Founded in 1984, Laurel House has its roots in the “clubhouse” model, a comprehensive self-help approach developed in the era of deinstitutionalization, when thousands of people with serious mental illness found themselves thrust into community settings without adequate income, housing, jobs, education, living skills, and supportive networks. For the last twenty-seven years, Laurel House has offered formerly institutionalized individuals the opportunity to belong to a supportive community that addresses these needs, while affording them with opportunities for an improved quality of life and greater self-sufficiency.

More recently, Laurel House has embraced a “recovery” model of care, which holds that people with mental illness can and do adjust to their disabilities by an ongoing process of acceptance and adaptation, the development of a positive self-image, and the reformulation of their life aspirations. Anticipating and responding to changing client needs, the Laurel House team increasingly emphasizes services that help people reintegrate in their communities with improved skills, health, and confidence.