Larry Tubbs (l) consulting with job coach Ronnie Morris

Larry Tubbs was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 16 years old. He says, “Back in those days, I was isolated and met only people who didn’t have mental illness. I was pretty sick, and they just didn’t want to be friends with me.” His isolation increased as his symptoms became more severe. After he joined the Gathering Place as a founding member, Larry made new friends and also learned skills that helped him find and keep a good job.

Executive Director Herbert Bateman explains, “The Gathering Place is a psychosocial rehabilitation clubhouse that gives adults with mental illness the opportunity to socialize and to work on vocational and social skills. It was established in 1986 by a group of family members who wanted an alternative program for their loved ones. It’s the only program like this in Harris County, and it’s free to come here.

“At least one-third of the homeless population has serious mental illness and, unfortunately, more people with mental illness are housed in the Harris County jail than in state hospitals,” he continues. “They frequently are picked up for minor disorderly
conduct, which was really just symptomatic of mental illness, and they’re taken to jail because enough funds are not available to provide mental health services for everyone who needs them. Hospital emergency rooms also serve a lot of people with serious mental illness. The Gathering Place is a less expensive way to provide the kind of support these people need to live successfully in the community, as opposed to more unsuccessful, expensive, tax-funded alternatives.”

Mr. Bateman adds, “There have been revolutionary changes in psychiatry within the past 10 years in the form of new medications that help people with serious mental illness function much more independently. However, medication won’t teach them independent living skills. We must work in partnership with the new generation of medications.”

Each day approximately 45 people come to the Gathering Place, where they develop social skills and relationships through organized activities such as gardening and attending movies, or simply by visiting with their friends. They also can attend a variety of classes.

“Education is crucial when one has a mental illness,” says Mr. Bateman. “We teach people how to recognize symptoms and early warning signs and how to manage them. We have anger management classes, daily living skills classes and a job placement service that provides the support that’s needed to keep a job.”

When Mr. Tubbs asked about a part-time job, Ronnie Morris, a job coach at the Gathering Place, helped him. Mr. Morris says, “I had gotten together with the human resources staff at Randall’s and made a deal where we could call and they’d look up which store we were interested in and let us know right away if they needed help.

“Larry was a little nervous, so we practiced in mock interviews. I asked him the toughest questions I could. We were referred to a store, and I sat in on the initial meeting. It was neat because Larry really took charge of it. We talked with the assistant store manager, who had been on the job only two days, so he was a little leery at first. But Larry attended the orientation and was hired. Ever since, he’s done extremely well.”

Before Mr. Tubbs began his job, he played his guitar and lead a sing-along at the Gathering Place every Wednesday and served on the board of directors of the west Houston affiliate of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill. He continues to make presentations throughout the community about successfully managing mental illness. Mr. Tubbs says with pride, “The Gathering Place prepared me to be an active person, an achiever and a good worker who has friends and who can put bread and butter on the table.”

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