Where Are They Now? Jennifer Bunch

Jennifer Bunch’s life has not been easy, but she’s no quitter.

Bunch grew up struggling with addiction. She’s been clean and sober since she was 21, and is now studying to earn her certification as a licensed chemical dependency counselor to help others overcome the same challenges she faced as a teenager.

Bunch went to Dublin High School through her sophomore year. “School was rough for me,” she said. “I was bullied my whole life. There were a few students that made life really hard.”

To cope, Bunch turned to drugs and alcohol, and in 2003 she decided to leave school and earn her GED. For the next few years, she fell into addiction. “I continued to get in trouble, and stayed in trouble for a long time,” she said.

Things turned around for Bunch when she was 25. Although Bunch got clean and sober when she was 21, she remained on probation for previous charges. Bunch broke the conditions of her probation, and had to go to prison for over a year. During that year, her mom passed away.

“They let me go to her funeral and come and see my family and stuff, but that day changed me forever,” she said. “I’m not the same person I used to be.”

Bunch decided to turn her life around. She remained clean and sober, and got involved with various recovery groups and spent time working in rehab facilities and helping others in her situation. Shortly after her release from prison in 2013, Bunch decided to move away from Dublin.

“When I got out, I didn’t feel safe being in Erath County, after what I had been through,” she said. “I was very vulnerable after losing my mom, and I didn’t feel safe being here because I knew how to get my hands on things I shouldn’t. I just had to remove myself for a little bit. A big step in recovery is changing your environment.”

So Bunch and her girlfriend Shea — now her wife — moved to Colorado. Bunch worked as a restaurant manager at a Del Taco, and enjoyed the freedom of her new surroundings. After three years in Colorado, Shea wanted to move back to Texas, so the couple settled in Stephenville in 2017.

Bunch went to cosmetology school and began cutting hair. She found a job at Supercuts, and has stayed there on and off for a few years now. In between, she worked as a manager at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Stephenville.

Last year, Bunch started going to school online at Texas State Technical College to become a licensed chemical dependency counselor. She’ll finish the program in three years, and wants to start her own halfway house or sober living place.

“I’ve worked in drug recovery and rehab-type settings, and I love the work and I love helping people,” she said. “I’ve been there holding their hair back when they’re coming off heroin. I’ve been that person holding them and wiping their head when they have the shakes. I’ve done all that.”

While the work is rewarding, Bunch noticed that many rehab facilities are based on money. “If you don’t have money, you don’t get the help,” she said. “I want to try to create a place — not necessarily a rehab, but maybe a step out of rehab like a halfway house or sober house — that genuinely cares about the people that are there and gives them the support they need.”

Bunch and her wife Shea have been together for 15 years and married for three. “She came into my life when I was just freshly clean and sober,” Bunch said. “We live in a nice little brick house in Stephenville, and are trying to find a house to buy. I’m in a good place. After 36 years, I’m finally in a happy spot in life.”

When Bunch isn’t working, she’s usually spending time with Shea and their five pets. “We don’t have any kids but we have three dogs and two cats,” she said. “I also have like 300 houseplants — I’m a big plant mom.”

Bunch’s parents, Joan Fincannon and Gaylon Craddock, have passed away. Her mom was a huge source of inspiration for Bunch. “Losing my mom opened my eyes to a lot of things,” she said. “I don’t want to be a disappointment; I live every day to make her proud.”

Throughout Bunch’s life, she’s done a lot of work to accept herself and stop caring about other people’s opinions of her. “I’m a happy person and I don’t want to give people control over my emotions,” she said. “I’m going to be happy and I’m going to live my life for me and not what others think.”

Bunch’s advice for Dublin graduates is to try to create a support system of people who really care about you, and forget about the opinions of those who don’t have your best interests at heart. “Things happen, and not everybody’s perfect,” she said. “Just do what you want, and don’t worry about what people think.”

Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.