Denise Burry

Forward Paths Foundation President and CEO Denise Burry has dedicated her life to helping Lake County’s most vulnerable youth, homeless teens and those aging out of foster care.

Her experience as an adoptive parent with eight kids – two through adoption – led her to become a guardian ad litem, which gave her a clear view of how unprepared foster children are when they turn 18. 

“When kids turn 18 in foster care, they often don’t have a driver’s license, no money and when you’re put out, it means literally you’ve aged out and are now on your own,” she says. “They are told to just figure it out.”

Stunned by the lack of support, Denise helped launch Forward Paths in 2013 with the mission of creating “a path that leads to independence.” At that time, there were 323 homeless unaccompanied youth in Lake County schools. 

“Ninety percent of them had had a stint in foster care,” she explained. 

Forward Paths now provides housing, mentoring, education and job training. In 2024, the organization partnered with HomeAid Orlando to build Cottages on Grove in Eustis, a micro-community of 10 tiny homes, along with additional donated houses. 

“It’s breaking a cycle,” Denise says. “The kids are better off for it and they’re becoming homeowners, being responsible adults and becoming taxpayers.”

Denise’s selfless attitude, which prompts her to not accept a salary, comes from her faith and sense of responsibility. 

“We were given a directive to watch out for the widows and the orphans,” she says. “And I think that if you’re going to talk about faith you have to recognize that you have a responsibility and actually do something.”

She chooses to lead by example. 

“If I’m going to go out into my community and ask somebody to support something, I better be willing to be knee deep in it myself,” she says. 

www.forwardpaths.org