Join us in honoring Donna with the 2024 New Light Alumna Award at our September 19th Moving Out of Homelessness Fundraiser Event as we celebrate her success and impact!
When Donna Burke came to New Endeavors by Women, she had just begun the process of rebuilding herself and her future. Sobered by her brother’s addiction and how it caused his death, Donna knew she had to choose herself and change how she lived. As she pursued sobriety, she was welcomed into the recovery community, and found herself embraced by people excited to support her growth.
An opportunity arrived shortly after this for her to move into New Hope (the NEW housing program initially founded to care for women with HIV, which now serves women with chronic illness). Donna was ready and well-supported to take advantage of the resources available at NEW. Living at New Hope gave Donna the confidence she needed to take her next steps and shine.
At New Hope, being surrounded by people invested in her well-being allowed Donna to feel safe. Initially, this was all she thought she wanted out of NEW, but life among this newfound chosen family pushed Donna’s vision for herself and her future. She didn’t just want to get stable and stay sober, she wanted to give back and help prevent deaths like her brother’s.
Donna began volunteering with a treatment program and then was hired as a residential aide. By the time she left NEW, she was able to take classes at the Department of Behavioral Health so she could begin working as a peer specialist. Donna has since become a recovery coach, and now works as a care coordinator at Behavioral Health Group.
“There’s nothing like giving back,” Donna says, “Being able to help someone and not just help them by way of in-treatment [recovery support], but to be able to share my story and to give them some hope and let them know that, hey, [recovery] is possible.” She finds it healing to be able to give the tools to others in their recovery journeys that her brother needed.
“What I couldn't do for [my brother], I can now do for people who are just like me,” she says. “I've taken so much from the community with my substance use that all should be given back, not just to the people who I work with, who I serve at my job, but also the people out in the street.”
Donna’s choice to give herself a chance to change has lasting impact on her community, changing the lives of others for the better, and New Endeavors by Women is proud to honor her dedication to service and wellness with the New Light Alumna Award for 2024. We can’t wait to see her ongoing accomplishments and celebrate with her as she achieves her goals and continues to shine!
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