Woman’s Rise Out of Poverty : Profile: Pam Morgan’s climb into middle class makes her more exception than example.

Pam Morgan did in five years what others only have dreamed about doing in a lifetime: She climbed out of poverty and into prosperity.

Back in 1990, Morgan, a divorced mother who had dropped out of high school her senior year, earned $800 a month and rented a room in Garden Grove. Today she makes $75,000 a year and owns a condo in Fullerton.

Statistically, the odds against her feat are so high that Morgan is more of an exception than an example, economists say. Her story, however, shows that determination to reach a goal and a bit of help getting there can be a powerful combination.

“I’ve had some hard knocks in life,” Morgan said. “When my first husband walked out on me with a 6-month-old baby it was hard--I’m not saying it wasn’t--and my family helped me a lot.

“But I think life is mostly white and black. Sure there are some gray areas where it’s hard to see what you should do, but there are only a few and you just get through them.”

According to economist Rebecca Blank, a professor at Northwestern University who has researched national economic trends, poor people spend an average of three years in poverty before moving into a low-income or lower middle-class bracket. Most of those who do escape poverty will see their incomes rise to no more than $5,000 to $8,000 above the poverty line, she said.

Which is why Morgan’s entry into the economic upper middle class in five years is so unusual, she said.

“That is just extremely rare for someone to do that,” Blank said.

“It’s nice to know some people do make it like that, but it’s almost unheard of,” Blank said. “If you take people of low skills, their options just aren’t that big and most people are not going to get into what are typically considered middle-income categories--they’re not likely to get above $30,000.”

Blank’s research focused on national trends among blacks and whites. The research does not pertain to the elderly poor, who are unlikely ever to leave poverty once they fall into it, she said, or immigrant groups, whose patterns of economic success do not mirror those of the nation at large.

But most Americans do not earn much more than $30,000 a year. In Orange County the median income is $25,022 for individuals, according to the 1990 census.

At one time it seemed axiomatic of American culture that anyone could be well-off simply by following the recipe for success. But nowadays, no one seems to remember the recipe, and many doubt it ever really existed.

What does it take for a poor person to prosper? Education and job skills? Family support? Luck, grit, character? In how many parts and exactly what mixture?

For Morgan, the secret has been a combination of family support, financial aid, job training in a field that pays well and boundless determination.

Morgan, 43, was raised in the Lynwood-Compton area in Los Angeles County. She dropped out of high school her senior year, was married at age 17 and became a mother at 20. But when her daughter was 6 months old, her husband walked out and life instantly became a struggle.

“I went on welfare six months and then got off,” Morgan said. “It was really demeaning, and I just didn’t like that lifestyle.”

So she scrambled to take care of her daughter and in the years before she became a court reporter, Morgan worked as a secretary, a bartender and a designer of stained glass. She then remarried, moved to London, divorced and moved back to California.

“You know, my grandmother used to tell me that ‘God won’t give you a burden you can’t carry,’ and I’d say, ‘Well, God must feel like I’m awfully strong.’ But she was right. If something goes wrong, I always look at myself first. My motto is: I believe you have to accept responsibility for everything you say and do.”

Finally, she realized that while she might always be able to make ends meet, she would never rise from the economic lower class without specialized job skills.

The real struggle began for Morgan when she enrolled at South Coast College of Court Reporting in Westminster. In order to fulfill her long-term goal of becoming a court reporter, Morgan, who took out a student loan and received a federal grant, had to accept short-term poverty that at the time did not seem short at all.

Morgan spent the next three years in the toughest job of her life. The school expects students to master taking dictation at 240 words per minute and keep to a rigorous schedule.

“Every day at school you’re taking tests and usually you don’t pass, so most of the time you’re failing and that can be hard to deal with,” Morgan said. “So most people just leave. It was so hard, and my daughter was 13 through 17 when I was in school, but she was so good and so understanding about it,” Morgan said.

By her last year in school, in 1990, Morgan, who did clerical work at the college to pay her living expenses, could only afford to rent one room, so her daughter went to live with her first husband. “I felt so bad, but I couldn’t quit, I just couldn’t,” she said.

After three years of school, Morgan took the state test in May, 1990, and failed. When it was offered again six months later, she passed.

Like any job, hers has drawbacks. As a reporter who takes only depositions, Morgan is sent to different law firms on a daily basis and never knows from one day to the next where she will be. Also, she would like to develop a relationship with colleagues, but working in a different setting every day makes that difficult. But the people at the company she works for see her determination and willingness to put her all into the job that was so hard for her to win.

“I’ve worked with Pam for three years, and she is one of the best there is,” said Morgan’s supervisor Jackie McCollum at the Sarnoff Deposition Service Inc. in Los Angeles. “And I think because she’s worked so hard, she doesn’t take this career for granted like some do.”

Morgan said she values the experiences she had while she was struggling financially, learning different jobs, traveling to other countries and meeting different people. But it’s nice, very nice, at last not to be struggling with money.

“To me life is wonderful,” she said. “I’m at a great point in my life. I have a great career. I have the means to do things I want to do. I’m like this little free spirit.”