Next On Q, we're headed to Squirrel Hill to the Howard Levin Clubhouse site.

Members say the clubhouse has given them a second chance at life.

Also tonight, the bears are back after a long absence.

Polar bears are in residence once again at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium.

You'll see their new exhibit and find out what else the zoo has planned.

It's coming up next On Q. Welcome to On Q magazine.

I'm Stacy Smith.

Tonight, we take you to a unique clubhouse here in Pittsburgh.

Well when you think of a clubhouse, perhaps you think of a sports club where baseball players or golfers go to socialize an prepare themselves to compete.

Well, people go to the Howard Levin Clubhouse to socialize as well, but they also go there to prepare for life On Q. Michael Bartley reports.

It's one of Pittsburgh's busiest intersections.

Murray and Forward in Squirrel Hill drive along Murray past the former poleis restaurant.

And there it is.

The Howard Levin Clubhouse.

People drive by here.

They think it's a fitness club.

They think it's a furniture place.

They think, you know.

Yes, it's a great it's a big mystery.

Well mystery solved.

Let's go right inside and meet some of the people who love being member of the Howard Levin Clubhouse.

People like Donna Bologna.

If you come into a group, a clubhouse, the difference is, is just unbelievable.

People like Rich Morrow.

I've been coming to clubhouse because it makes me feel like I'm part of something larger than myself.

And I need salt.

That something is what helps members live productive lives again.

The members are people who've struggled with various forms of psychiatri or developmental disabilities.

Be careful that you don't rip the dough through community socialization here while working in the clubhouse.

Three main units.

Food service, member services, and business employment.

Members sa they get their confidence back.

I continue to come because they help me.

They help me get the confidence back that I needed.

I've earne the respect of people, my peers.

People think when you go through depression, you're not part of the community.

Do you know how many peopl are out there with depression, anxiety and say, oh, I can handle this myself.

I can do it myself?

That's not really true.

Here's our salad, everybody.

That's beautiful.

So Bologna and other members come here to engage in various activities in the kitchen on this day.

Members prepare to bake nut rolls for a holiday party in the business employment area of the clubhouse.

Members use computers to reconnect with society.

Among other group activities, the focus is on their strengths, not their illness.

The clubhouse is operate by Jewish Residential Services.

Debbi Friedman is executive director.

The Howard Levin Clubhouse Is a psychiatric rehabilitation program.

I think that it's hard to sort of condense it into a nutshell, but it's a community where people can come and find the support and the friends and the encouragement and the opportunity to do meaningful work and the opportunity to prepare for employment, that they need to really get them to be, vocationally satisfied and socially satisfied and really to become, valued members of the larger community once again.

And one of the most important things I think about the clubhouse is that, it's a place that really believes in recovery.

So people come here and they can be they can have some have had some terrible experiences with mental illness, and they can come her and really learn how to recover and really learn how to restore.

Meaning and pleasur and significance to their lives.

Howard Levin Clubhouse assist members with transitional employment moving into real jobs.

It helps members secure housing and it helps with educational advancement.

And on the 14th floor of the Federal Building downtown.

Right.

Then I'll make corrections to line 97.

You'll find Donna Bulova working as a wage hour technician for the U.S.

Department of Labor.

Nearby, a special plaque honoring Donna's outstanding work given to her by the Federal government.

And here she is accepting the special honor a few years ag at a ceremony in Philadelphia.

Hey, did I get all the postage meter stuff right now?

Yeah, you got it right.

Donna's boss, John Dumont, says she's one of the hardest working employees he's ever hired.

She's an indispensable part of our staff.

Not onl did she go the extra mile here to help the investigative staff and to help the managers, but she's going the extra mile to help the public.

She'll take it upon herself to make sure that everybody's taken care of.

Donna's successful transition into the workforce, she says, would not have been possibl without her daily socialization at the Lavin Clubhouse and the expert help of clubhouse staff, who assist members in overcoming the stigma attached to depression and other illnesses.

In the beginning I have to admit, I was ashamed.

Me going through depression of all people.

That's the feeling I had.

So you're embarrassed at first and now I'm not embarrassed.

It's.

It's just something that happen.

I don't let it ruin my life.

I don't go through depression anymore.

I do take a particular medicine that I stay on and I work my life around it.

So.

And the clubhouse has helped.

I mean, I don't have to come every day like I was, but I come to give back other people, their confidence and let them know, you know, even though you're going through this, you can get through it.

You can live a normal life.

You can work.

You can do whatever you want to do.

So just because you have depression or you suffer through depression or anxiety problems, panic attacks.

I used to get those a lot.

I haven't had a panic attack no in about two and a half years.

I haven't been depressed in two and a half years.

I do work computers quite well around here.

They use me a lot for it.

Rich Moreau of Elizabeth has schizoaffective disorder.

He works as a gardener, but wants to further his education and perhaps make a career in computers.

He says before coming to the clubhouse five and a half years ago he felt his life was worthless.

I was a depressed, immobile lump on the couch.

I couldn't really keep myself busy with anything.

I was unmotivated for anything at all.

I started coming to clubhouse and my life turned around.

The, number of hospitalizations went from 21 in a space of five years to.

That was 2002.

And I haven't seen the hospital since then.

What does that mean?

Because of the socialization, because you're active, you're you're you're you're not isolated in the house when all of that.

That that's a great way to put it.

You've nailed the right on the head.

You can't say it much better than that, except for, you know, getting really long and detailed.

There's there's not any real one specific way to put it, because there's so many aspects to clubhouse that make it so much of absolutely perfect psych rehab.

There's a lot of way that clubhouse makes, a person feel like they're interacting with people that they wouldn't have never met.

People that are like them, yet they show them that normal exists even in the mental illness community.

People.

Then when we get here, we can't tell the members from the staff our first day.

And then as time progresses, the members and the staff, it makes everybody so, so equal.

Around here, when we get out into the real world and we start getting our ow jobs, we start to feel as though we're not being stigmatized simply because we're we're at the level where we don't have to feel that we're stigmatized.

We don't see that in ourselves anymore.

When furniture store businessman Howard Levin died, his family decided to honor his memory by investing in a psychiatric rehabilitation program.

So the Levin Clubhouse was opened in 2000.

Clubhouse director Jessica Feldman says membership is for life, and they keep coming for a variety of reasons, even once they're working and they have a network outside the clubhouse.

One is they've developed really meaningful relationships and friendships here that provide them a support in their ongoing recovery, as well as their wor and their life in the community.

And they still feel needed, and they feel like they're a contributor to the working in the clubhouse.

People feel like they're an essential element here, and that's what we do is we maintain the community, the members and the staff together, and they know that they're still needed and there's nothing like feeling needed.

It empowers them, absolutely.

And they take that confidenc and that feelings of of success and strengths and talents and gifts, and they use this outside the clubhouse.

And then basically you just once you get over whatever your problem is, you can go back out and work and do what you have to do.

And the reason participants are called members, not patients, again, is because at the clubhouse, the focus is on a person's strengths, not their illness.

Staff at the Howard Levin Clubhouse tell me there's plenty of room for more members as well.

There are many such clubhouses in Pennsylvania and around the country.

If you have questions about the story or want more informatio about a clubhouse, just log on to our website, wqed.org/OnQ where there are several links for you to get all the information you need.

They say it's really a tremendous experience, really, to bring people back, give them the confidence to go back to work and do whatever they do in life.

And now we know what that clubhouse.

Yeah, now we know what it is.

It was a big mystery.

Until now.

They never had a television story about that place.

All right, Michelle, now thank you.

Well, still to come, the bears are back.

Polar bears are once agai calling the Pittsburgh Zoo home.

You'll see their new exhibit and find out what else the zoo has planned for the polar bears.

And more.

Well, On Q, continues.

You're watching On Q magazine because these foundations care enough about local programing to help pay for it.

The Howard Heinz endowment.

The Richard King Mellon Foundation, the McCune Foundation, the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Grable Foundation, the Eden Hall Foundation.

Corporate funding for On Q is provided by Highmark.

Can you picture a room where healthy habits start young and never grow?

We're taking steps to make it happen through Highmark Healthy High 5, a program that target five critical areas in promoting lifelong healthy habits in children at home, at school, and in the community.

Creating a brighter future for us all.

To learn more, visit Highmarkhealthyhign5.org.

And we couldn't do it without you.

The members of WQED.

Well, it has been in the works for nearly two years, but the Water's Edge exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is now open to visitors.

The big attraction right now is the polar bears.

It's been eight years since Pittsburgh has had them at the zoo, but now the bears are back and ready to show off.

Thanks.

Chris Moore reports.

They're saying it comes right up to you.

The polar bears are back and waiting for visitors who can now get up close and personal with them.

Oh my gosh.

We've been followin the progress of the new Waters Edge exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium since the summer of 2005.

Now the Bear Brothers are in the exhibit and hamming it up for the public.

Both our bears are very public oriented, and they'll come down to the glass and greet you Hes saying hi Mark MacDonagh is the polar bear keeper.

And he was here when the bear arrived at the zoo from Denver.

They pretty much right away.

Went in right into the water an we're checking everything out.

They're very curious animals, so they were pretty good with some of the noises.

They kind of looked around to see where the noises were coming from while construction was still going on, but they acclimated pretty well to their new surroundings.

Right now, the bears are two years old.

They each weight nearly 650 poun and stand more than seven feet tall.

It's Marks job to make sure they stay happy and healthy.

And both of them know how to open their mouths on a command so we can get a we can look in their mouths, check their teeth, make sure everything's good in there.

They can also show us their paws so we can look to see if anything's going on with their pads.

They're starting to go down.

There's another behavior we're doing.

Some of it's for fun.

Some of it is to help us.

And the veterinarians here work with them, and they know the present, their side.

So we can do hand injections for all their yearly shots and stuff like that.

It took a lot of work just to get to this point.

When we talked with the zoo's president two years ago, she explained what we would be seeing.

So if you're standing right here in this very side, you know the polar bear will be standing right here.

So the only thing that separates you is a three inch, flat, three inch gland.

I'll be able to give you, like, a paw with the polar bear.

Yeah.

That is cool.

It's a 20ft long window.

Wow.

So it's going to be a really neat experience.

And that's exactly what's there today.

A big glass wal that lets people see the bears face to face, look at their teeth.

Ooh!

I like how you'r right up close.

And they're all.

And they're swimming around.

And it's not like it.

They used to be just sitting up there in the air.

They're old exhibit.

This one's kind of cool looking.

We're up high and we got to see them close.

And visitors are anxiously awaiting the tunnel that they've been hearing so much about.

For like that, there's, like, there's this little tunnel down there and, and people walking down there, it's not, you know, and it's not ready to come up yet, but when it but when the series finished, you're allowed to walk down there.

There will be underwater viewing.

So it's.

Which is awesome to see when the bears are in the water playing.

You can see them diving in and just.

Playing is what the bears do best.

And it's what everyone who visits the exhibit enjoy.

See?

Yeah.

They like to play with each other.

Koda loves all the toys that we give them, either inside or outside.

They both love to throw ice cubes or ice blocks in there, sometimes with fish frozen in them.

They have to try to get at, They love to play.

If he stuck his ways and they love to eat, they eat lots of fish.

He put them in the mouth.

They eat a number of different things.

They get two different kinds of fish.

They get a herring.

They get about 3 pounds of herring a day.

Right now, and about a poun of a smaller fish called Capelin And this is probably about that big in size.

The Capelins what we work with, and that's one of their favorite, fish items.

So we'll give them that.

Then they get a total of 14 pounds of a specially made, biscuit, like a dog food that specially made for polar bears called Polar bear Child.

Believe it or not, the bears also love to eat fruit, especially blueberries, strawberries and apples.

And we're trying various other things just to see if they'll eat them.

Sometimes they'll eat sweet potatoes, sometimes they don't like them as much.

So we, we try to vary up the produce as much as we can, and then we hide it all through the exhibit.

So that gives them another thing to do.

Another behavior bears do is forage in the wild.

And there's lot for visitors to do as well.

So we have an imitation of a small little, fishing village would look like out in the Hudson are or they can't in Canadian areas.

So it has the bright color of the the villages out there.

And in there we have a lot of educational artifacts, either about the bears or other environmental stuff that's going on.

The exhibit also has a freshwater waterfall for the bears to drink from.

You see them drinking coffee, and the saltwater swimming pool which is chilled to 55 degrees.

There's a gravel pi to play in and rocks to climb, just like the bears would have in the wilderness.

All of this was designed with the intention of this becoming a breeding facility.

You know, the exhibits, made this to hold one male polar bear, two females with offspring.

So when these two become sexually mature, unfortunately, one of the brothers will probably have to go to another.

Another, zoo or, breeding facility.

And we'll bring in a couple females or a female to breed with one of them.

I can see.

The Bear brothers won't be split up for a few more years.

They're not old enough yet to think about a mate.

If you're interested in seeing the bears, the zoo is open all year long so don't let the winter weather scare you off.

As for the rest of the exhibit, some parts of it are still being worked on.

Sea otters and walruses are on the way.

And here to tell us more abou everything that is happening at the zoo is marketing director Connie George.

Welcome to On Q. How are you, Connie?

I'm all right.

Well, that looks absolutely great and stunning from back in 2005, the summer when we first visited there and all you saw was the construction.

I guess the mild weather helped in that effort, getting it done right.

It certainly helping for th walruses and sea otters as well.

And they're coming, but they're not here yet.

Not yet.

In the springtime we'll have them.

Okay.

Now, what was it like when those two bears wer first let out in that enclosure?

How did they take to it?

It was exciting, and it brought a tear to your eye because we've been waiting for that moment for for a year, for over a year to have, to see the polar bears in there.

But we were just so excited.

And what happened was the looked all around the exhibit.

They they can smell, smell 20 miles away.

So they were smellin and then they started to jump up on the window and interact with the visitors.

And they just love the visitors and they like the stimulation they get from the visitors a well as the visitors like them.

Now, I know you keep them well fed, but I understand that they are the largest land predators there.

They have also the food chain, so they really don't have an fear of people or anything else.

And that glass is thick enough to hold up, right?

That's right.

We, we have special specification that we use and other zoos use.

And so there's lots of ways and we know lots of experts to tell us what we can and can't do.

But, what was really neat about that exhibit is we went on a vision quest to other zoos throughout the whole country.

And, we looked a what the best of the best was, and this is a culmination of all those things.

So it's really exciting to have them here and to be able to do that for the bears.

It's a really comfortable exhibit for the bears and exciting and inspirational for the visitors as well.

You mentioned the experts, and it seems as though all I read about it is that the experts say that you guys got it right for the polar bears.

Yes, they do, and we did, because we have an air conditioned cave for the hottest days at the bears can go in and get cool water is 55 degrees water is cool, and 55 degrees.

There's a freshwater waterfall, but it goes in, it looks like it goes into the pool, but it actually doesn't go into the pool.

It goes underneath the pool and is recycled.

We have a saltwater pool.

And so it's just it's just a fabulous exhibit for everyone involved.

And it's educational.

It has lots of subtle educational message and fun things that people learn they don't even know they're learning about.

Now, these guys are only two years old but you do plan to breed them.

So what's going to happen?

You separate them, one day and ship one off and bring female bears in the other one.

Yes we will.

We have plenty of room to do that in the back.

They also have a pool and a big yard and lots of space in the back as well.

So, they'll be separated and we'll have room for.

They said two females and their offspring as well.

So there's, it's going to be quite an exciting time when that happens.

Now, that would be a little bit nervous moment because you you'll take this brother away and all of a sudden a couple of females come in.

You've got to watch them closely to see how they take to one another.

Don't.

Oh, right.

The introduction process is really complicated and it's scary for all of us.

But they used to Mr.

Bear meet Mrs.

Bear.

I'm sorry.

It takes lots and lots of tim to meet them through the cages.

But when the when the female is is cycling and the male is sexually mature, that's really a good time to introduce them.

So how long will it take for these two males to get sexually mature?

I think around 5 or 6 years.

So, so now, let's talk about, when the, sea otters are going to come in and walruses.

When is that expected?

How much more construction do you have to do there?

We still have lots of construction to do, but we expected to open in the spring.

And, sea otters are really exciting.

And educational animals, they have almost they have between 600 and 600,00 and million hairs per square inch.

So there's all kinds of really fun, interesting facts about sea otters and walruses that are that will really excite, amaze and inspire everybody that comes to see them.

Will they have the same kind of open environment where people will almost be able to get face to face to them?

Absolutely.

They're really activ and they're always in the water, both sea otters and walruses, even in the water, more than the polar bears.

So the sea otters spend a lot of time on top of the water, on the surface of the water.

And in their kelp forests.

There'll be a kelp forest as well.

But what's really going to be exciting are the tunnels that you'll walk through and see the polar bears underwater, from swimming over your head and playing over your head, and then you'll see the sea otters in their kelp forest, and then you'll be able to see walruses, underwater as well, swimming over your head.

And that's the only kind o exhibit like that in the world.

So we're really excited.

Does this help to mak the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium a world class attraction for Pittsburgh?

Well, our goal is to be one of the top ten zoos in the in the nation and will hit, hopefully a million visitor next year with the new exhibits.

And that, and also our conservation education programs will help us become one of the top zoos in the country.

So, we expect to, to attract lots of tourists from the exhibit and we'll advertise i throughout the region as well.

So it should, you know, hopefully people will recognize that we are one of the best zoos in the country.

You mentioned the educational part of it.

What is that little pier town and little town on the Hudson like for the visitors as they come through?

Well, it's all about balance.

It's about the balance between man and nature.

And it's all about people being able to sustain what they do and what they want to do with the needs of the animals as well.

So you can, we give practical ideas, things that you can do every day that will help.

You can serve the environment and really make a difference.

And people really enjoy it whenever they see it, because it's integrated into the messages as if as i you were walking through a town.

It says the population as a population grows, the polar bear, population decreases.

And it talks a little bit about how you can make smart seafood choices whenever you purchase and eat seafood.

It talks about different alternative energy choices you can make and things you can do just every day in your practical life.

That's a lot of ground to cover.

Yes it is.

Well, it's certainly come a long way from the days when I would go to the zoo as a kid and the little bears were behind cages and they looked so dull and bored themselves.

But, congratulations on this World-Class exhibit.

We're glad to have you here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, Stacy, back to you.

All right, Chris, thank you.

Now, here's a quick look at some of the other stories coming up later this week.

Tomorrow night, Celtic band Carnival of Souls is a big hit with Pittsburghers who love Irish music.

We'll meet the members and show yo how they make musical endeavors with some pretty interesting day jobs.

Also tomorrow, artist Bill Miller's vintage linoleum creations are now on display at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

You won't believe what is created with old linoleum flooring.

Thursday night another amazing display.

This one features photographs of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

See a preview of Terra Incognita.

And they have a crazy name, but they are also one of Pittsburgh's longes running comedy improv troupes.

We'll check out the Amish Monkeys Thursday night On Q. And thank you for watching.

We'll see you back here live at 7:30 tomorrow night.

Have a good night.