An Erika’s Lighthouse Teen Empowerment Club is a school club that empowers and educates to eliminate stigma. In a Teen Empowerment Club, students are given a chance to make a difference in their school and normalize mental illness, promote good mental health and build a culture of inclusiveness throughout the year. The top five reasons students start a Teen Empowerment Club include:

1. Students are given the opportunity to lead and make a difference in their school community.

2. Students are creating cultural change within the school community

3. Students are creating student-powered awareness, education, and action

4. An outstanding resource portal available with more than 100 Awareness Into Action ideas

5. Support from the Erika’s Lighthouse staff

There are two options for forming a Teen Empowerment Club at your school – official Erika’s Lighthouse Teen Empowerment Clubs and Affiliate Clubs. Official Erika’s Lighthouse Teen Empowerment Clubs are free to use all of the resources available on our Resource Portal. A customizable Erika’s Lighthouse Teen Club logo can be created specifically for your school, with your school name. We will also support you with up to $250 in grant money that can be used for recruitment purposes, meetings, activities, and more. After registering on our Teen Club site, all new members and adult sponsors will receive an Erika’s Lighthouse Teen Club t-shirt. We ask our official Clubs to use Erika’s Lighthouse in your club name and any materials you create.

Clubs also have access to a discussion board that will connect you with other clubs across the county to share ideas, resources and ask questions. Throughout the school year, we will be sending out club newsletters and invites to teen-centered webinars.

An Affiliate Teen Club is an existing school club, like a Good Mental Health Club or Key Club, that can leverage Awareness into Action activities or other Erika’s Lighthouse resources. Our Affiliate Clubs are also supported through newsletters and webinars.

When you combine student-powered awareness, education, and action, with creating cultural change within a school community, it can change the world, one school at a time. And our team at Erika’s Lighthouse is behind you every step of the way, cheering you on, providing answers to your questions, and sharing the many resources we have.

Visit our website to learn more about starting a Teen Empowerment Club. Thank you for your time and dedication to good mental health for our youth. We know that our youth, when given the opportunity and resources, can change the world.