The Official Website of The McClendon Center

About Us

Our mission is to prepare people recovering from mental illness to improve their quality of life.

The McClendon Center serves the needs of adults diagnosed with serious and persistent mental illness by fostering creativity, friendship, stability, independence, emotional growth, and greater participation in the community. The Center was founded by the Reverend Doctor Jack E. McClendon and began operating in 1980 as a mission of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. In 2004 the McClendon Center became a separate 501(c)(3) organization. It is governed by a Board of Directors composed of community members, church members, and mental health consumers.  The McClendon Center's CFC number is 67679.

Since its opening, the Center has operated a Day Program, funded by the Department of Mental Health and grants from various foundations. The Day Program operates from the fifth floor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church at 1313 New York Avenue NW. In 2007 the Center opened its Core Services Agency at a separate location, 1338 North Capitol NW. The Day Program and the Core Services Agency are both certified by the DC Department of Mental Health, and the Day Program is additionally authorized by the DC Department of Health Care Finance as a Medicaid Day Treatment Program. The McClendon Center has been accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations since 1999.

Center staff strive to forge mutual partnerships with consumers. A mutually agreed-upon service plan is developed with each consumer, with goals generally geared toward:

• Being as independent as possible
• Decreasing the number and length of hospitalizations
• Increasing social interactions
• Getting employment and managing money
• Obtaining safe and affordable housing
• Recovering from mental illness

In the Day Program, these goals are largely met by therapeutic groups that focus on skills building, expressive arts, consumer empowerment, and substance abuse recovery. At the Core Services Agency, the agency employs community support staff, therapists, nurses, and psychiatrists to meet these goals. Caseloads at the Core Services Agency are small, with one staff member serving about twenty-five individuals. Most groups at the Day Program are also small, often with ten to twelve members, though some such as performance groups may be much larger.

There are no time limits on services being offered, but the Center’s aim is to work with consumers so that they achieve a high degree of mental health recovery and independence.