Foster kid, teen mom, homeless college student. Now she's making a difference, helping others.

Out of savings and a few months into classes at Milwaukee Area Technical College, Bria Burris lost her home in 2018.

Burris and her two kids couch-surfed for a while, crashing with friends and family. Then they moved to Morris, Ill., where her partner at the time lived, bringing some stability to their living situation but adding a long commute back to Milwaukee every weekday. She left the house by 4:30 a.m. to drop her kids off at their Milwaukee school, then curled up in her car to sleep in MATC's faculty parking lot before her own classes began. She paid for her tuition out of pocket; a felony conviction made her ineligible for a Pell grant.

"Everything was working against me," she said.

Stories like Burris' are common at MATC. Many students seek to lift themselves out of generational poverty but find their dreams derailed by obstacles — a missed rent payment, a broken-down car, a couple hundred dollars of debt owed to the college.

Burris' story stands out in one key way: The 2020 graduate now serves on the MATC District Board.

Most other board members have bachelor's and graduate degrees. One's a lawyer, another is a state lawmaker and a third runs a suburban school district. Burris was the only board member this past school year with the lived experience of earning an MATC degree. Formerly homeless, she now works for the City of Milwaukee, helping families secure rental assistance.

"Things have just come really full circle for me," Burris said. "I think I'm in the right place and I think I'm doing the right thing and hoping (that) sharing my story does influence someone else to believe in themselves."

She grew up as a foster kid, teen mom

Burris, 33, was born in Taycheedah women's prison on June 19 — Juneteenth. Her great-grandmother, Alline Atkins, became her caregiver when she was three days old.

An elementary school teacher told Burris about the historical importance of her birthday, which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. Burris liked how her birthday equated to freedom.

"I think because of that I always was a bit of a rebel," she said.

Around age 6, Burris said, she was "snatched out of school and taken to some strange building and basically told I'm never going home again." She's still, to this day, unsure why she was placed into the foster care system.

Burris reunited with her mom at age 13 but was kicked out of the house a couple of years later. She dropped out of high school after sophomore year.

A visit to Planned Parenthood confirmed Burris was pregnant at 17. She remembers a lonely bus ride after the appointment, the city's scenery blurring by as she processed her options. The dad was out of the picture and she knew she wasn't ready to raise a child on her own.

Atkins helped raise Burris' daughter, Najaha. Burris had a second daughter, Dezira, at 19.

That same year, Burris pleaded guilty to a felony charge of marijuana possession. She thought at the time her plea agreement allowed for the charge to be expunged after she paid restitution and completed two years of probation. But a judge denied her request, and the criminal record would haunt her for the next eight years.

Burris trades construction job for college

Most employers rejected her applications, unwilling to hire a felon. She also couldn't qualify for public housing.

Burris landed some odd jobs, participating in clinical research studies and working construction. It was back-breaking work that she found little joy in doing. She made just enough to pay the bills.

When Atkins died in 2017, Burris slid into depression. She had lost the one constant in her life.

Ultimately, however, the loss propelled her to make a change. She needed purpose. So she took the plunge, quitting her carpentry gig and enrolling full-time at MATC, even though she had to pay full tuition.

Burris studied human services, a program that trains students to work with vulnerable populations, such as youth, the elderly and those struggling with substance abuse.

"I felt like I would be good at doing that because I had had a lifetime of surviving things and taking care of people," she said.

The program requirements included volunteer hours and an internship. She worried her felony conviction would again hold her back.

Enter Michael Rosen, a longtime MATC professor who had recently retired and started the FAST Fund, a nonprofit emergency aid fund that helps students in a financial pinch. He heard her story and offered to call a friend of his, a former judge, to see what could be done on a pro bono basis.

The judge got the felony expunged from Burris' record.

The call didn't cost Rosen or the FAST Fund a dime, but it changed Burris' life. She gained access to a Pell grant and landed an internship with the FAST Fund, putting her degree within reach.

"The lesson for me is there's so much talent in our community that is wasted because of a lack of opportunity or draconian rules," Rosen said.

Now, more education, maybe even a political career

In July 2020, Burris became the first in her family of 11 to graduate from college. The diploma for her associate's degree is propped up on a bookshelf in the front room of her house in Milwaukee's northwest Amani neighborhood.

Burris would like to make room for another diploma, a bachelor's degree. She's saving money to someday enroll at Marquette University. Urban studies sounds interesting.

Burris' day job is deeply gratifying, helping people who are in the position that she was in just a few years ago. She started as an intake worker for the Wisconsin Rental Assistance Program, which provided relief to renters facing eviction during the pandemic. She's been promoted several times and now reviews tenant applications for the city Housing Authority.

Burris was appointed last summer to the MATC District Board for a three-year term ending in 2025. She'd like to eventually go into politics, maybe become an alderwoman. She's seen throughout her life how systems hinder families instead of help.

"Everything about my life said that I would fail," Burris said. "And I did. Many times. But I continued to get back up and fight."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Born in prison, homeless in college, she now helps others in Milwaukee