Dr. Mandy Cohen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, toured a nonprofit mental health treatment provider in Hell's Kitchen Tuesday with Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the commissioner of the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.


What You Need To Know

  • The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Mandy Cohen, toured a mental health nonprofit Tuesday in Hell's Kitchen
  • The nonprofit, called Fountain House, has been serving New Yorkers for around 75 years
  • Cohen was joined by the commissioner of the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, and both of them got to see the services offered by Fountain House
  • Fountain House believes community is therapy, offering food, short-term housing, jobs and care

They toured Fountain House, a nonprofit organization founded 75 years ago to provide a safe and welcoming space for those struggling with mental health issues.

The belief at Fountain House is that community is therapy.

"This is a great model for folks who are really looking for community and looking for belonging. And we know that folks need that to thrive, so I think all of these are ways in which we can reduce suicide, reduce overdose and make sure we’re improving mental health overall,” Cohen said.

Fountain House offers food, short-term housing, connections to long-term housing, jobs and psychiatric and medical care.

They follow what is called a clubhouse model, where members can come and go each day as they please.

The Hell's Kitchen facility aims to help people manage their mental illnesses and destigmatize the population.

"We can choose to feed that narrative that serious mental illness is associated with violence and safety, and then people will naturally feel unsafe around people with serious mental illness," Vasan said.

"What this place is proving, and what our investments are proving, is that there’s a different way. There’s a different path, where you can see people’s full humanity. You can see them — what they look like when they’re not in crisis on the street. But what it’s going to take is many more programs like this," Vasan added.

Officials hope to expand this program and others like it across the five boroughs and beyond.

Fountain House said it has about 2,000 members in its Manhattan and Bronx facilities.

Vasan said that other city organizations replicate Fountain House’s clubhouse model, and between all of them, about 5,000 people are served.

He added that he wants to expand the number of clubhouses in the city to serve as many as 15,000 people.