16 Facts About Susan Burton

Susan Burton is an American activist, author and founder based in Los Angeles, United States.

Susan Burton was named a CNN Hero in 2010 and a Purpose Prize winner in 2012.

Susan Burton's upbringing was full of turmoil, and she struggled constantly.

Susan Burton became addicted to crack cocaine while living in Watts, Los Angeles.

Susan Burton eventually was arrested and jailed for crack cocaine.

Susan Burton went in and out of prison six times during the 1980s and the 1990s, each time she was released with limited money, no ID, and no social security card.

Susan Burton was trapped in a vicious cycle, where she could not find a job, did not have housing, and would eventually get caught and placed back in prison again.

Susan Burton stopped doing drugs in 1997, because of the help she received from the CLARE Foundation.

Susan Burton founded the organization A New Way of Life, where she works with formerly incarcerated people fighting problems of re-entry.

Susan Burton found that resources like food stamps and housing assistance were not given to her because of her record, and it was hard to find support that was affordable.

Susan Burton started the program by going to the bus station where parolees were released, and inviting women she knew from the system to stay with her.

Susan Burton worked with organizer Melissa Burch, a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Critical Resistance to start the LEAD project, which stands for Leadership, Education, Action and Dialogue.

Susan Burton has helped more than 1,000 women, and all can stay until they are ready to move on to somewhere else.

Susan Burton has received numerous awards and been appointed to several positions in her life time.

In 2017, Susan Burton published an autobiography which became a bestseller.

Susan Burton distributed 8,000 copies of her book to incarcerated women and visited 64 prisons within a year.