other than a sincere desire to be supportive of child sexual
abuse victims who are trying to recover and a commitment to
follow the code of The Lamplighters
How to start
Whenever one or more is gathered...
Locate a safe place to hold your meetings: hospital conference rooms, churches, recovery centers, etc.
Decide on the meeting format and the frequency that works best for your group
Spread the word in any way you can: Twelve Step meetings, flyers, ask local radio stations and newpapers to advertise.
Ask counselors in your area to recommend The Lamplighters to their clients
Commit yourself to following the Code of The Lamplighters
It's so easy! Even if it's just you and a friend sitting in a coffee shop telling your stories and being supportive of each other, that constitutes a Lamplighter Chapter. The facilitator of a meeting is responsible for finding a place to hold the meetings, deciding on the time, frequency of meetings, etc. and then getting the word out. For more information on how to start a chapter, notify me and I will email you the Lamplighter Facilitator Guide. Once you make a decision to start a chapter you will also be included in the regular group email that goes to all the facilitators and an announcement will appear on a group email as well as on the website. That way you can email each other with ideas and support.
Lamplighter chapters have already been started Cottonwood and Tucson, Arizona International Falls, and Ada, Minnesota. Olathe, Kansas, Billings, Montana, Angleton, Texas, Torrington, Connecticut, Las Vegas, Nevada, Huntersville, North Carolina, Murray, Kentucky, Indianapolis, Cedar Lake and Evansville, Indiana, Virginia Beach, and Roanoke, Virginia, Columbia, Randallstown, MD, Missouri, Pinckney, Michigan, Canton, Wooster and Barberton, Ohio, Elgin and Sumter, South Carolina, Snellville and Columbus, Georgia, Redding, Tracy, and San Diego, California, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma City, Oklahomaand Mauston, Wisconsin. We also have a chapter in Tokyo, Japan, two chapters in Ontario, Canada and one in Plymouth, UK.
All of the Lamplighter facilitators and potential facilitators are in touch with each other by email to give encouragement, support and ideas. Feeling that a movement of one voice would give more power to these survivors, we hope one day to have Lamplighters all across the nation. Are you in a position to start a chapter or do you know anyone who could? We need an army.
Please let me know if you decide to form one, so that we can maintain a national directory on our web site and pass the torch to new groups. I will be happy to help you start one in any way I can.
You don't have to be a survivor to start a Lamplighter chapter although most of our facilitors are. We welcome advocates!
Email Marjorie McKinnon for further information and for how to contact a chapter near you at margie@thelamplighters.org
