If it weren’t for the Cowlitz River Clubhouse, Pam Holliday might not get out of bed every day.

“I have really bad depression, and I’ll tend to stay in bed late, and I don’t get out of the house,” the 52-year-old Longview woman said. “Having this place gets me up and going.”

The Cowlitz River Clubhouse on Cypress Street in Longview is a drop-in center for people with chronic or severe mental illness. The clubhouse, open Tuesdays through Saturdays, offers classes on social skills, budgeting and wellness along with crafts, games, cooking classes and monthly outings. Members take turns planning and preparing communal lunches.

“So many of our folks don’t have good social connections or family support,” Kathleen Wilson, clubhouse coordinator and peer counselor, said Wednesday. “This provides keys to helping up with their mental health. They need to come here to connect with folks.”

Everyone who comes to the clubhouse has been referred by a counselor or doctor who has diagnosed mental illness, Wilson said.

“We screen the paperwork and make sure they’re appropriate to be here,” she said. “People have to be functional enough to come and go independently. They have to be able to get themselves here and home.” Transportation is provided for outings and for some evening activities, she said.

Cowlitz River Clubhouse, which started in 1991, moved to its present location in November 2006. The former bank building provides a light, airy and open atmosphere with comfortable couches and chairs, tables for games and jigsaw puzzles, cable TV and decorative plants in the main area. There is plenty of space in the lunchroom for meals, group meetings and crafts.

“We need it to be a cheery, comfortable place to come,” Wilson said. “For many, their little apartments are dark and dreary.”

About 25 people drop in each day, she said.

Part of each day is spent in “work order” time.

“They have to be doing something, even if it’s playing games,” Wilson said. “We have free Internet, so they can hook up with e-mail. We have people doing work-related things like stuffing envelopes, preparing lunch, tidying up — anything that keeps their minds focused and away from other, internal stimulus.

“It’s exhausting to be mentally ill, but it’s even more exhausting to be well,” said Wilson, who “came up through the mental health ranks” and is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “Every day, it takes work to pay attention to all the little details. Am I taking my medications, am I getting enough sleep, am I eating right? And even if you’re doing everything right, it can still go wrong.”

Laura Keesee has been coming to the clubhouse for about two years. She said her first impression was how clean and neat it is and how nicely people treated her.

“I felt not threatened here,” she said. “I made a lot of friends quickly.”

Keesee, 58, of Lexington, said she especially enjoys the support groups that meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“We can say, ‘This is bothering me’ or ‘I’d like to talk about this or that.’ When I started coming here, I came out of my shell,” said Keesee, who is diagnosed with delayed stress syndrome. “I really needed to be here.”

Jane Purvis, who has been a member almost from the beginning, walks two miles nearly every day with her service dog from her Longview home to the clubhouse. She first meets with friends at Burger King in the morning before the club opens.

Purvis, 54, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, said she enjoys bingo and arts and crafts, but also appreciates the wellness support group.

“Our group is led by a woman named Julie,” she said. “She’s very open, and she focuses on not just health and medicine, but spirituality, as well, and that’s important to me.”

James Markey of Longview is also a longtime clubhouse member. He likes to play cribbage and is among several members who compete in Scrabble tournaments. Some days he rides his bike to math tutoring at the Longview Public Library.

“Anything to get the brain functioning, just exercising the brain,” the 48-year-old said, pointing to his temple.

Markey, diagnosed with schizophrenia, was also on one of the six three-person bowling teams that just finished up their league play.

“Of the guys, I’m probably the worst, honestly,” he said, laughing. “But it feeds my competitive side.”

Markey takes part in most outings away from the clubhouse. Their recent trip to the state Capitol in Olympia impressed him.

“I’ve never been to the Capitol, and I was really impressed,” he said, “just going there and seeing everything, I was so jazzed.”

Other field trips have included Mount St. Helens, the Ridgefield Wildlife Center, Christmas shopping in Portland, the beach and even to Cabela’s, the giant sporting goods store in Lacey, Wash.

“Members usually don’t have transportation (of their own) so they can’t get out of town,” Wilson said. “It’s very important to get out of this community and see what’s going on outside.”

For Holliday, the acceptance and support she feels among her fellow club members is one of the top reasons she comes to Cowlitz River Clubhouse.

“Other friends don’t understand how depression and other stuff is. These people do,” Holliday said. They’re not going to say, ‘Oh, just get over it.’ People (outside) don’t understand when you say, ‘I’m depressed.’ To them, depression is something that comes and goes. For me, it just kind of looms.”

Wilson said she sees Cowlitz River Clubhouse as not just a place for fun activities and socialization, but a safe haven as well.

“There’s a lot of healing here,” she said. “This keeps them out of the hospital, out of jail, off the streets. It helps keep them stable and functioning. They don’t have to be worried about a certain demeanor. It doesn’t matter what you look like, or what your diagnosis, you’ll find a friend.”