Ex-welfare mom in St. Louis graduates with honors; gets $31,000-a-year job

Jet, Feb 24, 1997

Pamela Ford is a mother who was a high school dropout and on welfare at age 16.

But instead of being complacent and dependent on the government she slowly began to ease herself out of the grips of the welfare system by getting her education and ultimately a job in a profession that she loves.

Ford, now 26, recently graduated summa cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a 4.0 grade point average. She earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting.

Ford now works proudly as an accountant with Lopata, Flegel, Hoffman and Company and earns a $31,000 a year salary, ending 10years on welfare.

"I'll never be on welfare again," she declared to JET. "And I would not have ever been able to say that without having an education. The only remedy to complete abandonment from the welfare system is education."

Ford is working and raising her daughters, Danielle, 10, and Cynthia, 4, whom she had after she was married in 1989. She is currently separated.

Ford told Jet she dropped out of school not because she disliked it, but because taking care of her child was her first priority. "I always liked school," she said, "but at a point something else was more important."

She earned her GED after finding out how hard it is to get a job without a high school diploma. But Ford soon discovered having a GED did not make things much easier. She then enrolled at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and earned an associate's degree and continued to go to school part-time to earn her bachelor's degree at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Her biggest help, Ford said, was her 90-year-old grandmother, Lucille Harris, who would oftentimes babysit while Ford studied. "If it had not been for her, I would not have made it," she said.

But Ford said she was not discouraged, and the best thing about getting her degree was that she made straight A's. She adds that anyone can do what she did if they put forth the effort and most importantly find something that they really like to do.