Sarah Kadish says living with mental illness made her feel especially isolated during the pandemic.

“There was anxiety, there was mistrust, there was fear of going out of the house," she said. "There was fear of opening your mouth next to another person. There were loved ones just dying. There were loved ones dying when you couldn't see them. You couldn't visit them in the hospital, and you would just get a phone call. And that was it. No funeral, no nothing.” 

But this year, she’s found socialization and community again at the Poughkeepise-based Hudson Valley Clubhouse. 

“So I was just looking for a way to combine everything that I have to offer, and find a setting where I can be accepted for who I am," Kadish said. 

The Hudson Valley address is part of the Clubhouse international program, a network of more than 350 clubhouses in 32 countries which create communities for people with mental illness. The members control the goals in a place where they can foster life and job skills like marketing, cleaning and gardening.

Rena Marsh, another member, said in just the four months it’s been open, the clubhouse has grown to a 60-member close-knit community. 

“I know I got to come in here because they're coming in here for me and I'm coming in here for them," she said of the relationship between members. "We're going to make it work and some of the relationships that are fostered today are just beautiful.”

The Poughkeepsie chapter is the first of its kind outside of New York City in upstate New York.

Chapter Executive Director Blaise Sackett said they're working as a pilot for other clubhouses to start up throughout the state and are already quickly growing. Sackett previously worked for a clubhouse in Brooklyn, and has experience with an effective model that treats its members as people, not patients. 

“To fit into this environment that's compassionate and open to them," Sackett said. "So everybody, sort of the best of everybody, starts coming out and then people help themselves, but they also help others.”

Kadish hopes to one day own a greeting card business. She’s getting some experience at the clubhouse already. She designed the logo for the clubhouse, based on the door that welcomes members inside. 

“That's really amazing," she said of her logo featured on the clubhouses' pamphlet. "I have such confidence that something that I have to offer is now part of what it takes for a clubhouse to be promoted. That's basically like a dream of mine.”