Meet Kimberley

From Denial to Divinity

In the spring of 2025, Kimberly, a member of A Place of Our Own Clubhouse, gathered
with her peers to celebrate a remarkable milestone: earning a Master of Divinity (M. Div.) from Regent University, marking her fifth academic degree.

The celebration, lovingly planned by her sister, who is also a clubhouse member, along with the clubhouse staff, was not just a recognition of academic achievement but a commemoration to her inspiring journey overcoming the barriers associated with mental illness.

Her path, however, was not without hardship.

Raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Kimberley grew up surrounded by academia. Her father, a lifelong learner, inspired her passion for education. In his honor, she pursued degrees in liberal arts, communications, business administration and marketing before completing her M. Div, which is a professional graduate degree primarily designed to prepare individuals for ministry and leadership roles within Christian denominations.

Kimberley and her sister joined Clubhouse in February 2023. At the time, Kimberley was living with the effects of mental illness and struggling with acceptance.

“There was a point in my life when I was in denial about my diagnosis,” Kimberley recalled.

It was her brother who gently encouraged her to take that first step.

“I’m so glad I listened,” she said. “Coming to the Clubhouse and being around my peers helped me realize I’m not alone. We all have a place in this world—and we all have purpose.”

Since then, Kimberley has become a mentor within the Clubhouse community, leading spiritual wellness workshops and contributing a regular column, The Spiritual Corner, to the Clubhouse newsletter. She also sparked the creation of a new study hall to support fellow Clubhouse members in pursuing higher education.

“I may be done with formal education,” she said at her graduation, “but I’ll always be a student of the Word of God and of the word of life.

Kimberley is now putting her degrees to use by creating a tele-ministry she hopes will grow into an official program across 14 church locations. She is also laying the groundwork for her nonprofit, Of Faith with a Purpose Ministries, to share spiritual messages to a broader audience through digital outreach.

Kimberley’s journey is a powerful reminder that recovery isn’t the end of the story.

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