905-788-3010
24 Dorothy St., Welland Ontario
About the Oak Centre
Oak Centre is a community mental health program serving people in the Niagara Region who have mental health problems. We offer comprehensive supports to members of the Clubhouse, opportunities for lasting/supportive relationships with both members and staff, opportunities for meaningful activity through the units/volunteering/contributing to the community, opportunities to return to school/work and the development of leadership skills. We actively connect to our community in every way possible including member involvement in naturally occurring community activities/events, the Transitional Employment Program, and accessing education through local schools.
We provide comprehensive supports including employment, education, housing, social/recreational, crisis intervention/prevention, and help navigate through mental health services as well as ODSP, OW, and CPP. We also organize and attend various social and educational events.
The Oak Centre Clubhouse is an intentional community designed to foster a restorative environment where people can grow, build self-confidence, and experience themselves as citizens in creating a world for themselves and others.
Oak Centre is part of an international clubhouse community whose beliefs include:
• Learning comes by doing
• That people have the desire to be productive
• That people working together can be powerful and deeply satisfying
The people who come to the clubhouse are a diverse group with similar experiences that come from receiving ongoing traditional psychiatric services. They share life experiences that include:
• Discrimination
• Long-term poverty
• Reduction of general quality of life
• Difficulties in living
• High rates of unemployment
The healing process begins with the person finding a voice, naming his/her own story and rediscovering personal and collective power. To achieve this, the Clubhouse is structured into two units: The Garden Café Unit and The Clerical Unit.
