At first glance, there’s nothing about the house that sits at 7 N. Congress St. that sets it apart from the other properties on the street, most of which are student rentals.
Step inside, though, and the house is The Gathering Place, where a small staff is trying to make a welcoming home for Athens residents with mental illnesses.
The facility accepts walk-ins and memberships, and though visitors aren’t allowed to sleep there, they can come by 365 days a year — even on holidays — and get the peer support they need to keep them grounded during recovery.
The house is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
“It’s a place for people that have experienced mental illness to come and socialize and find a support network to help them cope with everyday life,” said Mary Kneier, executive director of The Gathering Place. “People don’t make appointments; they just come and go as they please.”
The demand for mental health support in the area started to increase in the 1960s when public psychiatric hospitals, such as the one at The Ridges, lost state funding, Kneier said.
“Because Athens had a state hospital, we had a lot of people with mental illness that had been institutionalized in our community suddenly,” she said. “Because they had been there for decades and they pulled from a wide range of counties in Ohio, they didn’t often have a family connection anymore. They were kind of just alone and in this community that they weren’t familiar with because they were brought here.”
Athens residents and previous patients formed a group and began meeting in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church, 2 S. Court St., before forming The Gathering Place, which moved to its current location in 1976.
“I like coming down here because the people are nice. I have a lot of friends that I can talk to, which is important for me,” said Mike Juedes, who has been sober and a Gathering Place member for five years. “If I can help somebody else that’s great. If I can tell them my story … maybe they’ll listen to me.”
The Gathering Place focuses on member interaction — one of the many reasons Juedes goes there almost every day.
“I get lonely, so that’s why I come down here, so I can talk to people,” Juedes said as he sat on a couch on the house’s second floor.
Juedes originally came to The Gathering Place based on the suggestion of his caseworker, who said that the sense of community there would help him out.
“I gave up the alcohol for my family, but mostly for myself,” said Juedes, who moved to Athens from Wisconsin after maintaining an alcoholic lifestyle for 30 years. He got in legal trouble multiple times for drinking and driving in Wisconsin, and Juedes’ brother, David, who is a professor at Ohio University, told him that he would get care if he moved to Ohio.
Now, after 10 years in the area, Juedes is putting his life back on track and planning to get an apartment in Athens. After previously attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Juedes is considering revisiting them to offer advice to current attendees.
He also uses word searches to relax and lift his spirits when he gets depressed.
“If you’re really struggling, talk to someone professional,” he said.
The facility has three full-time staff workers, but also relies on volunteers, some of whom are completing court-ordered community service hours or are OU students studying social work.
“Working here has taught me a great sense of community. The members care about what’s going on in my life, and I care about theirs,” said Autumn Setzler, a senior studying social work and Latin American studies who volunteers several times a week at The Gathering Place.
About 55 people visit The Gathering Place per week, said Ginger Schmalenberg, its resource and development director.
“The students learn from the members that there’s no face to mental illness. Everyone thinks a mentally ill person looks and acts a certain way, but when the volunteers come in here they don’t know who’s who,” said Brittany Silverman, The Gathering Place’s program manager.
The Gathering Place offers memberships to people who meet certain criteria, including that he or she is 18 years or older, diagnosed with a mental illness, and is willing to attend The Gathering Place for at least a month and pay its annual $5 fee.
Members are offered three meals a week.
The Gathering Place is holding a “Community Illumination” benefit April 18 from 6-9 p.m at Central Venue, 29 E. Carpenter St. The event will include members’ poetry, art and puppet shows.
The Gathering Place has to raise $40,000 to $50,000 annually to cover its expenses, with help from local charitable organization United Appeal, community groups and individual donors, and the 317 Board — which provides alcohol and drug addiction and mental health services.
Silverman said the four biggest mental illnesses The Gathering Place’s workers see are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.
Approximately 9.6 million adults in the United States, aged 18 or older, have been diagnosed with a “serious mental illness,” in 2012, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
“We need to change society,” Schmalenberg said. “Everyone needs to be accepted for what they are. People that do suffer from mental illness, they’re not the dregs of society.”
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