Meet Shereá Burnett of Alamance & Guilford Counties

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shereá Burnett

Shereá, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My passion for community service, reading, and writing began in elementary school. During my childhood and teenage years I won various awards for community service initiatives, my reading comprehension, and my writing style.

Despite feeling like these interests were unrelated, they all converged when I became a Social Worker in Child Welfare. In this role, I encountered families in need of the resources that I was connected with because of my community work, as well as children with parents who struggled with literacy. One particular family that I worked with included a mother at risk of homelessness due to a lease violation, which she could not understand because she could not read her lease.

When the COVID-19 pandemic prompted remote learning in my hometown, I worried about the children of color that I had worked with in Child Welfare. I knew that many of them had parents who could not help them with their schoolwork nor afford tutoring.

The pandemic highlighted literacy challenges, affordable housing issues, domestic violence concerns, and health-related issues faced by marginalized communities across the country, but – most importantly to me – across the state of North Carolina. To raise awareness about these issues, I utilized my website (www.thiswomanswords.co), Zoom, and my social media platforms to host panel discussions, a virtual book fair, and multi-year virtual reading series. I also shared information about free resources to assist with literacy, to support those experiencing domestic violence, and to assist those facing homelessness.

Post declared pandemic I continued these initiatives, shifting to in-person events. I assisted with organizing an outdoor community resource fair, co-coordinated a two-day retreat for women of color (Eating From the Garden), organized a menstrual hygiene product collection for menstruating people that have been recently incarcerated, and participated in numerous speaking engagements to address homelessness, evictions, and affordable housing to a variety of audiences.

The event that I am most proud of was a book fair that I co-coordinated in March of 2024. The book fair was titled “They Look Like Me!” and featured authors of color and stories reflecting diverse experiences. The authors and attendees were asked to assist the sponsors in collecting diverse (and banned) books for local elementary schools. We collected and donated more than 300 books to two local elementary schools.

Through these efforts, I aim to empower and fortify my community, raise awareness about pressing issues impacting those who are typically marginalized, and amplify those voices and experiences that are often silenced in our state. My commitment to service, education, and advocacy continues to grow as I seek new ways to shift narratives and have a purposeful impact.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it has not been a smooth road, but the rough spots were necessary.

This question brings to mind my experiences as a Girl Scout, where we were taught to leave our campsites better than we found them. Initially, I struggled with the idea of cleaning up someone else’s mess, but much of my professional and community work has been precisely that.

My work primarily focuses on creating space and raising awareness so that the stories of those who are marginalized can be heard. Too often those of us who are marginalized find ourselves in campsites with trash that we did not create but that we are blamed for and expected to navigate through. Many individuals are not in a position to clean up their own campsites nor to take responsibility for the trash that is there. Space should be made for their experiences to be heard and shared, for our communities to step in to address what caused the trash and what has prevented it from being removed.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Currently I serve as the Executive Director at Partners Ending Homelessness. In this role I lead a dynamic team that is working to shift narratives about and create accessible systems to address homelessness in Guilford County. We are focused on connecting people experiencing homelessness to resources and housing, supporting these individuals as they work to obtain and maintain housing, and advocating for those that we serve.

I am also an Adjunct Professor at Greensboro College, working to educate my students about various aspects of the legal field, ranging from legal research to evidence to Family Law.

In this moment I am most proud of how I use the intersections of my personal identity to inform my approach to advocating for and exploring the issues facing those who are often overlooked in the homeless community. When afforded the opportunity to do so, I tell the stories of those who are being both positively and negatively impacted by the systems that are holding the conditions of homelessness in place.

What matters most to you? Why?
In this moment, shifting narratives. I recently participated in a workshop where I learned about collective impact and – more specifically – the structural, relational, and transformative change that is required for systems change to take place. Much of the change needed in our society to ensure equity and equality for the communities that I care about involves shifting the narratives that people have about those communities. If I can share a story, provide data points, or highlight how systems are failing those who look like me to the people that have the power to change those systems, I have shifted the narrative. If I can change how people see, talk to, or talk about those experiencing homelessness, I have shifted the narrative. If I can demonstrate to children of color that they are worthy of being shown in books and that they can aspire to be authors or illustrators, I have shifted the narrative.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thiswomanswords.co
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherea.denise
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@shereadenise8765?si=OzlZGOpYLyq1ONyy