The Clubhouse of Lehigh County assists members to reach their vocational and educational goals by helping them take advantage of educational opportunities in the community. Our Supported Education Program plays a crucial role in empowering our members to pursue their educational aspirations, enhance their self-esteem, and ultimately improve their overall quality of life. This program aims to break down barriers and provide a supportive environment where individuals can thrive academically while managing their mental health challenges. Our program is designed to provide academic support, resources, and guidance to help members pursue their educational goals.  Here are the key components and features of such a program:

Academic Support: Members may receive one-on-one tutoring, study skills training, and assistance with coursework. This support helps individuals overcome academic barriers and improve their performance in educational settings. We significantly utilizes the teaching and tutoring skills of members.

Counseling and Mental Health Services: Integrated mental health services are a crucial aspect of a supported education program. Individuals have access to counseling, therapy, and psychiatric support to address their mental health concerns and develop coping strategies for academic stressors. The Clubhouse provides monthly visits to local institutions of higher learning to help members familiarize themselves with resources available to them on campus such as the Career Development Center, Disability & Educational Support Services, Counseling Center, Student IT Services, Veterans Services, and Community Resources available at the campus.

Peer Support: Peer mentors or support groups play a vital role in providing encouragement and sharing experiences. These peer connections help individuals feel less isolated and more connected to a supportive community.

Accommodations and Accessibility: The program ensures that members receive necessary accommodations, such as extended exam time, note-taking assistance, or accessible learning materials, to address their mental health-related challenges.

Career and Academic Advising: Members receive guidance on choosing appropriate courses, majors, and educational pathways that align with their interests and career goals. This includes assistance with course selection, academic planning, and career exploration.

Advocacy: The Clubhouse may advocate on behalf of participants with educational institutions to ensure that their rights are upheld and that they receive reasonable accommodations as mandated by law (e.g., under the Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act).

Time Management and Organization: Membersare taught effective time management and organizational skills to help them juggle academic responsibilities and self-care effectively.

Transition Support: The program may provide support during critical transitions, such as moving from high school to college or transitioning back into an educational setting after a period of absence.

Weekly Check-Ins: The Clubhouse will provide weekly reach out calls to check in with members who are in school to ensure they are succeeding.

Additionally, the Clubhouse has the following resources available to members through our IT network:

Typing.com: Typing.com is a self learning computer software program available in the clubhouse. This program is designed to improve your typing and overall computer skills. It demonstrates the correct placement of hands and fingers to develop an easy and fast way to type. The program includes a variety of speed tests and monitors the users word-per-minute typing speed. The program offers many typing games, including two-player network games for some extra competition. Upon completion, a certificate of achievement can be completed and printed out by the user.

Khan Academy: The Khan Academy, is a computer based self learning program available in the clubhouse. With this program you can learn a huge variety of subjects including mathematics, history, language arts, etc. This program builds specific tutoring learning programs based on your current abilities and knowledge. Each lesson takes you step-by-step to learn and understand the information, and tests your newly learned skills after each lesson before continuing onto the next lesson or program. This program allows you to work at your own pace and level, but in an easy and fun way. This program helps each individual understand the material to further your knowledge and education!

Tutoring: Members can sign up for or sign up to be a tutor in our learning lab. Tutoring is offered at various times and days to accommodate members who would benefit from help with different subjects. We utilize our member’s strengths and abilities to create tutoring programs as a way for members to share their knowledge. Some of the best ways to learn is through your very own peers and friends!

American Sign Language Tutor: The Clubhouse maintains a membership with stackskills.com to provide free sign language courses for anyone interested in learning sign language.

Rosetta Stone: The Clubhouse maintains one site license on Computer #9 in the learning lab for Rosetta Stone. This program helps you tap into your brain’s innate ability to learn language, and gets you comfortable with communication in real life. Members have the opportunity to learn 25 different languages.