Spaces of Refuge

Novelly is a civic-minded book club for youth centered on a mobile reading app. The Novelly team curates a collection of stories centered on a social issue, embedding learning and interactivity in the stories to spark critical thinking and empathy. Youth read and discuss the stories, and journal their thoughts and impressions in the app. In this case study, we’ll share the story of how Novelly was started and developed, and describe how it exemplifies the four guiding principles of

This post is the first in the Spaces of Refuge series from our Youth Connections for Wellbeing project that outlines an agenda, offers guiding principles, and provides case studies of how to tap youth agency and social and digital media to support mental health and wellbeing for vulnerable youth. This initial post summarizes the evidence for inequities and gaps in mental health supports and identifies opportunity areas for correcting these problems. It then lays out guiding principles for...