The Burnaby Mental Wealth Society shut its clubhouse doors on Dec. 31, 2011.
"Last Friday was the hardest day ever," the society's coordinator, Anne Wiebe, said in a phone interview after the closing.
However, the society is still looking for ways to continue - either by securing funding for its current location or by relo-cating, and possibly changing the program to focus more on outreach for seniors with mental health issues, according to Wiebe.
'The staff are still volunteering," she said, adding they are also continuing their fundraising. "We're going to do our darnedest to get it open again."
The landlord has been very understanding, she said, and had not kicked the society out as of Jan. 5, despite its inability to pay January's rent, she said. But the building is still up for lease.
The society held a fundraiser in midDecember, but it didn't bring in as much as they had hoped, according to Wiebe.
The society has received an offer from a local church to run its food program in the basement on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., she said.
"That's an option we're looking into," Wiebe said, adding society volunteers were meeting on Jan. 10 to make some decisions.
Wiebe had not provided an update on that meeting by NOW deadlines today.
"We do have minimal programs running now," she said last Thursday, adding that the society's Bread Share program was still operating, from COBS Bread, with custodians volunteering time to come in on Saturday mornings and distribute the bread.
It has been very hard for members, particularly in the last two weeks of December, she said.
"Some of them deliberately stayed away because they couldn't deal with it," Wiebe said. "Others - there was a lot of crying, and 'What are we going to do?'"
The closure has created a huge hole in the support system for the mentally ill clients who used the clubhouse's services, she added.
"We've been recommending different places to them," she said, "but I know about 20 to 30 per cent are just adamantly loyal to this place, and so attached to it."
The volunteers have been talking to the clients, to help them get through the challenging situation, Wiebe said.
"But they're lost," she added. "They just can't believe this is happening after 18 years."
Donations can be made via PayPal on the society's website at www.bmws. bc.ca.
It is a registered charitable organization, and tax receipts are available.
For those interested in helping the society in other ways, particularly with food donations, the society can be reached at info@ bmws.ca.
The clubhouse lost its funding from Fraser Health as of Aug. 31.
The funding for the program, as well as a Canadian Mental Health Association program in Burnaby, was redirected to a new Canadian Mental Health Association clubhouse program - called ECHO; Education, Community, Health, Options! - after a request for proposals was put forward by the health authority last spring.
Roy Thorpe-Doward, senior public affairs officer for Fraser Health, said the society is welcome to submit proposals for any future requests for proposal, as are any similar eligible programs in Burnaby.
The entire budgets for both of the previous pro-grams in Burnaby went to the association's new clubhouse, he said, so funding has not been cut.
"We're very pleased with the program," Thorpe-Doward said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Rebecca Shields, executive director for the association, said the new program has seen an increase in members compared with its previous program in Burnaby.
"It's fantastic," she said, adding it is a new direction for the association in Burnaby. "This program is an expanded rehabilitation program that really supports all aspects of someone's recovery back into the community."
The program includes life skills, and recreation and leisure as before, but also focuses on education and employment support, she said.
The association has an employment counsellor on site who can also help with self-employment, according to Shields.
The program is designed for people of all ages, she said. "There's a real effort to be as accessible as possible."
There is an emphasis on programming for young adults as well, according to Shields, to help them cope with mental health challenges early on.
"Our programs are absolutely open to everyone," Shields said, adding people can come to the program once they're referred by a doctor, a mental health professional or another agency.
The association also works with other agencies, such as the Salvation Army in the Metrotown area, she added.
"People don't always have to come to us," she said. "We also organize a lot of events in the community so people can meet us there."
The program is held at two locations in Burnaby - in South Burnaby at the Edmonds Community Centre and in North Burnaby near Gilmore SkyTrain station, at 5014190 Lougheed Hwy.
For more information, go to http: //tinyurl.com/ BurnabyClubhouse.
