Fully engage in identifying and securing the financial resources and partnerships necessary for Bridge House to advance its mission.
• Help identify personal connections that can benefit the organization.
• Prepare for, attend, and conscientiously participate in board meetings.
• Follow the organization’s bylaws, policies, and board resolutions.
• Sign an annual conflict-of-interest disclosure and update it during the year if necessary, as well as disclose potential conflicts before meetings and actual conflicts during meetings.
• Maintain confidentiality about all internal matters of Bridge House.

COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic has had an enormous impact on the lives of individuals. Arguably, few populations have been as impacted by the forced social isolation required to manage infection rates as those who live with a serious mental illness; the very activity that will keep them physically safe requires of them to embrace, full-time, the same primary indicator that often arises when a serious mental illness is not under control: physical isolation.

Few populations are also as affected by the employment ramifications of the current pandemic as people living with serious and persistent mental illness. COVID-19 requires a wholesale shift in our approach, and this project represents that.