Dunkin’ Worker Receives Home from Caring Customer Following Eviction

A caring customer partnered with a nonprofit and a home staging company to provide a Dunkin’ employee with a fully-furnished home.

Suzanne Burke and Dunkin’ worker Ebony Johnson first met when Burke was in a drive-thru of one of the stores three years ago. A friendship blossomed from the interaction.

“I go every morning,” Burke said. “Ebony has worked the drive-thru for three years and really has provided amazing customer service.”

When Burke stopped seeing Johnson during her usual shift she realized something was amiss and reached out to her friend. She learned Johnson and her three children were evicted from their home.

Burke sprung into action. With the assistance from both Jo Potvin of Design to Market Home Staging and the New Life Furniture Bank, she was able to get the Dunkin’ worker into a new home with all of the furnishings.

“I just wanted to see if I could help her just improve her life and the life for her kids,” Burke told WCPO. “I wanted to make sure that they had stable housing, so that she could continue to provide the excellent service she does at Dunkin’.”

Johnson first saw the home on Friday. 

“Thank y’all so much. Thank you so much for helping me,” Johnson said, per WCPO. 

Johnson’s three children shared her exuberance. While checking out his new bedroom her youngest son told WCPO, “So nice, so nice.“

Design to Market’s Potvin made sure the home was just right for Johnson’s family.

“It’s an understatement to say that COVID has been tough for our world and especially for Ebony and her family,” Design to Market wrote in a Facebook post. “This wonderful hard working mother deserves our support!”

“[It’s the] perfect time of the year to feel like you’re spreading joy,” Potvin told WCPO. 

New Life Furniture Bank helped furnish the home. The company collects “gently used furniture and household items to provide to those in need throughout Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky,” according to its website. 

“It’s as much a gift for us as it is for them, to be able to provide this for them,” said the furniture bank’s executive director, Dana Saxton. 

Johnson is relieved to be spending Christmas with her family in their new home. 

“I’m just so thankful we’re back in our home,” Johnson said. “The Lord really looked out for me because I kept praying and saying, ‘Could I be at home before Christmas?'”