Professional Actors Train Clubhouse Members in Order to Fight Stigma

Professional Actors Train Clubhouse Members in Order to Fight Stigma

Based on fear, misunderstanding or a lack of information about mental illness, stigma may cause people to delay treatment or to experience discrimination in employment, housing and other areas of their lives.

Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc. and Village Playback Theatre have been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant to support a series of interactive performances designed to decrease the stigma related to mental illness and educate the public in Queens, New York. The prestigious award is part of the NEA’s second major grant announcement for the 2015 fiscal year.

Under the guidance of Village Playback Theatre, selected members of Citiview Connections Clubhouse, a center for adults with psychiatric disabilities operated by Goodwill NY-NJ, will train and perform with the professional actors throughout this project. Performances will be provided to adults with mental illness in shelters, residences, and treatment programs culminating in shows for the general public in May, Mental Health Awareness month 2016.

Note: To learn more, you can contact Russell G. Roten, Director of Citiview Connection Clubhouse at (718) 361-7030 or via email: rroten@goodwillny.org