This building, containing 35,000 square feet of space, located at 425 West 47th Street, continues today as the Fountain House Clubhouse. Every Fountain House program and activity includes members functioning as equal partners with staff. Because of this, members not only gain a sense of purpose, but accept and commit themselves to long-term, significant responsibilities. Membership is designed to ease the feelings of isolation and lack of purpose that often accompany mental illness, and provide him or her with a broad range of opportunities for growth and development. Fountain House recognizes that each member is an individual and that the special circumstances that severe mental illness presents to members are often complex and always unique.
Members pursue recovery in their own way and in their own time.
Fountain House does not mandate in any way the type or duration of a member's participation in any program. Membership is open-ended, with each member pursuing an individualized path of recovery that recognizes that every member can progress and that failure doesn't exist. For many years, the primary treatment for serious mental illness was long-term incarceration in a mental hospital. Today, advances in medications have made it possible for substantial numbers of mentally ill adults to live and work in the community. But even 50 years ago, before the development of many psychotropic drugs, groups such as WANA recognized that with the proper support services, mentally ill adults could live and work outside of a hospital environment and join together to help one another overcome their fear and isolation, secure employment and housing, and become a part of the larger community.