The Coalition for Community Living
Supporting, Promoting, and Certifying Fairweather Lodges Nationwide
Our Mission:
The Coalition for Community Living’s mission is to disseminate technology, which fosters social values and quality of life for people who are taking responsibility for their psychiatric recovery.
The Fairweather Lodge Model
...helps people reintegrate themselves into the community. Its goal is to provide emotional support, a place to live, and employment for its members. The program was developed by Dr. George Fairweather in California in 1963 as a result of extensive experimental research. In his studies, Dr. Fairweather found that people with serious mental illness are less likely to return to the hospital when they live and work together as a group, rather than live and work individually. His research also showed that the Lodge Program helps people stay in the community longer, provides more employment opportunities, and costs less than conventional treatment programs. Because of the success of the original groups, the Community Lodge Program has expanded considerably during the past 25 years, and there are now Lodges across the nation.
The Coalition for Community Living (CCL) believes and promotes the following as part of life-long recovery:
- The power and value of participant teams. People working together.
- The ultimate responsibility for problem-solving rests with members; professional input must be limited to consultation; never direction.
- The usefulness and appropriateness of affirmative industries (i.e., member-run business) as a strategy for achieving vocational and financial independence goals.
- Increasing the social status of individuals diagnosed with mental illness as productive participants in their communities.
- True empowerment flows only from responsibility. An individual’s role as a productive citizen has more significance for life-long recovery than their role as a patient or client of mental health services.
- Community modification is an effective strategy with respect to creating housing solutions.
- The power and value of integrated services aligned with the person’s wishes, desires, and dreams. All support agencies and treatment providers must understand that treatment and rehabilitation goals must be defined by the person.