One of Ebony Johnson’s loyal customers at an Ohio Dunkin’ helped connect her with resources to get a furnished apartment for her family after they had experienced homelessness.
Ebony Johnson’s enthusiastic service at a Dunkin’ location in Ohio is so memorable that regular customer Suzanne Burke noticed when she had not been working the drive-thru for a few weeks in March.
When Johnson, 33, returned to work at the Mount Healthy location, where she’s been employed for three years, she shared with Burke that she had been struggling financially while also trying to find housing for her and her three children following an eviction.
“I wanted to give up,” Johnson told TODAY Food. “I cried. I come to work every day and nobody knows what I’m going through because I always try to have a smile for our customers.”
Burke left Johnson a note saying that if Johnson wanted help, Burke would gladly do her best. Johnson accepted, and Burke, who has done work with social services in her career, got to work on reaching out to different businesses and organizations.
It all led to a moment nine months in the making on Dec. 3 when Johnson broke down in tears and her young children broke out in smiles when they moved into a fully furnished apartment in Cincinnati.
When Burke learned late last month that Johnson would be getting the apartment, she asked Johnson if she had any furniture for it. She said she did not have anything, so Burke reached out to Design to Market, a real estate staging company owned by her friend, Jo Potvin.
The company donated a majority of the furniture and also enlisted the help of New Life Furniture Bank, which makes household items available to those in need.
-TODAY
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