Whether writing poems, attending lessons on drawing, or learning to bead, Friday nights at the Wellness Shack, Inc., a grassroots recovery center for mental illnesses on Barstow Street, provides a place where people can just come, sit, and relax.

“Art is a way of expressing oneself,” says office coordinator Nora Bates. For a group who may feel shy or misunderstood, the draw to the Wellness Shack is its openness. “We promote safety,” Bates says. “When this is a safe environment, people can come and be and don’t have to explain themselves.” They view a recovery-oriented atmosphere as non-judgmental and confidential, where people are free to take risks. “Sometimes we have arguments,” says Bates, “but we talk it out.”

The Wellness Shack provides services for adults with mental health issues. These illnesses aren’t choosy, though. “We serve people who are homeless to retired ministers to gainfully employed. There’s quite a variety,” Bates says.

Begun in 2004, the Wellness Shack is one of five grassroots recovery centers in Wisconsin. Bates says that being consumer-run means people decide for themselves that they have mental health issues and want help. “We’re here to help others wherever they’re at,” Bates says.

The arts that the Wellness Shack offer often have a calming effect for people. “I used to not sleep at all and then I got into knitting. It’s very meditative for me,” says Bates, who struggles with a mental illness herself. “I can tell when I’m not doing well. I can’t even make a straight row.

Bates, referred to by some as the George Washington of the Wellness Shack, has been there since the beginning of the organization. Her struggle with a mental illness, which she prefers to call “a new spin on creativity,” created a desire to help others recover. She graduated with a master’s degree in counseling, but before getting certified, fell sick. Instead, she went to Madison and was trained as a peer specialist. “It’s sort of an innovative thing where they’re training those with mental issues to help others with mental issues,” says Bates.

This works out at the Wellness Shack in that many of the volunteers are mental health consumers themselves. Community volunteers also play a role in fundraising, raising awareness, or just being a friend and mentor.

Besides the creative arts, the Wellness Shack offers a variety of services. There are general support groups, groups for caregivers and parents, as well as a group called “procovery,” whose philosophy Bates describes as, “I have an illness. What can I do to make the best I can make it?”

Education groups teach on topics such as advocacy, anxiety and depression for people who have or think they might have these illnesses but don’t know how to cope. Other services offered are life skills, whether that’s teaching basic computer skills, positive self-esteem, or how to make and keep friends, as well as social nights.   

“Everybody’s definition of recovery is individual,” says Bates. “My definition is that I can live beyond the label and I can have dreams just like everyone else and still be successful despite my illness.”

The Wellness Shack, 515 S. Barstow St., Suite 117. Open 1-8pm Mondays-Wednesdays and Fridays, and 5-8pm Thursdays. 855-7705. www.wellnessshack.org.