Welfare Mother of 2 Realizes a Dream With College Degree

Olympic gold medalist Florence Griffith Joyner on Wednesday exhorted the class of 1994 to persevere despite adversity, but one Cal State Northridge graduate already had learned that lesson all too well.

Five years ago, Irene Brennick’s husband left her with two children to bring up and only a welfare check for support. Like Joyner, who overcame poverty to become the most decorated sprinter in U.S. Olympic history, Brennick surmounted daunting obstacles in pursuit of her goal: a college degree.

Wednesday, Brennick, 34, graduated with honors at an outdoor ceremony for 1,000 students, underscored by Griffith Joyner’s stirring words. The occasion capped four days of graduation events at the quake-damaged school.

“It’s easy to be discouraged today, but you must fight on,” said Griffith Joyner, who briefly attended CSUN before transferring to UCLA. “Have faith through hard times. That’s what life rewards--perseverance.”

Brennick knew exactly what she meant. Swallowing her pride, she had managed to feed, clothe and shelter her family on an annual income of about $12,000 by working part-time and accepting scholarships and welfare benefits.

In the past five years, she hasn’t had a weekend away from the kids, gone to the movies or bought a single item of new clothing for herself or her daughters, she said. Until recently, she even shared a bedroom with her children.

“I learned to live on nothing,” said Brennick, a wiry woman with large hazel eyes, a Boston accent and an easy smile. “People ask me what I’ll do when I’m working and have enough money. I tell you, it’ll be a luxury just to buy paper towels.”

Brennick said her quest was even more difficult because of the low expectations nearly everyone she met had of welfare recipients. Strangers in the line at the grocery store jeered when she paid the bill with food stamps, she said.

It took all the strength she could muster to continue her education in the face of state and federal regulations that she criticized as discouraging people to better themselves.

But buoyed by her religious beliefs, Brennick eventually found state-subsidized child care and a supportive church to help her.

“I knew deep down I was a good person no matter what society said about people like me,” Brennick said. “I knew all along I was a winner whose husband just happened to walk out.”

Brennick has been on the dean’s list every semester since she enrolled, first at Pierce College and then at CSUN.

“She was an excellent student,” said Isabelle Walker, a CSUN professor who guided Brennick’s academic career. “She’s very optimistic. That might have put her ahead of other welfare mothers in the same situation.”

This summer, she is an intern at United Way and plans to go off welfare once she finds a permanent job as a fund-raiser.

“I love asking rich people for money to help the poor,” she said. “I’m a living example of what good it does.”