Our Story
Uniquely Designed With Purpose
The vision of Removing The Stigma (RTS) began in 2013, when Denise Holcomb, now Founder and Executive Director, was empowered to share
her story in a documentary film Living With Bipolar, for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The challenges of mental illness could be seen early in Denise’s family starting with her mom having a “nervous breakdown” and then Denise at 14 years old and starting to face her own challenges, with problems in school, childhood molestation, alcohol, drugs, and abuse. Denise was never diagnosed with a mental illness until her early twenties, but even at that time, she was wrongly diagnosed. It was not until her early thirties (and well into a second marriage) that she was diagnosed correctly with Bipolar Disorder II. By that time she had fought and survived several suicide attempts, overcame alcoholism and drugs, and became a born-again Christian, but not without continual visits to the hospital year after year. Denise took it upon herself to study and learn about the diagnosis she had been given. Her study, therapy, her strong faith in God, and the belief that He still had a plan for her life and healing give her the strength she needed to live.
During her journey from mental illness to wellness and recovery along with the devastating death of her brother and her only son, who died by suicide, Denise began to see in herself the strength and boldness to fight to remove the stigma which attaches itself to mental illness and suicide. The documentary produced about her living with bipolar was one way to bring attention to the stigmas associated with mental illness but the formation of the organization provided the resources to remove the stigma around mental illness and suicide.
Since the official inception of Removing the Stigma (RTS) in 2013, it has taken small but powerful steps to bring a voice to stigma, mental illness, and suicide by engaging the community and being a resource for education, advocacy, and peer support. It is RTS’s vision that all people, from every walk of life, experience and realize the hope of being mentally and emotionally well.
Denise is available for speaking engagements, workshops and trainings.
Our Vision
To bring mental and emotional wellness to the community.
The Mission
Removing The Stigma educates, empowers, and offers hope to individuals while removing the stigma associated with mental illness and suicide.
Our Value Statement
Excellence is how our integrity shows in the community
OUR VALUES
Oneness: We have walked the same paths as our clients, and understand their experiences, therefore we value their experiences and walk beside them, through their journey of healing and wellness.
Integrity: We remain true to our mission and work hard to create an atmosphere of hope while providing unique services to our clients and maximizing the support of our donors.
Transparency: We embrace the values of accountability, openness, and communication as moral-ethical principles, in our organization in every aspect of service, and deeds to the community, and to our donors.
Confidentiality: We embrace confidentiality as a healing and promise to maintain it on all levels with respect while supporting the most sensitive parts of our client's lives.
OUR CORE VALUES
We value Oneness: As individuals and family members impacted by mental illness, we connect with your experience because we too have been through similar challenges.
We value People: As individuals and family members impacted by the devastating loss of a loved one's death by suicide, we connect with the pain because we have been there.
We value Empathy: We are all created differently and uniquely and we respect everyone's right to their own opinion and lifestyle without judgment.
We value Recovery: The goal of recovery is healing, it is important for individuals on their journey to mental wellness, or grief recovery to understand they are to be a vital part of the recovery process.