Life is like that, you know.
Burks, a 1988 Middletown High School graduate, said when one of her three daughters became seriously ill, she was forced to stay home and resign from her job at Atrium Medical Center.
Next stop: Hope House.
And on Tuesday, Aug. 17 — five months after Burks and her children moved out of Hope House and into Robin Springs Apartments in Middletown — the family returned to Hope House.
Not as residents, but as donors.
Burks solicited two Middletown pizza chains — Marco’s and Domino’s — to donate 20 pizzas and salads, and Burks and her family, including her brother, James, served the homeless lunch.
A few weeks ago, Burks and her family prepared spaghetti, salad and bread at home and fed the Hope House residents.
Some pay forward. She’s paying back.
The Rev. Mitchell Foster, director of the Main Street homeless shelter, called the actions of Burks and her family “truly awesome.”
He added: “She’s doing the right thing, heading in the right direction. That’s why I love being on her team.”
Burks certainly understands the importance of a team. As a Middie, she set the girls basketball school record for points in a career (903) and set records in the shot put and discus.
It was good to be Kim Burks. She had few worries.
Until, well, she couldn’t sidestep life’s left hook.
“It knocked me down a few notches,” said Burks, who picked herself up off the canvas and enrolled in Galen College of Nursing in Blue Ash.
Of being a Hope House resident, Burks said she was “ashamed to live here at first. But this place taught me a lot. Some people look at this place as a step down, but I think it was a step up. It showed me perseverance.”
It also moved her closer to God.
“I think He had a plan for me,” she said. “I was here for a reason.”
Right on cue, the dining room doors opened, and Burks excused herself as she walked toward the kitchen.
There was pizza to serve.
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