A new Fountain House facility in the borough

It’s been almost 60 years since President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act into law. The landmark legislation freed thousands of people from the cold custody of mental institutions with the understanding that there would be an accompanying shift from in-patient to community-based care funded by new federal resources and support.

Unfortunately Kennedy’s ambition and optimism for change, while inspiring, was never fully realized. Of the 14 million Americans living with serious mental illness today, about a third go without treatment. In New York City alone, that means roughly 100,000 people with some of the most acute and debilitating mental health conditions are left without any type of meaningful care.

The fact is we’ve simply traded one grim tableau for another: Instead of a life locked behind institutional doors, people with mental illness have been exiled and isolated, left to wander the streets, homeless, only to find themselves swept into the criminal legal system, or worse, for symptoms of their brain condition.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

In New York, clubhouses like Fountain House Bronx are a prime example of what holistic, dignified care can and should look like. These voluntary, member-led communities offer people with serious mental illness — people who have, for far too long, been forced to live on the margins — a place where they are welcomed, supported, and set up for success. Clubhouse members not only receive free access to resources, like job training and housing support, but more importantly, they’re finally given the agency, self-efficacy, and respect to recover and thrive.

This model has been shown to reduce mental health crises and the need for psychiatric hospitalizations, thus reducing health care costs. It also increases the likelihood that members will be employed and stably housed while avoiding needless incarceration. We need more clubhouses in the Bronx and in New York overall as a real and proven way to address our mental health crisis and change countless lives for the better.

In June, the New York State Senate allocated $9 million in capital funds to Fountain House Bronx for the construction of its new, larger building, recognizing the immense value-add of clubhouses, especially in high-need areas like the Bronx. But this work cannot be accomplished by one governing body alone. We need city, state, and federal officials — all of whom are in agreement that mental health is a dire priority — to come together and invest in strengthening our overall continuum of care, with urgency and at scale.

Clubhouses and other community mental health programs aren’t only impactful, cost-effective, and dignifying but have also proven politically popular. Recent polling shows that a majority of voters, regardless of party affiliation, are in favor of increasing funding for mental illness interventions and are more likely to vote for candidates who support these programs, even if it increases their own taxes. We must take advantage of this moment while there is public will and political alignment for change to carry out Kennedy’s vision for true transformative, community-based care.

For generations, the Bronx has been a place of divestment and compounding neglect. Instead of fostering opportunity and intergenerational wealth, our community has inherited trauma, blame, and harm. Bronx County has the overall highest rate of poverty in all of New York State with an estimated 26.5% of the local population living below the poverty line.

The Bronx also has the highest rate of psychiatric hospitalizations, as well as the highest proportion of people in serious psychological distress, across the five boroughs. More than 90% of the Medicaid-insured population in the Bronx live in what’s known as a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area, making it extremely difficult to find a local mental health provider, let alone one that can provide culturally competent care.

We know that people living with mental illness, their families, and their communities deserve so much more. Solutions like Fountain House Bronx, in just a few years, have already shown what can happen when people are seen as more than their illness and given the tools to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

It’s time to invest in the Bronx’s mental health infrastructure as a fiscal and moral imperative that will benefit not just Bronxites but all New Yorkers — making our communities safer and stronger in the process for generations to come. Together, we can reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and finally expand access to the proven interventions and preventative measures that will allow all of us to thrive.

Sepúlveda represents the 32nd District in the Bronx in the state Senate. Nam is a member of Fountain House Bronx living with serious mental illness.