Mental health struggles among teenagers remain widespread enough that most students know a peer who is affected, whether or not they recognize it as such. Schools that want to address this often look to adults first: a counselor, a health class, a staff training. But one of the most effective messengers in a school building is rarely an adult. It is another student.
Erika's Lighthouse Empowerment Clubs are built on that idea. This guide explains why student-led mental health clubs matter, what a club actually does day to day, the difference between an Official and an Affiliate club, and the steps a school needs to start one.
The CDC's 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 39.7% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, while 28.5% reported poor mental health. Both figures have come down since a peak in 2021, but they remain above where they stood a decade ago.
One of the strongest protective factors schools can influence directly is school connectedness, a student's sense that the adults and peers around them care about them as a person. Research published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found that students with high school connectedness were substantially less likely to report poor mental health than students with low connectedness, 22.0% compared with 40.1%.
Empowerment Clubs are designed to build that sense of connectedness directly. A club gives a school's most engaged students, its club leaders, a visible, structured role in making their peers feel seen and supported. Erika's Lighthouse Empowerment Club Coordinator, peer messaging carries a different weight than messaging from adults: when students talk about mental health, their classmates listen differently than when the same message comes from a teacher or counselor. Club leaders become the trusted peers who help signal that their school is a safe place to be.
Erika's Lighthouse Empowerment Clubs are schoolwide, student-led clubs open to grades 4 through 12. Club members plan and lead campus-wide activities that raise mental health awareness, promote positive mental health, and reduce stigma among their peers. Empowerment Clubs are one of Erika's Lighthouse's four program pillars, alongside Classroom Education, Family Engagement, and Policy & Staff Training.
Schools can start a club in one of two ways, depending on how much structure and funding they want.
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Official Club |
Affiliate Club |
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Branding |
Must use "Erika's Lighthouse" in the club name |
Does not need to be branded as an Erika's Lighthouse club |
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Best fit for |
Key Club, SADD Chapter, student council, or another existing school club that wants to supplement what it does with Erika's Lighthouse Resources. |
Key Club, SADD Chapter, student council, or another existing school club that wants to supplement what it does with Erika's Lighthouse Resources. |
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Advisor requirements |
Free Resource Portal account and Empowerment Club registration form |
Free Resource Portal account and Empowerment Club registration form |
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Student training |
Members complete the Mental Health Student Leadership Academy (three 10-minute videos) |
Encouraged, but not required |
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Activity requirement |
At least one awareness and action activity per quarter (four per school year) |
Encouraged, not required |
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Reporting |
Awareness and Action Activity Report is required for reimbursement |
Awareness and Action Activity Report welcomed, not required |
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Funding |
Eligible for up to $500 per school year |
Not eligible for funding |
Both club types get access to the same library of activities, trainings, and support from the Erika's Lighthouse program team. The difference is mainly about branding, structure, and funding eligibility, not about the quality of resources available.
Affiliate Clubs can also operate well outside the United States. Read how one student in Shenzhen, China, started an Affiliate Empowerment Club that raised funds, organized a campus wellness event, and reached hundreds of educators at a national level, entirely through a single Resource Portal account and registration form.
Erika's Lighthouse provides more than 70 turnkey Awareness and Action Activities (AAAs) that club leaders can run with minimal setup. Each activity follows the same simple format: a stated purpose, a materials list, and step-by-step instructions, so a student leader can pick one up and run it without heavy adult involvement. All activities are available in English and Spanish. Clubs are also free to adapt any activity to fit their own school's culture, colors, or mascot.
A few examples clubs have run:
• Beacon of Hope Mural: Club members recreate the Erika's Lighthouse logo in pixel art, with each piece of paper carrying a different mental health fact, creating a lasting, visible piece of art in the school.
• Encouragement Mints: Students write short positive messages, tape a mint to each one, and distribute them across the school, often during testing weeks or teacher appreciation week.
• Follow the Footprints: Paper footprints lead from a central hallway to the counselor's office, so every student in the building knows where to find mental health resources.
• Mental Health Photo Stations: A designed photo backdrop gives students an easy way to take and share photos that promote positive mental health messaging on social media.
• Take a Compliment: A tear-off poster of compliments that students can take for themselves or pass along to a classmate who needs one.
• Hope Door Signs: Staff members hang a small sign signaling that they are a safe, approachable adult for students to talk to, lowering the barrier to asking for help.
• How Full Is Your Cup?: Students receive a free hot chocolate or similar treat in exchange for a moment of reflection on their current stress level, building both connectedness and mindfulness in one activity.
Empowerment Clubs also lead two annual, national campaigns. Give Voice runs during Suicide Prevention Week, with a different mental health theme each day. The Positivity Pledge runs in May for Mental Health Awareness Month, giving club members a small daily challenge built around caring for their own mental health or supporting a peer's.
Official clubs can receive up to $500 per school year in reimbursement, split as $250 for the fall semester and $250 for the spring. Unused fall funds do not carry over to spring. Each individual activity can be reimbursed up to $125, so a club can cover its full year of funding across roughly four activities, though clubs are encouraged to spread activities out across the year rather than run one large event.
To request reimbursement, an advisor submits the Awareness and Action Activity Report along with relevant receipts.
Beyond funding, Official and Affiliate clubs both get:
• Access to the full library of 70-plus Awareness and Action Activities
• The Mental Health Student Leadership Academy training videos
• A monthly newsletter highlighting seasonal activities and ideas from other clubs
• Access to club meetups hosted by the Erika's Lighthouse program team
• Eligibility to join the Erika's Lighthouse Youth Advisory Board
Decide: Official or Affiliate. Choose based on whether you want a new, dedicated, branded club or want to add Erika's Lighthouse resources to an existing group.
Create a free Resource Portal account. This gives the advisor access to the full activity library, trainings, and forms.
Complete the Empowerment Club registration form. This is required for both Official and Affiliate clubs.
Have student leaders complete the Mental Health Student Leadership Academy. Required for Official clubs: three short videos, about 10 minutes each, that build student leaders' understanding of youth mental health and how to lead on it.
Plan your first Awareness and Action Activity. Pick one from the library of more than 70 options, or adapt one to fit your school.
Submit the Awareness and Action Activity Report. Required for Official clubs, and especially important if the club is requesting reimbursement.
For a closer look at how Empowerment Clubs work, watch Erika's Lighthouse's Empowerment Club information session, hosted by Derick, Erika's Lighthouse Empowerment Club Coordinator. The session walks through why clubs matter, what club life looks like day to day, and the exact steps to register a club.
Any club member, from an Official or an Affiliate club, can apply to join the Erika's Lighthouse Youth Advisory Board. It is a national leadership group where students from Empowerment Clubs across the country share their perspectives on youth mental health, helping shape Erika's Lighthouse's broader mission. For club members who want a leadership role beyond their own school, it is a natural next step.
Students are often the most effective messengers for mental health awareness in their own school. An Empowerment Club gives them the structure, training, and resources to lead that work well.
Learn more about Erika's Lighthouse Empowerment Clubs, or email Derick, Empowerment Club Coordinator at Derick@erikaslighthouse.org to ask questions before registering.