New Community-Centered Housing approach integrates evidence-based approach to reduce isolation and support recovery
CSH Media Contact: Jesse Dean | [email protected] | 347-931-0132
Fountain House Media Contact: Witney James | 646-455-7363 | [email protected]
New York, NY | January 21, 2026 – As communities struggle to address rising homelessness and the needs of people living with serious mental illness, Fountain House and Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) today announced a collaborative partnership to advance Community-Centered Housing (CCH). CCH offers an innovative approach that integrates evidence-based social practice with supportive housing to help people living with serious mental illness achieve lasting recovery and stability.
To launch the partnership, the organizations jointly released a policy brief outlining how CCH integrates the Fountain House clubhouse model and its evidence-based therapeutic intervention, called social practice, into supportive housing. Pioneered by Fountain House, social practice has demonstrated strong outcomes in reducing loneliness, fostering belonging, and reducing psychiatric hospitalizations, as well as public and social costs. Economic modeling suggests clubhouses have an annual cost savings impact of $11,374 per person when accounting for a wide range of health, social, and productivity costs.
“For more than 75 years, Fountain House has helped lead the clubhouse movement to advance long-term recovery for people with serious mental illness,” said Ken Zimmerman, Fountain House CEO. “This partnership embodies our commitment to innovations that allow us to extend supports beyond the walls of the clubhouse to ensure people living with serious mental illness are stably housed and socially connected.”
“We are excited to partner with Fountain House to demonstrate how integrating their social practice model with supportive housing will result in better outcomes for people living with serious mental illness,” said Deborah De Santis, President and Chief Executive Officer of CSH. “Fountain House has shown that intentional community offers a clear path to recovery, and CSH has long demonstrated that supportive housing is a powerful, cost-effective solution for people facing both homelessness and serious mental illness.”
The partnership addresses a critical gap in current approaches: while supportive housing provides stability, many residents still experience feelings of isolation. Research shows that social isolation among people with serious mental illness significantly increases health risks and premature death. By embedding Fountain House’s proven approach to building belonging through social practice into supportive housing through CCH, the partnership seeks to pilot and evaluate it as a more comprehensive solution that addresses both housing stability and social connections essential for recovery.
In 1948, Fountain House pioneered the clubhouse model which incorporates a nonclinical treatment approach called social practice. Social practice is based on the core insight that intentional creation of community is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention. Clubhouses are social practice in action, providing access to supports such as care management, benefit application assistance, transitional employment and housing opportunities, wellness activities and daily meals.
The partnership will include pilot demonstrations across multiple sites, continued research on Fountain House’s Community Apartment Program serving 100 residents in New York City, and the development of a 235-unit supportive housing building in the Bronx that will integrate a 15,000-square-foot clubhouse. The organizations are seeking additional partners, funders and pilot sites to expand the CCH approach.
“By embracing this approach, we can drive meaningful transformation in the housing sector and advance evidence-driven solutions that build safer, stronger, and thriving communities,” added De Santis.
###
