Many students are not aware of the great cause that TWLOHA advocates for. TWLOHA is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people that are struggling with depression, addiction, self-harm, and suicide. TWLOHA’s goal is to offer encouragement, information, and inspiration to those struggling with mental health problems, while also investing directly into treatment and recovery for those affected by self-harm.
TWLOHA has done amazing things on lots of campus. They table during the week of #BellLetsTalk, an online campaign dedicated to raising money for mental illness and more importantly awareness of mental health and the stigmas around it. They also run an Amazing Race event starting last year and people who attended were surprised to hear that Brock provides counseling services for students. This proved to TWLOHA that there was a huge need to educate students about where they can get help and that they should not be embarrassed to make an appointment with counseling.
University can be a very stressful time and at times students may feel loneliness. The club has been planning a lot throughout the past year and now they want to look at more open conversations about mental health. They are looking forward to holding bigger events to raise even more awareness and want to advocate to students that they are able to enjoy life outside of the pressures of school. Currently they have around 8 members attending their meetings and they want to increase this number and get more people involved in their yearly events.
Their next event is the 3rd Annual Hope N’ Mic Night at Mahtay Cafe downtown St. Catharines on March 11th at 6pm. They invite anyone to come share their music and stories with the audience in the hopes of breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health issues. This event provides a safe and comfortable space for people to share and for people to just listen and know they are not alone with any issues they are dealing with. All donations from this event go to the global wide TWLOHA organization, which is invested in treatment recovery for those struggling with mental health.
We are all facing some kind of struggle in our lives or now someone that is struggling and with clubs like ours, it becomes easier to realize that you are not alone with your struggles. Meetings are held every other Wednesday from 5-6pm in Thistle 315 and new members are also welcome!