Caring for Her Family and Others

Chester County Dept. of Community Development

Brenda Deveaux-Ford

In the winter of 2004, Brenda Deveaux-Ford and her son were homeless and in need of emergency shelter. They arrived at the Community, Youth and Women's Alliance (CYWA), a sub-contractor of the Chester County Department of Community Development, looking for a place to spend the night. She was alone, unemployed and felt there was nowhere to turn for help. She had separated from her husband and had been receiving Supplemental Security Income and other public subsidies for 10 years.

"I feel overwhelmed and hopeless," she told caseworkers at CYWA.  

Jennifer Smith of the Gateway Shelter enrolled Brenda and her son in the shelter, providing them with temporary housing. She then asked Brenda to attend the CYWA Parent/Employment Support Group. Brenda immediately became a valuable resource and mentor to the other women she encountered. As she progressed toward self-sufficiency, Brenda was enrolled in parent leadership training and received assistance to become a parent leader through Parents Anonymous. Through these programs she received knowledge on decision making and family management. Brenda showed such progress in the parenting programs that she was elected to the CYWA Family Center's Parent Board. With each step of progress, caseworkers noticed the continuing emergence of her compassionate, outgoing and warm personality.  

As her confidence grew, Brenda's peers and the staff of CYWA encouraged her to seek employment. Yet after a lifetime of dependency, entering the workforce was a frightening concept for Brenda. She worried about how she would provide for her family without assistance. Brenda's life would change forever when a caseworker spotted an advertisement seeking a person to work with special needs adults. Immediately the caseworker knew Brenda's warmth, compassion and expertise would be a perfect fit for the job. Brenda summoned the courage to enter the interview process and a short time later was hired on a part-time basis. Quickly her employers realized her strong will to help those in need and Brenda was promoted to a full-time position.  

Brenda was recently promoted to house supervisor at the adult special needs agency. Her employer says, "Brenda has this wonderful ability to see people through their gifts and not their challenges. She is not only respected by her peers but 'loved' by her participants."

Because of the efforts of the Chester County Department of Community Development, Brenda is now completely self-sufficient, receiving no type of assistance since 2006. "I went from hopelessness to a person my family, and most importantly, I, respect and believe has a wonderful future," Brenda excitedly states.  

Chester County Department of Community Development is the Community Action Agency helping Chester County residents achieve independence.