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Melissa Rivers Joins Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services Board of Directors

January 17, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Culver City, Calif. (January 17, 2019) – Melissa Rivers, New York Times best-selling author, entertainment journalist, award-winning producer and suicide prevention advocate, has joined the board of directors of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, a leading Los Angeles-based nonprofit which has provided free mental health, substance use and suicide prevention services for over 75 years.

“Melissa is ahead of her time. She spoke openly about her father’s suicide in 1987 when the topic was taboo. Ever since, she has worked tirelessly to erase the stigma of mental illness. We are honored to have her on our Board,” says Dr. Kita S. Curry, PhD, President and CEO of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, which helps thousands of families each year from 10 locations and nearly 100 schools throughout Southern California. Didi Hirsch is also home to the nation’s first Suicide Prevention Center, and the only one that offers comprehensive services to people affected by suicide.

“As suicide grows to even greater numbers, the worst thing we can do is ignore it or not talk about it. The only way to attack it is head-on as a complex mental health issue,” explained Rivers. “I am honored to work hand-in-hand with the Didi Hirsch organization to mitigate stigma and reduce suicide. Few things are more painful to the survivors, as I can attest. We need to create a world with more empathy and less judgment, and that is why I joined the board of this tremendous organization.”

Melissa Rivers was a college student when her father, television producer Edgar Rosenberg, died by suicide. In 2016, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services honored her with a Beatrice Stern Media Award at its 20th Anniversary Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards for her openness in discussing her father’s suicide and her passionate efforts to raise awareness about suicide among youth and college students. Ms. Rivers also emceed the organization’s Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards in 2017.

Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services is nearing the end of a three-year fundraising campaign to create a new stand-alone center in Century City that can meet rising demand for services. The new building, which recently completed its renovations, will be unveiled in several weeks. It will add therapy for individuals and families, support groups for teens bereaved by suicide and training for mental health professionals to the array of suicide prevention services it already provides.

About Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services:

Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services is a leading provider of community mental health, substance use and suicide prevention services. Dedicated to serving communities where stigma or poverty limits access, the agency has been transforming lives for more than 75 years. Today, Didi Hirsch helps over 100,000 children and adults annually from 10 locations and nearly 100 schools in Southern California. Our Suicide Prevention Center – the first and most comprehensive in the United States –has been a leader in innovating new strategies and programs for people in crisis since 1958. Learn more at www.didihirsch.org.