The Safe Space Fund
Put a teen in the room where they find their voice.
For 28 years, Motivating the Teen Spirit has met teens where they are and helped them build confidence and self-trust from the inside out. The Safe Space Fund puts teens in that room at no cost to them, and gives them care after the program.
28 years in the room
What happens when teens are heard.
- teen suicides prevented
- 11,294
- teens served since 1998
- 28,450
- teens returned to school
- 1,875
- come back by choice for another program
- 84%
Source: MTS records, from the program forms teens fill out at every program. Confirmed by Lisa Nichols, October 2026.
Inside the weekend
A weekend where teens build from the inside out.
The Safe Space Initiative gives teens real tools for confidence, self-trust and emotional intelligence. Over two days, they practice how to:
- Communicate with clarity
- Build confidence from the inside out
- Develop a healthy self-image
- Make values-aligned decisions under pressure
- Navigate relationships with respect, boundaries and awareness
- Turn stress into self-awareness and direction
- Trust themselves to lead their own lives
What your gift does
Three things the Fund pays for.
A seat in the room, an hour with a counselor, and support for the youth programs that keep the work going.
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$500
A seat in the room
Sends one teen through a full MTS weekend, free to them.
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$75
An hour with a counselor
Gives a teen an hour with a licensed counselor for care after the program, paid directly to licensed providers.
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Grants
Partner youth programs
Support for vetted youth nonprofits that carry the work forward in teens’ own schools and cities.
Give today
Give to the Safe Space Fund.
$500 sends one teen through a full MTS weekend, free to them.
Donate via PayPal
Every gift goes to the Safe Space Fund.
Pick an amount, or give any amount you like on the next screen.
You confirm your amount on PayPal.
PayPal gifts go directly to our nonprofit. Empowering the Human Spirit Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 75-3077111). Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Or text the word “Donate” to +1 (760) 300-3723
The Safe Space Fund pays for teens’ seats in MTS programs, hours with licensed counselors, and grants to partner youth programs. Gifts are pooled and go where the need is greatest unless you tell us otherwise.
Where the money goes
What a seat in the room costs.
This is what it takes to put a team, a room and two full days in front of about 40 teens in one city. Shared across those teens, it comes to about $500 a seat.
Counselor hours and partner grants come from the Fund on top of this, paid directly to licensed providers and vetted partner programs.
Planning number, updated after each stop’s actuals. Staff time not costed.
- Team travel$5,000Flights, hotel, ground transport and meals on the road for a 3-person team
- Venue and food$4,500The room and meals for two days
- Sound and production$3,000PA, microphones, screen and a technician
- Workbooks, materials and graduation$2,000What every teen takes home
- Local event team$1,500Coordinator, setup crew and volunteer support
- Signage and printed programs$1,000
- Contingency (15%)$2,550
- Total$19,550About 40 teens, about $500 a teen
Who runs the room
Every weekend has a team behind it.
Your gift puts these people in one room with the teens of one city.
- City Lead
- A local leader who opens doors in the city, connects schools and families, and stays with the weekend from the first call to graduation.
- Facilitators
- MTS-trained facilitators who lead the Safe Space curriculum across both days.
- Host venue
- A local partner who gives the weekend a room that feels safe, welcoming and easy to reach.
- Volunteers
- Local adults who welcome teens, run check-in, serve meals and keep the room running.
What you will hear back
A City Stop Report after each stop.
After every city weekend, donors receive a City Stop Report that shows what the money put in the room.
Give to the Safe Space Fund- Seats filled and teens who graduated
- The facilitators and host who ran the room
- Photos from the room
- The sponsors who made it possible
- What the weekend cost against the plan above