Episode 8

full
Published on:

23rd Sep 2025

Spotlight on Grace to Change: Transforming Lives Through Recovery

In this episode of The NonProfit Nook, host Wendy Kidd talks with Shannon White, Founder and Executive Director, and Kim Hughes, Administrative Director of Grace to Change, a nonprofit outpatient treatment center in Collin County. Shannon and Kim share their inspiring personal stories and discuss the vital work their organization does to support individuals struggling with addiction. They highlight the services provided, such as intensive and supportive outpatient programs, free lifelong aftercare, substance abuse evaluations, and individual and family counseling. The conversation also touches on the challenges of running a nonprofit, the importance of community support, and ways for people to get involved, including meal donations, drives, and attending their annual gala.

Links:

https://www.gracetochange.org

https://www.facebook.com/gracetochangemckinney

https://www.instagram.com/gracetochangemckinney/

https://www.bosslevelengaged.com/services-for-nonprofits-nonprofitnook

https://thenonprofitnook.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BossLevelEngaged

https://www.instagram.com/thenonprofitnook/


00:00 Introduction and Opening Remarks

00:23 Welcome to The NonProfit Nook

01:11 Meet Shannon White: Founder of Grace to Change

02:10 Meet Kim Hughes: Administrative Director of Grace to Change

03:29 The Journey and Mission of Grace to Change

04:41 Challenges and Success Stories

05:29 Services Offered by Grace to Change

06:12 Personal Stories of Impact

10:08 Community Involvement and Support

15:56 Understanding Addiction and Nonprofits

19:24 How to Get Involved and Support Grace to Change

22:38 Closing Remarks and Contact Information

23:09 Podcast Outro

Mentioned in this episode:

Flodesk

Transcript
Kim Hughes:

I believe and anybody that knows me knows that I say the same thing.

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Yeah.

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People will do if you tell them to do.

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Yes.

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We have to educate people on what

we need, and that is my biggest.

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For anybody that is in the nonprofit

world, anybody trying to do something

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to help people, just educate people.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Just educate 'em because the

world in general is still good.

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Wendy Kidd: Welcome to The NonProfit

Nook, the podcast for nonprofit

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leaders, board members, and community

change makers who want to build

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stronger, smarter organizations.

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I'm your host, Wendy Kidd, a longtime

business owner and nonprofit leader,

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and I'm here to bring you real talk,

real tools and real stories to help

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you thrive in the nonprofit world.

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I'll be talking with local nonprofit

leaders, community change makers

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and experts in everything from board

development to fundraising and digital

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tools, sharing real stories and simple

strategies you can actually use.

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Because running a nonprofit is hard,

but you don't have to do it alone.

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Let's get started.

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Welcome everyone to The NonProfit Nook.

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One of my guests today is someone

who truly embodies what it

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means to turn a personal journey

into a mission for change.

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Shannon White is the Founder and

Executive Director of Grace to Change

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a nonprofit outpatient treatment

center, helping people in Collin County

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find hope and healing from addiction.

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She started her career in early childhood

education after graduating from the

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University of Texas at Austin, but after

own recovery journey began in:

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she felt called to do something different.

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Shannon went back to school, became a

licensed chemical dependency counselor,

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and in 2011 opened Grace to Change.

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In 2017, it officially became a nonprofit,

so she and her team could better serve

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those in our community who need it most.

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Shannon's not just running a

nonprofit, she's in it every day.

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She's taught moral recognition

therapy classes inside the

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Collin County Jail since 2014.

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Works closely with local drug courts

and continues to be a powerful

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advocate for those facing addiction.

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I'm so excited to have her today

to share the impact of her work.

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Welcome, Shannon.

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Shannon White: Thanks.

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Glad to be here.

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Wendy Kidd: And then we also have my

other guest today brings heart lived

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experience and a whole lot of energy

to her role in the nonprofit world.

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Kim Hughes is the Administrative Director

of Grace to Change, and while she's

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worked there since 2016, her connection

to the organization runs even deeper.

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Before joining the team, Kim

experienced the impact of Grace to

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Change firsthand as a parent navigating

her daughter's recovery journey.

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That experience shaped her passion for

supporting families going through the same

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thing, and she hasn't looked back since.

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Kim's work is more than a

job to her, it's her mission.

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She's been recognized time and again

for her community involvement, including

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being named Leadership McKinney, Alumni

of the Year in:

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McKinney's Volunteer of the year in 2020.

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Whether she's coordinating programs,

showing up for families, or leading

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a service project around town,

Kim shows up with her whole heart.

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She's a proud mom, a new grandma,

and a big believer in the power

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of community, and I can't wait

for you to hear from her as well.

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Welcome, Kim.

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Hello to be here.

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Love having you two here.

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I'm so excited.

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In case anyone out there doesn't know I

am good friends with these two ladies.

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They are definitely somebody that

I consider a community champion.

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Both of them.

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They have their hands in so much around

town and I'm just honored that you

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guys chose to be part of the podcast.

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Thank you.

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Thank for letting us.

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Of course.

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So tell me a little bit more about Grace

To Change, how it got started and why you

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decided to make it a nonprofit Shannon.

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Shannon White: So Grace to Change

came out of a pure passion for helping

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people who most of the time wouldn't be

able to afford treatment on their own.

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And so we started out as

a very unsuccessful for.

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For profit company because if people

got to the door and they didn't

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have money, we let 'em in anyway.

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And so it, there was a fund, a funding

change when there used to be something

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called North Star and the county made

the decision that LifePath was gonna be

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our local behavioral health authority.

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And in order to accept that funding,

we had to become a nonprofit.

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And so we sold the

for-profit to the nonprofit.

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And, and started off, got a

board and continued on that way.

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We started with just adults and

then somewhere in that we ended up.

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Needing to do adolescents as well.

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One of the judges asked if we

would do adolescents, so we

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teach adolescents and adults now.

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Wendy Kidd: Well, as somebody who

has a history of, family members with

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addiction, I greatly appreciate the

service that you provide out there in

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the community is definitely something

that is near and dear to my heart, and

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I just really appreciate you doing this.

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How do you kind of keep in touch

with what your clients need?

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How do you kind of gauge that?

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Shannon White: The, the universe kind of

drops something like fentanyl in our lap.

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And unfortunately, you know, we, we

kind of just rise to the occasion.

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There's ebbs and flows.

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Um, there was a time when

cocaine was really high.

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There was a time when

methamphetamine was really high.

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Now cocaine is back again.

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And the, the Fentanyl crisis has

really just kind of been debilitating.

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We've lost clients, young clients,

16-year-old to a fentanyl overdose.

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Um, and it, it just, you know,

society kind of dictates the stress

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of COVID, created lots of alcoholism.

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And so we had to, we went through that.

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So we basically just kind of

meet people where they are

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with whatever they bring us.

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Wendy Kidd: Mm gotcha.

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So what all different

services do you offer?

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Shannon White: So we do intensive

outpatient, which is three

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times a week for six weeks.

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Then we do supportive outpatient, which

is two times a week for six weeks.

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And then.

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Anybody that wants to start a business

does not need to follow my example, but

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we give free aftercare for life because

addiction is a lifelong illness and

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we can't just treat it for six weeks

or 12 weeks and expect it to be done.

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So we have free aftercare for life.

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We also do substance abuse evaluations

for child protective services,

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and we do evaluations for people

on probation, pretrial, those

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kinds of things, and individual

counseling and family counseling.

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Wendy Kidd: You are well

embedded in the system.

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That is for sure.

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Mm-hmm.

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So tell us a success story or

two, I wanna hear the good stuff.

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Tell me where you feel like you've

really, what you've accomplished.

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Shannon White: So it's interesting, we

had a guy come back last night who I

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met 16 years ago in a drug court and.

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He had struggled with his addiction

and he stayed in connection with

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us and he came back and he's

actually had three years clean now.

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And so he came back and talked

to Kim and I yesterday and was

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talking about how, you know, I used

to say, we gotta find a purpose.

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You gotta have something that matters.

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And we were trying to.

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Put his skills together.

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So he was a construction manager, so

he's been working with the flooding

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victims and the catastrophes.

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And one of the things I said

to him was, I really wish you'd

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get your chaplain's license.

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You've got such a good Christian heart.

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It would be a perfect blend.

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So when he came in yesterday,

gosh, it made me wanna cry.

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When he came in yesterday, he

said, I'm using my expertise.

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To help these people.

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And I'm also getting

my chaplain's license.

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And he said, and none of

it would've been possible.

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And that was a connection that has

lasted literally 15 years from one of

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the drug courts that I worked with.

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Wendy Kidd: Wow.

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That's so cool.

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Kim, tell me one of your

stories that you like.

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Kim Hughes: I'm gonna tell

you my personal story.

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Tell me I met Shannon in, um.

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My daughter was 15, I

think, in drug court.

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And so before I came to work here, and

she was a hot mess and everybody knew,

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Shannon White: not me, her daughter,

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Wendy Kidd: let's clarify, right?

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Shannon was not the hot mess.

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Probably Kim's daughter was

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Kim Hughes: Kim.

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Okay.

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Kim's daughter was the hot mess.

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Yes.

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Anybody that knows me knows

I'm kind of a hot mess.

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So, um, she followed kind of my footsteps,

but she, she went down a really ugly path

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and it was really scary there for a while.

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And, um, yeah.

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The county stepped up and helped and

said, Hey, we really think that this child

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would benefit from a juvenile drug court.

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Um, I was blessed to meet Shannon

in that ju juvenile drug court.

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The judges, uh, her probation officer

who was her probation officer, who

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literally would come shake her room down

at two o'clock in the morning because.

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In drug court, especially juvenile

drug court, it is very intense.

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They, they're trying to make

sure that these kids are set up

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for success later on in life.

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Um, so I have a little heart

for the juveniles because I

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see where it can take them.

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So skip ahead 10 years.

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She.

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Sober, thriving in the community,

going to school, runs a business,

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has a child like life can change.

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And there was a point that I

did not think that was possible.

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Yeah.

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And now she is such a thriving

person in our community.

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She's with me at everything I do.

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So people know her.

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She's.

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We don't talk about her story.

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She doesn't like to talk about it much.

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I talk about it because I think

it's something to be very proud of.

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Yeah, like the overcoming.

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You don't need to know all the details,

but you need to know that she went

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through a lot and she overcame it,

and that is because she had support.

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She still comes and sees Shannon.

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She still comes and

hangs out of our office.

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Her probation officer still

has her picture in her

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office 10, 11 years later as.

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It's something to look at, to be

like, miracles happen, things happen,

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and I think that that's kind of what

really drew me to want to be a part

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of Grace to Change, is because my

family was directly affected and I saw

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what love was poured in to my family

In our deepest, darkest days in.

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Now it's just bright and happy, and I

get to celebrate that every day with

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Shannon when people like that walk in.

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And then I also get to celebrate

those days that the parent

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walks in just like I did.

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Into Shannon's office 10 years

ago at their worst day ever.

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'cause we had one of those

yesterday too, right?

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Like Yeah.

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Their worst day ever with their child.

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Is it ever gonna get better?

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Yes it is.

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Just stick with it.

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Yeah.

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You know, and you that we can offer

that hope and you know, that, you

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know, is everybody gonna get better?

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No, that's, that's not gonna happen.

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But if we can offer people hope and

support and love, and we'll do that,

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one of our favorite things that we

do at our office is answer the phone.

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We answer the phone like

that's not normal anymore.

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Yeah.

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And we will talk to you

and we will spend probably.

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Way more time than we should, but

in our opinion, it's not too much.

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Even if you're not coming to us,

we wanna offer people that love

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in the worst moment of their life.

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'cause we only have a little

bit of time sometimes.

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Yeah.

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To offer 'em when they're reaching out.

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So we do that.

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We talk to people all the time

and we love answering our phone.

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Wendy Kidd: I think everybody can hear

the love in both of y'alls voices.

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Uh, again, I just wanna say thank

you 'cause I've been that person too.

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Um, not to disclose my family

member's business at all, but I

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definitely have a family member who's.

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Been down that road,

and I think we all do.

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Yeah.

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I mean, I think everybody is, and the

more people you talk to, the more you

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find that everybody's got this in common.

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Yeah.

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Um, and not everybody

has the success story.

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I'm, I'm lucky to have the success story.

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Mm-hmm.

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My family member's been in sobriety

for seven years and that's amazing.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, because they were in it, not in

sobriety for a lot longer than that.

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Right.

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But not everybody gets that success story.

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But having just somebody to talk

to, you know, you guys answering

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the phone, that's just huge.

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That's huge.

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Kim Hughes: And we

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just

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started.

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Talking to people.

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Mm-hmm.

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At the beginning, we weren't

in the community as much.

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Now we're in the community.

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People know us, they know our stories.

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They, we share our stories.

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It's the thing I told my daughter,

like, your testimony is my testimony

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and we're gonna share it because we're

gonna save some more people off of that.

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Yeah.

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And I truly believe that that is the case.

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Once, uh, Shannon spoke in group

last night about that, once you

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find that recovery piece you want.

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To naturally give it away.

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Yeah.

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To other people.

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And that's what we hope we create at

Grace to Change is love and foundation.

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So you can give that away.

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Yeah.

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To the next person.

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Yeah.

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Shannon White: We had a neat

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guy start last night, um, with a CPS case.

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And those are always stressful,

you know, there's just extra

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layers of stress with kids.

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And it was his first night and he walked

up afterwards and got on a schedule for

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an individual and he literally said,

y'all already feel like my family.

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Oh, wow.

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And he was with us for two hours.

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Uh, he got attached to Kim during his

intake, but he was such a nice guy, and

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literally there's no greater compliment.

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Yeah.

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That's, that's what we want.

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Like, we want you to feel that

connection that quickly and that love,

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um, for as long as you'll be with us.

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Wendy Kidd: Well, I think that's because

you two come across so authentically,

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you know, you're not, you're not

just doing this as a business.

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Mm-hmm.

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You're doing this outta love.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Yeah.

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What's the favorite part of what you do?

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What, what's something that

you just really love doing?

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Shannon White: Uh, this is

gonna sound super crazy, but

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I love when someone comes in.

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A day or two after their worst event,

and we get to say, Hey, this is gonna be

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the best thing that ever happens to you.

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Um, it doesn't feel like it now,

but this is gonna be the catalyst

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that makes the change for you.

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And just meet 'em right where they

are, whether they're hung over, whether

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they're, we've got people that come

and they're withdrawing, you know?

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Yeah.

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We, we get 'em in all lanes.

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Sometimes they stay on our couch for.

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A day or so, just 'cause we don't have

drugs in our office, so if you're in our

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on our couch, you're not gonna get drugs.

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So, you know, I think it's just

that initial connection to people

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that I think is so powerful.

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People would want me to say it's the

success stories and, and I love those.

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I think they're powerful and

they're great, but it's that for

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me in my recovery, it's getting

somebody at their worst and helping

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'em get pulled out of that hole.

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Wendy Kidd: Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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What about you, Kim?

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Kim Hughes: I would have to say

the same to a certain extent, but

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I also, um, I love our kiddos.

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We have kids and anybody that knows

me knows that I have this heart

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for kids, uh, with everything I do.

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But these kids are all

in a different spot in.

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Again, my child was in that same spot.

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And we have wonderful people from

their community that come in and pour

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into these kids that are in, a lot

of them are in horrible situations.

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You know, they may even be

in foster care at this time.

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They may be homeless,

living in a car with mom.

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Like lots of things are

going on in their world.

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And when you're 14, 15.

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Those are crucial points in your

life that set the tone for the

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rest of your life, in my opinion.

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And so if we can have somebody come in

and teach somebody how to make a pot

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holder, we had somebody come in and teach

kids how to whittle wood to make a pen.

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You know, just different things that.

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People are like, um, that's kind of weird.

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No, it's not.

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It's really not because at that moment

there's this person from the community

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or there's this lesson, or somebody

brings a homemade meal and just

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sits at the table and talks to kids.

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For that moment, there is a family.

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And I promise those kids come back.

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We have so many kids over the

last 10 years that we have

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helped that come back as adults.

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Miss, can I come in and te help

you with that class tonight?

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I wanna come in and talk to the kids.

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I wanna tell 'em my story.

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I wanna tell 'em these things.

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And yes, the adult success

stories are great, but when those.

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Young adults come back from being

a kid and wanna feed into the kids,

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that's when you know that you've

really made an impact on someone.

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And that's what keeps us going Yeah.

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Is that we know that we've laid

that solid foundation for people

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that they feel comfortable coming

back, sharing their stories.

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Wendy Kidd: That's so

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cool.

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I I love it.

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Love this.

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I love this just makes me feel good.

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So good.

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Okay.

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So tell me what you wish people would

understand more about your organization

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or the people that you serve.

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Shannon White: I think, I wish that

people would understand that they're

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all just great people, you know?

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Mm-hmm.

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Nobody has this crazy uproar when

someone gets cancer, we meet 'em

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at the door with love, we take 'em

blankets, we do all these things, and

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substance abuse is a, is a disease.

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Nobody chooses it.

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I certainly didn't choose it, and

my parents didn't choose it for me.

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And so if we can understand that

these are hurting people and they just

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need love and connection, you know.

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Ironically, addiction is

a story of disconnection.

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You know?

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Right?

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Yes.

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You get the legal issues, you

get all these things which

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disconnects you from society.

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And the one thing that actually

helps and heals you is connection.

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And so, um, we, we tell

our people to come in, um.

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But first I didn't say the bad word.

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Um, come in with your worst stories

to us because it doesn't matter.

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I don't, I'm not gonna judge you

based on the worst parts of your day.

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But if you do that, then you don't have to

worry anymore that, okay, she thinks I'm

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this, and then I have to tell this secret.

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And so I wish people would just

understand these are great individuals.

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These are fabulous human beings that

have so much capacity for love and so

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much capacity to be viable citizens.

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Um, and they just need a leg up.

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Yep.

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They just need a leg up.

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Wendy Kidd: Agree.

391

:

Agreed.

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You wanna add to that?

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Kim Hughes: No, I agree.

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I, I obviously, I

completely agree with that.

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:

Um, also for the family side, 'cause I'm

always gonna advocate for the family side.

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For the family side.

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I wish people would understand

that it's okay to reach out.

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:

Yeah, it's okay.

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Please don't hide it until you say, oh

man, they've been drinking for six months

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:

in their room and haven't come out.

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Well, I wish you would've called

me on day six, not six months.

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:

You know, let's talk about it.

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:

That stigma that goes with it.

404

:

So many family members are

scared to say anything.

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I think that is one of the reasons I'm so.

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:

Open with my family story is I

want people to know out of that.

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:

I've met people at chamber meetings,

I've met people at networking events.

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:

I've met people at outreach

events and they hear my stuff and

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:

they're like, Hey, can you help?

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Hey, can you, can I bring my son?

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Hey, can we come meet Shannon?

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:

Hey, can we do this?

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:

Because all of a sudden

they're like, oh, okay.

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I am not in it alone.

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:

And that's what I wish

peep families understood.

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They're not in it alone.

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:

Yeah.

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Literally every, I don't know that

there's anybody out there could say

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:

that they, somebody in their world

hasn't been touched by addiction.

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:

Right.

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:

And some sort.

422

:

Wendy Kidd: Yeah.

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:

Yeah.

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:

It's so prevalent.

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:

It's, yeah.

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:

Absolutely.

427

:

Yeah.

428

:

What do you guys wish people

understood about nonprofits in general?

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Shannon White: That they're really

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:

hard.

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:

Um, it is.

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:

I was not, I don't ask for money.

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:

Well, that's not a strong suit of mine.

434

:

I'm, I'm dig in, get, get

in with the dirty work.

435

:

But asking for money is really hard.

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:

And as a nonprofit.

437

:

Especially in this field, about half

of the money that our budget is, which

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:

is about a half a million dollars,

we have to fundraise and grant right.

439

:

For, um, we don't get, we get paid

for a but in a seat and it's about a

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:

fifth of what someone gets for the same

program in a managed care facility.

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:

So we get $50 a night, they get

$350 a night up to $500 a night.

442

:

And I think the hard part is

we, we all have a passion.

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:

People start a nonprofit with a

passion, and unfortunately, the money

444

:

piece has to come with it, you know?

445

:

Yeah.

446

:

If Passion paid the

bills i'd, we'd be good.

447

:

Right.

448

:

It just doesn't,

449

:

Wendy Kidd: yeah.

450

:

Yeah.

451

:

For sure.

452

:

For sure.

453

:

Well, I got a podcast

episode for you coming up.

454

:

Oh, good.

455

:

So that'll help.

456

:

Good, good.

457

:

That'll help.

458

:

All right.

459

:

Well, tell me how people can

get involved, get specific, how

460

:

can they come help you guys?

461

:

Shannon White: Every night we try to serve

a meal, especially to our kids because

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:

they come right during dinner time.

463

:

So we love anybody that wants

to bring a meal order pizza.

464

:

It's really special when they

come and sit with the kids

465

:

and, and have a conversation.

466

:

'cause the kids actually feel like

they're aliens some of the time.

467

:

So when people that are in the community

come and hang out with them, that's cool.

468

:

We have snacks, um, we have recurring

donations you can do on our website.

469

:

We have our gala coming up on October

30th, so we're looking for sponsorships

470

:

and individual tickets or any type of,

um, people that have things like gift

471

:

certificates or whatever that they wanna

do that we can auction off would be

472

:

great.

473

:

Wendy Kidd: Awesome.

474

:

You gonna add to that?

475

:

Kim Hughes: No.

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:

Yeah, I will.

477

:

Okay.

478

:

Um, one more thing we like to do is people

reach out a lot and want to come help.

479

:

Mm-hmm.

480

:

Since we do have a little bit of

regulations with HIPAA, um, we.

481

:

Always love for service organizations

and um, different church groups,

482

:

anything like that to do drives.

483

:

We can take drives for anything.

484

:

Uh, as people are going through

recovery, they eat, they want.

485

:

Chocolate.

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They want sugar.

487

:

So drives for candy, drives

for snacks, drives for drinks.

488

:

All those things that takes money

that we don't have to take out of our

489

:

budget and we can pour back into our

people when people do that outside.

490

:

So we really love those days

and I love to see a little kid.

491

:

Last week we had a little, um.

492

:

Boy and girl come in with hot

dogs, hot dog buns and chips.

493

:

They saw our post.

494

:

They wanted to bring something.

495

:

Grandma brought 'em in and they were able

to feed everybody that night, our adults

496

:

and our kids, and it probably cost under

$20, and they were able to do that, and

497

:

that makes such a lasting imprint on.

498

:

Our clients and for our kids, um, the

reality and for our adults, the reality

499

:

is not everybody has something to eat.

500

:

Yeah.

501

:

Um, we are in that place in our world

and society right now, and if we can make

502

:

sure when they leave, they at least had a.

503

:

Something in their tummy and they filled

their tummy, or they brought some crackers

504

:

home for later in the night, we're golden.

505

:

Yeah.

506

:

You know, we're helping

in a different way.

507

:

And

508

:

Shannon White: if we feed, if we feed

'em, it saves them 10 bucks for a meal.

509

:

So that puts money in

towards gas or whatever.

510

:

'cause coming three nights

a week is expensive.

511

:

Yeah.

512

:

So if we can take, you know,

take an expense here, they

513

:

can utilize it someplace else.

514

:

Yeah.

515

:

Wendy Kidd: I think those

are so great points.

516

:

I wouldn't even thought about all

that, but I'm so glad you said it.

517

:

And I will just say that.

518

:

Kim is the queen of drives.

519

:

If you wanna know how to do a drive, is

it okay if they reach out to you, Kim?

520

:

Kim Hughes: Sure.

521

:

I would love

522

:

for you to reach out to me.

523

:

Oh me.

524

:

Wendy Kidd: See, you posted

about drives for all the

525

:

Kim Hughes: different things.

526

:

Yes, I believe and anybody that knows

me knows that I say the same thing.

527

:

Yeah.

528

:

People will do if you tell them to do.

529

:

Yes.

530

:

We have to educate people on what

we need, and that is my biggest.

531

:

For anybody that is in the nonprofit

world, anybody trying to do something

532

:

to help people, just educate people.

533

:

Yeah.

534

:

Yeah.

535

:

Just educate 'em because the

world in general is still good.

536

:

Wendy Kidd: Yeah, for sure.

537

:

Okay, ladies, I'm gonna wrap it up here

and just say, making sure everybody knows

538

:

that their website is gracetochange.org.

539

:

Is that right?

540

:

That's correct.

541

:

Right, and so they can find you

on Facebook at Grace to Change

542

:

McKinney or on Instagram as well.

543

:

Anywhere else they should look for you.

544

:

Is that covered up?

545

:

1216 White Avenue.

546

:

There you go.

547

:

All right.

548

:

Thank you ladies so much for

coming and being my podcast guests.

549

:

I loved having you.

550

:

You.

551

:

Thanks for having us.

552

:

Absolutely.

553

:

And thanks everyone for tuning in.

554

:

We'll see you next time.

555

:

Kim Hughes: Thank you.

556

:

Bye-bye.

557

:

Wendy Kidd: Thanks for listening

to The NonProfit Nook, we're

558

:

building better nonprofits together.

559

:

If you found today's episode

helpful, please subscribe.

560

:

Leave a review, and share it with other

nonprofit leaders who need support.

561

:

Follow The NonProfit Nook on social

media and sign up for our email

562

:

list for extra tips and updates.

563

:

You can also visit TheNonProfitNook.com

564

:

to see the show notes and leave a comment

telling me what topics you want next.

565

:

Your feedback shapes the show.

566

:

See you next time.

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About the Podcast

The NonProfit Nook
Tools, Tips & Real Talk for Changemakers
Welcome to The NonProfit Nook — the podcast for nonprofit leaders, board members, staff, and community champions who want to strengthen their organizations and make a bigger impact... without burning out in the process.

I’m Wendy Kidd—business owner for over 20 years and nonprofit leader for just as long. I created this show because I know how overwhelming it can be to lead a nonprofit. Most of us didn’t get into this work thinking we’d be running a business—we just wanted to help people. But the truth is, running a nonprofit *is* running a business, and I’m here to help make that part easier.

Each week on The NonProfit Nook, you’ll get real talk and real tools.
We’ll dive into the nuts and bolts of nonprofit management—strategic planning, budgeting, board engagement, donor communication, volunteer recruitment, and more. No fluff—just practical advice and conversations that help you work smarter and lead with confidence.

You’ll also hear:
- Stories from inspiring North Texas nonprofits and the local heroes behind them
- Tips from experts on marketing, digital tools, DEI, nonprofit culture, and sustainable leadership
- Real conversations about burnout, boundaries, time management, and self-care—because leadership shouldn’t feel lonely

Whether you're leading a nonprofit, supporting one, or just passionate about the mission, The NonProfit Nook will give you the tools, encouragement, and inspiration you need to thrive.

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, leave a review to support the show, and follow us on social media @thenonprofitnook for more nonprofit insights, stories, and resources.

Let’s make nonprofit life a little easier—and a lot more impactful.

About your host

Profile picture for Wendy Kidd

Wendy Kidd

Wendy Kidd is a seasoned event planner, nonprofit leader, and small business consultant with over 20 years of experience helping organizations thrive. As the host of The NonProfit Nook, she draws on her deep knowledge of running a business, fundraising, volunteer engagement, and community building to share practical strategies and inspiring stories with nonprofit leaders.

Passionate about equipping nonprofit professionals with the tools they need to create lasting change, Wendy brings an approachable, encouraging style to every episode—making complex topics simple and actionable.