History of Prime Time House

Prime Time House began as Cooks Vocational Services in 1988 with two grants, one for providing vocational services and one for spychosocial services to adults with mental illness in Litchfield County.  It was established early on that hte "Clubhouse Model" was teh best choice in delivering these services.  Members decided that having a Clubhouse was their "prime time" to take advantage of what was being offered, and the name has stayed with the organization since.  Many Clubhouse programs use the word House or Clubhouse in their names to identify with the model.  The name of hte organization was changed to Prime Time House, Inc. (PTH) in teh early 1990s.  The organization has resided in three different locations since its inception.  The Board of Directors purchased the property at 810 Main Street in Torrington in 1997.

 

The organization's leadership over the years is as follows:

 

 

1988-1990

1990-1991

1992-1994

Walter Aleksiewicz

Madeline Napolitano

Jim Killoran
1995-2003 Tom Whalen, MSW
2004-2009 Warren Sparrow, MSW

2009 -2011

2011-Present

David Ostrom, MSW

Lisa Lynch, MSW

 

 

 

Both Jim Killoran and Tom Whalen worked and trained at Fountain House in New York City, the first Clubhouse, before coming to Connecticut.  Warren Sparrow, David Ostrom and Lisa Lynch all have strong Clubhouse backgrounds including time served on the International Faculty for clubhouse Development.


 

E. Fuller Torrey MD, a noted psychiatrist, researcher and author, stated that Fountain House was the best kept secret in the mental health field for decades. What is now commonly known as the International Clubhouse Model was formerly known as the Fountain House Clubhouse Model. Fountain House, located on West 47th street in Manhattan, was an innovator in psychiatric rehabilitation. Some scholars believe that Fountain House was the first community based rehabilitation program in the United States. Started in 1948, Fountain House predated the Kennedy Administration’s Community Mental Health Center Act of 1963, a response to the dismal outcome of deinstitutionalization of the chronically mentally ill in the beginning of that decade. It was not until the 1970’s that it became widely replicated throughout the world. From approximately 1975 to 1985 over 500 Clubhouse programs started in over 20 countries. Today there are over 300 Clubhouse certified by the ICCD in 32 countries.

 

Over the past five years Prime Time House has expanded its wings to incorporate identified needs with increased community services.  Along with recently imposed contractual measures, Prime Time House, Inc. has grown from a single “Clubhouse Model” of psychiatric rehabilitation into to a leading community mental health provider.  Our services now encompass psychosocial rehabilitation, an evidence based supported employment program, and housing first supported housing.  Our latest collaboration has allowed us to expand the Rural Mental Health Initiative to become a Clubhouse called "Compass Center" serving the rural communities of Litchfield hills.