Amanda Cuzzetto and Leann Kopytko speaking to CFJC on June 13, 2024. (Image Credit: Adam Donnelly / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

BURSARY APPLICATIONS OPEN

Out of the Ashes bursary alumni finding pride and purpose in sobriety

Jun 13, 2024 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Applications are open this month for the Out of the Ashes bursary in Kamloops. The program provides education bursaries to people in addiction recovery.

The goal is to make education more accessible to people recovering from substance use so they can continue to build healthy lifestyles and have better career opportunities.

When she applied for the Out of the Ashes bursary in 2018, Amanda Cuzzetto was one year sober and trying to map out what she was going to do with her life.

“When I got the bursary, it was almost like the universe’s way of saying, ‘There’s more purpose in your sobriety than you even realize,'” Cuzzetto told CFJC on Thursday (June 13).

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In becoming open about her addiction and recovery, Cuzzetto describes finding a sense of pride in her sobriety and a desire to help others.

“I went to school to become a Community Support Worker and that’s what I’ve been doing for the last five years. I work in mental health and substance use and so I work every day with people who are like me,” she explains. “I just feel like there’s nothing that beats that connection with another person when they know that you’ve struggled in the kind of way that they have.”

Cuzzetto says studying what she was passionate about using the bursary was a valuable step to get to where she’s at now. Working in a field where her skills and life experiences can help others, combatting stigma around addiction by sharing her story and living with her partner and her children.

“I feel more myself today than I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”

Out of the Ashes began in 2007 with Leann Kopytko and her late husband Ron. Both believed in helping those interested in recovery. The first bursary was awarded in 2008.

“It’s amazing because the original thought was, if we could see five people have this bursary, wouldn’t that be just phenomenal, right?” Kopytko says. “Now, it’s almost 50.”

To date, the program through the Day One Society has given out 47 bursaries. There’s now a large number of past recipients successfully living in recovery with fulfilling careers.

“We just have so many amazing recipients who are out there doing incredible things,” adds Kopytko, “and the message that Amanda has given about the stigma and the impact it has in the community is really important, because the impact they have when they recover is even bigger.”

The latest round of applications will close on June 30, 2024, with Out of the Ashes staff and its alumni ready to welcome newcomers.

“There’s a lot of alumni in Kamloops who have gone through this process and there’s lots of help and support out there for those who are thinking of applying,” adds Cuzzetto.