Fountain House Celebrates Its Scholars!

On October 20, 2006, Fountain House awarded 30 scholarships to members who are pursuing post-secondary education. Members, staff, Board members and supporters attended a special ceremony to recognize their achievements and to dedicate the new Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Education Center.

The Fountain House Scholarship Fund has grown considerably since we presented the first five scholarships five years ago. Generous support from The Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation, the Moosnick and Abramson families, Board Member Alex Herzan, and others enables Fountain House to help members follow their educational dreams.

Alan Doyle, Director of Education says, “Many of our members can advance, take on greater responsibility, and earn bigger paychecks if they have the right educational foundation and training. The first lesson we want them to learn – and something which we’re learning ourselves, as well – is that mental illness does not represent the impediment to higher education that we once thought it did. It does pose its own set of unique challenges, but many of them can be overcome or diminished, especially when they receive the right kind of support.”

Many members are forced to put educational goals on hold while recovering from the onset of their mental illness. Today, with the help of the Supported Education Program, greater numbers of members are returning to school. Fountain House scholarships support tuition fees and expenses not covered by student loans, including books and transportation to classes.

“By and large, schools have been very welcoming of our students,” says Elliott Madison, education staff worker. “It’s no longer unusual to have people with mental illness among their student bodies, and many schools find that their relationships with Fountain House help them to be more welcoming and responsive to such students no matter where they come from. This includes students who enter college directly from high school, without ever being part of a program like Fountain House, something that is happening much more often thanks to improved medications and changing expectations.”

This year’s scholarship recipients are pursuing varied interests including voice and dance, anthropology, fashion merchandising, history, and karate, and Masters degrees in social work, computer art and accounting.