How a Mother’s Love Created a Mental Health Haven
Juliana Fuerbringer, founder of California Clubhouse, recently shared how the Clubhouse began––as a way to help her son, Brian, and others like him. Brian dropped out of Stanford in 2009 due to a serious mental illness. Juliana was beside herself, caught up in the panic and chaos of watching her son’s life unravel. She heard about “the clubhouse,” a transformative model for mental health recovery, and knew that she needed this for her son and others struggling with serious mental illness. Nothing like the clubhouse model existed anywhere on the peninsula, which meant starting a nonprofit without any experience. Juliana held her first community meeting in 2013 and the Clubhouse opened in San Mateo in April 2015.
Relentless in her passion, Juliana inspired others to get involved, raised money and made the dream of a place where recovery could happen for those struggling with the isolation and stigma of serious mental illness. Although Brian died in 2019, his memory lives on in the life of the Clubhouse, which celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year.
