Cambridge Who’s Who lifetime member, Lisa Tai, is the controller for Fountain House
(www.fountainhouse.org), a professional self-help program designed to help people recover from mental illness. Members of the program work and interact with each other to regain productivity, self-confidence and the ability to resume their lives and re-enter society.
Founded in 1948, Fountain House has provided opportunities to more than 16,000 men and women, enabling them to live, work, learn and contribute to the community. The goal of Fountain House is to create a high quality of life for all members and ultimately, to eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness.
Members of Fountain House are assigned to clubhouse “units.” The clerical unit publishes the daily and weekly newsletter, handles mailings and houses the accounting department, copy center and other administrative offices. The first floor unit is in charge of security, greeting members and general reception duties. Maintaining the look and design of Fountain House is the responsibility of the horticultural unit. Other units include the dining room, snack bar and interpreters’ corner.
Also offered at Fountain House is the Supported Education Program, which provides in-house classes to help members earn their GED and build their reading, writing, math and computer skills. The Literacy Circle focuses strictly on reading and writing by enhancing members’ current skills and teaching them how to transfer their thoughts into written words. In addition to its varied educational and pre-professional programs, Fountain House also provides scholarship and financial counseling.
To further aid the members of Fountain House, several levels of employment are available: transitional employment that places members with companies such as American Express Publishing, Mc-Graw Hill and the American Stock Exchange; supported employment that includes mock interviews and resume writing; and independent employment where members actively seek employment on their own but can contact Fountain House for assistance.
You can support this worthy cause by sending donations to Fountain House Development Office, 425 W. 47th Street, New York, NY, 10036-2304. Please make all checks payable to Fountain House. You can also contribute while you shop online at www.igive.com. The website features products from more than 500 brand-name companies such as Land’s End, Orbitz, Target and Barnes and Noble and up to 26% of purchases will benefit Fountain House.
Lisa Tai has been a member of Cambridge Who’s Who since January 2008. As the controller of Fountain House, she holds experience in office management and overseeing external audits. Her responsibilities include supervising Fountain House’s accounting team, creating financial control systems and reporting to the president on all financial issues. Ms. Tai holds a master of business administration in management information systems and internal management from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University (1999) and a bachelor of science in accounting, finance and management from New York University (1983). She is a member of the Asian Women in Business and Committee of 100.
