Get Involved | Letters to Strangers

You can make a difference for mental health - and you're never too young to be involved! We focus on serving youth from age 13 to 24 so tend to be from this same age range, but as long as your community commits to being student- and youth-friendly, you're never too old to be involved. Here at L2S, we offer five ways to join our movement.

Note: We are not a crisis center, a replacement for therapy, or mental health professionals. Please visit our "Resources" page if you or anyone you know may have a mental illness.

Start a Chapter

Letters to Strangers chapters are our #1 way of expanding the mission of L2S: to destigmatize mental illness and increase access to affordable, quality treatment. We follow a co-op model where Chapters work together with HQ to advocate for mental health. That's why all L2S Chapters are officially named as L2S+[Name] - this is not a traditional hierarchical system. We want to give you the power and autonomy to make change that makes the most sense for your community. As one Chapter president put it: "HQ is like the fairy godmother!"

Chapters ARE:

places that receive tailored, individual mentoring, resources, and support from HQ to carry out their projects and mission
organized worldwide on school campuses, in communities, as part of religious congregations, etc.
comprised of however many people as the chapter head desires, as long as the overall mission of L2S is not diluted by difficult logistics due to group size
places where individuals gather to write and exchange anonymous letters according to our guidelines
places that partake in non-letter-writing L2S projects, whether that's fundraising for particular mental health-related causes and/or partner sites, engaging in peer training and education workshops, or policy advocacy on mental health issues and care
places that may receive L2S services provided by health worker volunteers and headquarters, including workshops for peers on mental health and speeches by mental health activists. However, while partner sites would receive these services for the partner site members, chapters would receive these services to be distributed to their larger community. That is, chapter members may be provided training to serve as peer counselors more than they would be the recipients of peer counseling.
essentially locations dedicated to provide many of L2S's services for mental health and general wellbeing betterment.

Chapters are NOT:

partner sites. Please see the description below for partner sites to clarify the difference.

Intrigued?

Start a Chapter

Become a Partner Site

Partner sites are not chapters, so please read through the below description before deciding which type of L2S collaborator your location would best fit as.

Partner Sites ARE:

organized worldwide in homeless shelters, women's shelters, refugee camps, orphanages, juvenile prisons, rehabilitation centers, disadvantaged schools, etc.
comprised of however many people as the partner site head desires, as long as the overall mission of L2S is not diluted by difficult logistics due to group size
places where individuals gather to write and exchange anonymous letters according to our guidelines
places that receive non-letter L2S services, such as being matched with a local psychologist for monthly group sessions, poetry-reading nights, and fundraisers for the partner site that invoke the site members' creativity
essentially locations that could use the services L2S provides for mental health and general wellbeing betterment.

Partner Sites are NOT:

chapters. Please see the description above for chapters to clarify the difference.
requested to partake in fundraisers for L2S or policy advocacy efforts for mental health, though they are more than welcome to join the effort
asked to commit as much time to L2S as chapters are

Intrigued?

Become a Partner Site

Help as a Health Worker

Are you a psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, social worker, psychiatric counselor, or anyone else involved in the mental health world? We can use your help!

Health Worker Volunteers ARE:

located worldwide
individual volunteers or volunteers as part of a larger organization
asked to provide complimentary or low-cost, quality services fitting their expertise to partner sites on a negotiable schedule (L2S may be able to supplement cost differences on a need-based basis). Must have the proper educational background and/or licensing necessary to provide medical services.
asked to provide advice and insight into mental health and general wellbeing for L2S, including chapters and partner sites (this may be through leading workshops, giving speeches, or being available as a volunteer expert consultant on mental health issues--especially for updates in legislation and healthcare plans)

Health Worker Volunteers are NOT:

promised monetary compensation. L2S will do our best to supplement cost differences if necessary, but as we work with many individuals and groups that lack sufficient resources, we cannot guarantee 100% funding behind every volunteer session
requested to partake in fundraisers for L2S or policy advocacy efforts for mental health, though they are more than welcome to join the effort
asked to commit as much time to L2S as chapters and/or partner sites are
asked to write letters or partake in letter exchanges, though they are welcome to

Intrigued?

Become a Health Worker Volunteer

Submit a Letter

Want to help, but cannot commit to a chapter/partner site/as a health worker volunteer right now? Don't worry, you can submit a letter still! Note that to receive volunteer hours for submitting a letter, you need to follow a special procedure as described in our FAQ here.

Submitted Letters ARE:

accepted worldwide
required to read our sample letters and follow L2S guidelines or will be subjected to possible rejection
preferred to be handwritten. You may submit your letter digitally here (and receive a letter back after yours is approved by a moderator!)

Submitted Letters are NOT:

compensated for in any way. We cannot pay you for the time you spent on writing the letter, for example, since this is a volunteer activity
opportunities for exploitation or trolling. We review each and every letter we receive to make sure they do not violate our guidelines, but save us the time and just remember that real human beings will be reading your letter(s). Treat others the way you want to be treated. :)

Intrigued?

Submit a Letter

General Voluneer

Be a General Volunteer

Want to help, cannot commit to a chapter/partner site/as a health worker volunteer right now, and want to try things beyond letter-writing? Consider submitting to our magazine, "Lessons from Strangers"! The below is for outside of our magazine:

General Volunteers ARE:

individuals from around the world interested in mental health
serious about providing service (it takes time and personnel to train and organize volunteers, so we appreciate your commitment and dedication in advance!)

Potential General Volunteer Projects:

our needs are always rotating depending on the skillset and number of volunteers we have, so please check out our career page and apply for any positions, especially if you're interested in receiving volunteer hours or want to know the latest projects we're working on.

Intrigued?

Learn about our Magazine

Learn about other positions

Start a Chapter

​

Chapters ARE:

places that receive tailored, individual mentoring, resources, and support from HQ to carry out their projects and mission

organized worldwide on school campuses, in communities, as part of religious congregations, etc.

comprised of however many people as the chapter head desires, as long as the overall mission of L2S is not diluted by difficult logistics due to group size

places where individuals gather to write and exchange anonymous letters according to our guidelines

places that partake in non-letter-writing L2S projects, whether that's fundraising for particular mental health-related causes and/or partner sites, engaging in peer training and education workshops, or policy advocacy on mental health issues and care

essentially locations dedicated to provide many of L2S's services for mental health and general wellbeing betterment.

​

Chapters are NOT:

partner sites. Please see the description below for partner sites to clarify the difference.

​

Intrigued?

Become a Partner Site

Partner sites are not chapters, so please read through the below description before deciding which type of L2S collaborator your location would best fit as.

​

Partner Sites ARE:

organized worldwide in homeless shelters, women's shelters, refugee camps, orphanages, juvenile prisons, rehabilitation centers, disadvantaged schools, etc.

comprised of however many people as the partner site head desires, as long as the overall mission of L2S is not diluted by difficult logistics due to group size

places where individuals gather to write and exchange anonymous letters according to our guidelines

places that receive non-letter L2S services, such as being matched with a local psychologist for monthly group sessions, poetry-reading nights, and fundraisers for the partner site that invoke the site members' creativity

essentially locations that could use the services L2S provides for mental health and general wellbeing betterment.

​

Partner Sites are NOT:

chapters. Please see the description above for chapters to clarify the difference.

requested to partake in fundraisers for L2S or policy advocacy efforts for mental health, though they are more than welcome to join the effort

asked to commit as much time to L2S as chapters are

​

Intrigued?

Help as a Health Worker

Are you a psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, social worker, psychiatric counselor, or anyone else involved in the mental health world? We can use your help!

​

Health Worker Volunteers ARE:

located worldwide

individual volunteers or volunteers as part of a larger organization

asked to provide complimentary or low-cost, quality services fitting their expertise to partner sites on a negotiable schedule (L2S may be able to supplement cost differences on a need-based basis). Must have the proper educational background and/or licensing necessary to provide medical services.

​

Health Worker Volunteers are NOT:

promised monetary compensation. L2S will do our best to supplement cost differences if necessary, but as we work with many individuals and groups that lack sufficient resources, we cannot guarantee 100% funding behind every volunteer session

requested to partake in fundraisers for L2S or policy advocacy efforts for mental health, though they are more than welcome to join the effort

asked to commit as much time to L2S as chapters and/or partner sites are

asked to write letters or partake in letter exchanges, though they are welcome to

​

Intrigued?

Submit a Letter

Want to help, but cannot commit to a chapter/partner site/as a health worker volunteer right now? Don't worry, you can submit a letter still! Note that to receive volunteer hours for submitting a letter, you need to follow a special procedure as described in our FAQ here.

​

Submitted Letters ARE:

accepted worldwide

required to read our sample letters and follow L2S guidelines or will be subjected to possible rejection

preferred to be handwritten. You may submit your letter digitally here (and receive a letter back after yours is approved by a moderator!)

​

Submitted Letters are NOT:

compensated for in any way. We cannot pay you for the time you spent on writing the letter, for example, since this is a volunteer activity

opportunities for exploitation or trolling. We review each and every letter we receive to make sure they do not violate our guidelines, but save us the time and just remember that real human beings will be reading your letter(s). Treat others the way you want to be treated. :)

​

Intrigued?

Be a General Volunteer

Want to help, cannot commit to a chapter/partner site/as a health worker volunteer right now, and want to try things beyond letter-writing? Consider submitting to our magazine, "Lessons from Strangers"! The below is for outside of our magazine:

​

General Volunteers ARE:

individuals from around the world interested in mental health

serious about providing service (it takes time and personnel to train and organize volunteers, so we appreciate your commitment and dedication in advance!)

​

Potential General Volunteer Projects:​

our needs are always rotating depending on the skillset and number of volunteers we have, so please check out our career page and apply for any positions, especially if you're interested in receiving volunteer hours or want to know the latest projects we're working on.

​

Intrigued?

Potential General Volunteer Projects: