Alrighty, let’s start with the basics, and then we will give you an opportunity to “meet” Mike and Liz. TrueAcceptance.com is operated out of Albuquerque, NM and Lafayette, CO. Since we are Social Workers and NOT in the least bit competent as Web-Designers or Coders, we have relied heavily on the talents of a few very special people out of Albuquerque, NM and Boulder, CO. A special high-five to Liz’s beaux, Phil, for helping with several details related to the site both directly and indirectly.

We Launched TrueAcceptance.com in 2008, and we had our first major site redesign in 2010. Our major objective is to provide an opportunity for adults experiencing any form of mental illness to meet other adults for dating and friendship without having to worry about being discriminated against. However, that’s just the surface of what we are about. You will find that we care deeply for our members and are committed to treating the people in our community with dignity and respect. You will NOT find us coddling our members simply because they happen to experience mental illness. But don’t take our word for it, become a member of our community and see for yourself!

Oh, and we simply can’t let you walk out our virtual door without tooting our own horn just a bit. We are very proud to share that we recently won a 2009 Reintegration Award for contributions made to the mental health community. And with that, we welcome you to our community and hope you have gained at least a small notion of the passion we have for what we are doing.

Meet Mike & Liz

Mike (co-creator)

Mike was born in upstate New York and grew up outside of Houston. After serving in the military right after high school, he focused on a social work career. Mike quickly embraced the Recovery movement, and one of his highlights was being trained as a WRAP Facilitator in Vermont and taking what he had learned to start a peer support program. When he’s not spending time at his day job or with his incredible wife and daughter, he can be found working on the True Acceptance site, reading, or dreaming about whitewater kayaking.

Liz (co-creator)

Liz is originally from Detroit, MI but has been living in Albuquerque for about 7 years. She got her start in New Mexico participating in the Vista, Americorps program working with spanish-speaking survivors of domestic violence. She went on to many other social work jobs including NM public defender, a psychiatric primary care clinic and is now working mostly with Navajo students in rural New Mexico schools. She works from a strengths based and client centered philosophy and believes that true romance comes in all shapes and sizes. She loves approving true acceptance profiles and seeing the positive connections being made in the TA community. She knows if she can get a hold of Oprah, trueacceptance.com can change the world!