.jpg)
Who We Are
TINA STEVENS-CULBREATH
FOUNDER/Executive Director
-
Certified Family Peer Recovery Specialist and Youth Support
-
Board of Counseling: Registered to Practice As A Peer Recovery Specialist
-
NAMI and Parent Action Network for Advanced Parent Leadership Trained
-
Forensic Peer Support Specialist
-
Trauma-Informed Care & Resilience
-
Suicide ASIST Trained
-
Trauma-Informed Care Practitioner
-
DBHDS-DSP Supervisory Trained
-
SAMHSA- THE SEQUENTIAL INTERCEPT MODEL Trained
-
Motivational Speaker
-
RODNEY O.E. CULBREATH
FOUNDER/DIRECTOR
-
Certified Family Peer Recovery Specialist and Youth Support
-
Board of Counseling: Registered to Practice As A Peer Recovery Specialist
-
NAMI and Parent Action Network for Advanced Parent Leadership Trained
-
Forensic Peer Support Specialist
-
Trauma-Informed Care & Resilience
-
Suicide ASIST Trained
-
Youth Mental Health First Aid
-
DBHDS-DSP Supervisory Trained
-
SAMHSA- THE SEQUENTIAL INTERCEPT MODEL Trained
-
Motivational Speaker
My name is Christine Stevens- Culbreath - most people call me Tina. I live in Winchester, VA, and was born in Alexandria, VA.
Growing up as a kid was tough. Not only did I have the struggles of being a bi-racial child, but we lived on Section 8 Housing assistance in a not very good neighborhood! I was raised by my single mother who was doing her best to raise three young girls.
My father passed away from a drug overdose when I was seven years old, and my mother turned to alcohol to self-medicate. By age 8, I found myself helping my mother care for my two younger siblings. The odds were not stacked in my favor. But I beat the odds.
My husband Rodney and I now have a life that we love and 6 remarkable children. But this road has not always been easy, and I have sacrificed a lot; but it was all worth it. One thing that I can admit is that I always tried my best, made mistakes along the way... but I never gave up! My children are healthy productive citizens of society, and I can say that I had a direct influence in molding each one of them.
Eventually, I was able to finish school and return back to college once my kids were older. Then in 2014, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer. And going through that process made me realize that I had been presented with a bigger purpose in life - a new direction.
Since then, that direction has been to help mold and positively influence delicate impressionable youth, and communities, through powerful workshops, processes and mentoring that was exactly what I needed - when I was THAT kid.
Today my life is fulfilled in my role as the Founder of The I’M JUST ME MOVEMENT, inspiring not only the minds of young people, but people as a whole.
~ Tina
Watch Tina and Rodney's Interview on WDVM!
My name is Rodney Culbreath and I live in Winchester, VA with my wife and co-founder, Tina.
My struggles as a child impassioned me to help young people through the I’M JUST ME MOVEMENT. I understand the challenges of poverty and street life, in going hungry, in being homeless. Because I was THAT kid.
I overcame a harrowing life experience as a child, so I get the pain and fear that comes with being bullied or attacked. And my classmates, many with their own unique challenges, taught me the falseness of the ideas of what, and who, is “normal”,
I understand what it’s like to not know when your mother is coming home, to raise your young siblings when your mother is incarcerated, and to go to school with the electricity off and no adult in the house.
Most importantly, I understand what kids, like I was, are feeling - how to connect with them in a way that they feel safe and nurtured. And most importantly, how to inspire them to move beyond their perceived limitations, to transcend their stories, and to write a life for themselves beyond their wildest dreams.
Because I was THAT kid.
~ Rodney
A message from Rodney...
RZE CULBREATH
Founder of I'm Just Me Movement & I'm Just Me Because National Month
-
Youth Mental Health First Aid
-
Trauma-Informed Care & Resilience
-
Youth Support Specialist
-
IJMM Ambassador
-
Trauma-Informed Care & Resilience
-
College Graduate
-
Motivational Speaker
-
ZACH HARRELL
Founder of I'm Just Me Because National Month
-
Head Men's basketball coach at Handley HS, Winchester, VA
-
IJMM Ambassador
-
College Graduate
-
LIVE. LIFE. FORWARD.
Growing up, I realized that I learned differently than the other kids around me. Everyone has their differences and adversities that they experience. Some come out about it; others don’t. Eventually, in life, there comes the point when you have to come face to face with yourself and build resilience. Ever since elementary school, I’ve struggled with having a speech impediment and finding my true self. It took a while to accept my flaws and strengths finally. I was born in Reston, VA, and moved to Winchester, VA when I was 15, where I attended Millbrook High school. Most of the people that knew about my struggles as a student were my teachers or family; others may have thought of me as shy or quiet. Often, I got teased and bullied for not being as “smart” as the other students in the classroom, or people would look at me differently because I had an individualized Education Plan (IEP), and a teacher’s aide. Being a teenager and getting bullied by students that didn’t know what I was going through on the inside made me feel undervalued as a kid. Not going to lie, it was hard trying to become a better version of myself while facing these daily challenges.
Read the full story click on the link: https://honestathletes.edublogs.org/
It all started when Zach was a sophomore at Millbrook High School and found out about his friend, Rze, having a speech impediment and how that severely impacted him.
"Whether we all want to come out about it or not, we all have our difficulties on the inside -- things we struggle with. It was kind of inspiring to see someone else be so self-disclosing about that," Harrell said.
Zach is now the Youth Ambassador for the I'm Just Me Movement and has been spreading the message with events and outreach at Roanoke College, where he is also a public affairs research assistant. Zach graduated from Roanoke College in three years. He is now the Head basketball Coach at Handley HS, in Winchester Virginia.
A Message from Rze
An Interview with Zach
Ta'Mia Carrier
Shenandoah University
Project Manager Intern
- Psychology and Sociology Major
-
President of Psychology Club
-
Work Study at Tech Help Desk
-
Head Resident Assistant (HRA) at University Inn with a 7-person staff
-
Psychology and Sociology Major
-
President of Psychology Club
-
Work Study at Tech Help Desk
-
Head Resident Assistant (HRA) at University Inn with a 7-person staff.
-
March 23rd, Out of the Darkness: Suicide Prevention March, 10am. 1 mile walk. (sponsored by Psychology Club; Dr. Bragdon, faculty advisor)