Mary Ellen McGuire drives from Madison to Bridgeport every day to her job as executive director of Bridge House, a non-clinical environment for former mental health patients transitioning back into their communities. She doesn’t consider the lengthy commute a hardship compared to what many of her clients deal with on a daily basis. She’s also thrilled about her job.

“I’m very passionate about my work,” she says. “We just had a fundraiser in September. Suzanne Vega was our guest. We have a fantastic board of directors, we really do, very dynamic.”

Mary Ellen started working at Bridge House last September. Her assessing blue-green eyes showcase the intensity and interest of someone who has seen a lot people enduring a lot of adversity, and her voice conveys a straightforward and soothing tone.

At work, she considers herself another team member, rather than an inaccessible higher-up the term “executive director” can sometimes suggest.

“I’m one of the team,” she states simply.

“Bridge House was founded 30 years ago; we’re actually celebrating our 30th anniversary this coming year,” she says. “The Clubhouse International Model [of Psychosocial Rehabilitation] was founded back in the 1940s when some individuals, who were diagnosed with persistent mental illness and had been hospitalized, met after their hospitalization with their families to discuss, ‘What now?’ So Fountain House in Manhattan was founded back then. Fountain House is the ‘mothership,’ so to speak.

“So that group mushroomed and then slowly but surely other clubhouses formed across the United States. There are now 150 in the United States and roughly that number outside of the United States as far as Australia.”

Bridge House has served more than 2,000 members since it was founded in 1986, Mary Ellen says. The staff of about 16 is currently working with around 300 members.

As for Bridge House and its design, Mary Ellen says, “The Clubhouse Model has 36 standards and we follow those standards. We have a work-ordered day. The clubhouse is run by the staff and the members. They’re not called patients, they’re not called clients, they’re called members.

“People who have been diagnosed with persistent chronic mental illness join at their will—this is all volunteer—and work with us on their path to wellness. We have different units in the clubhouse that they work in—culinary, membership, education, business—to develop or refresh skills. I don’t have an office, so to speak, I have an area, which is an office, but the doors are open. The entire clubhouse is theirs. We have members who serve on our board of directors.”

Mary Ellen is attending training this month in Worcester, Massachusetts at Genesis Club, another clubhouse.

“They do training with people all over the world to learn the Clubhouse Model,” she explains. “It has been demonstrated to be very effective because after the hospitalization, after the medication, after the meeting with their counselors, et cetera, where do they go, what do they do? We work with them on getting jobs, getting housing, we do advocacy with them.

“As a 501c3 [tax-exempt nonprofit organization], we can’t lobby, but our people can be educated to advocate for themselves. It’s a very interesting model. Mental health is such a hot-button topic today in our communities. There’s a lot that we need to do to educate people on what it really is and break the stigma, because it is a disease like any other. People are all across the spectrum.”

Bridge House is one of two accredited clubhouses in Connecticut, according to Mary Ellen.

“The other clubhouses are great,” she points out, “but they don’t follow the standards that we follow. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just that it’s very unique what we do and our people work side-by-side with us. It’s really instructive. You also become very attached. You also build relationships.”

Mary Ellen is one of the founders of Life Haven in New Haven, a homeless shelter for women and children.

“That’s my background,” she says. “I’ve also been involved in numerous non-profits.”

Mental illness, Mary Ellen says, has been in the news lately for “all the wrong reasons. We need to balance that with what it really is, what people are really doing out there to work with the mentally ill, and talk about breaking the stigma so that people will seek treatment and not be worried about repercussions and being judged. The people who I find are the most compassionate are the people who have been through it and understand that, ‘Hey, I’m still me. I’m not my disease and I didn’t ask for this.’”

Mary Ellen moved to Madison in May 1996. She has two daughters, Moira, a teacher in New Haven, and Grace, who works at Guilford Savings Bank and Grand Apizza and plans to enter law enforcement; a son, Jack, who is a landscaper and volunteer firefighter; and two grandsons by Moira.

Of her children, Mary Ellen says, “They all give back. I’m very happy to say they’re very thoughtful of other people and they give back to their communities.”

To learn more about Bridge House, visit www.bridgehousect.org or contact Mary Ellen at mmcguire@bridgehousect.org.

To nominate someone for Person of the Week, email Melissa at m.babcock@zip06.com.