Dawn Gardner, CrossFit Level One Trainer, RSPS
Dawn Gardner is the Director of Admissions at Stages of Recovery, Inc., where she works primarily in a remote capacity coordinating care across multiple locations, including Waco, Lubbock, and Oklahoma City. In this role, she serves as a key point of contact on the admissions line alongside organizational leadership, managing high-volume communication through phone, email, and text with clinical teams, families, and prospective clients. She oversees scheduling assessments, gathering intake information, and ensuring each individual is thoughtfully placed into the appropriate level of care based on clinical, social, and environmental needs.
Her daily work focuses on building a comprehensive understanding of each client’s background to support individualized treatment planning. This includes coordinating closely with case management and clinical staff to identify needs such as employment readiness, housing stability, family dynamics, and safety considerations, which may include histories of trauma or domestic instability. She helps guide individuals into a range of programs, including sober living for men and women, and supports access to care across a broad spectrum of financial situations, from private treatment settings to hardship-based sober living options.
In addition to her admissions leadership, Dawn brings a strong specialization in fitness and nutrition as foundational components of recovery. She is a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer and Registered Sober Recreation Specialist (RSPS), and integrates her understanding of movement, hydration, and nutrition into her approach with clients. She believes deeply in the connection between physical wellbeing and mental health, often incorporating questions about movement, nutrition, and self-care into early admissions conversations. For her, fitness and nutrition are not separate from recovery work, but essential tools for rebuilding stability, resilience, and long-term change.
• Certified Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS)
• CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certification (CFL1)
• Tarrant County College - AS
• Board Member at Radiant Heart Community Dharma Center
• Volunteer with The Phoenix (national sobriety group providing free sober events)
• Volunteer with Dogs Matter (fostering pets for people in treatment)
• Recovery Dharma participation
• Sober Fit recovery coaching
• Bi-weekly workouts at women's sober home
• Fitness sessions at treatment centers
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important thing to me is being a beacon of hope and helping people choose life. When I talk about my most notable achievement, it's someone choosing life over the toxic cycle they had been doing for 20 to 30 years. I've worked with someone just trying to be a lifeline for them over text - they wouldn't even talk to me on the phone for a month. It's not about the admission to Stages for me. Are you gonna do what you need to do to improve your life? I will help you get there, but I won't do it for you. It's just hearing someone choose life, and fortunately, I get to hear that often. The numbers are never at the top of my list, ever. It actually makes ownership mad - I'm like, okay, we're not gonna reach our goal this month, but look at who's still with us! They didn't leave and disappear, they're still with us, they're still truckin', and let's celebrate that, too. Service work is huge in recovery, and that service work kind of filled my own cup. It's all about planting seeds and paying forward the grace that was extended to me on my journey. I'm a tiny wins gal - those are the things that matter to me.