After growing up in a family on welfare, Sacramento State junior Brittney Henry hopes to promote education among low-income families as Miss Sacramento County 2008.Henry, 20, competed against 14 other women before being crowned Miss Sacramento County 2008 on Feb. 2 in the annual competition. She won a $2,500 scholarship at Sac State that will pay for her senior year.

Henry was talking with her roommate last year about school expenses when her roommate jokingly said “You should be Miss Sacramento and I’ll be Miss Hispanic Sacramento.”

The scholarship opportunities attracted Henry to the pageant, leading her to compete for her first time.

She says her family’s financial situation allows her to relate directly to her platform. She wants to inspire as many teens as possible to seek higher education and demonstrate the benefits of a college degree.

Henry was the first in her family to go to college with help from government grants and financial aid.

“It was definitely very hard for me to get to college. It was never an option I saw for myself,” Henry said.

“And somebody in my life, a mentor from high school, sat me down and said, ‘You can go to college and having a college degree can change the course of your life. You won’t be in poverty for the rest of your life,'” Henry said.

Lisa Ballard, the mentor, was Henry’s high school cheerleading and dance coach. Henry said Ballard became her second mom and a best friend.

Kellee Henry, Brittney Henry’s mom, raised her and her two sisters, Danielle Henry and Alexys Haug, on her own without child support from their fathers. As a licensed practical nurse, Kellee Henry made just enough money to survive with assistance for food and medical expenses.

Brittney Henry was diagnosed with a life-threatening virus when she was 16 that put her in the hospital for three months and in a wheelchair for three more. She said her body attacked itself and doctors never knew the cause of it.

The illness started with flu symptoms that not only sent Henry to the hospital, but also lead her to drop 60 pounds. She lost her sight for a time and was put in a wheelchair when she became unable to move her body.

“It was scary and I thought I was going to lose her. It was traumatic (but) she got through it, luckily. It was pretty stressful, but she made it through and that’s what matters,” Henry’s mother said.

Henry became unemployed after spending all her time at the hospital. The family lived on an income of $7,000 a year and received government assistance after losing their house, healthcare and dental benefits.

Henry recalls telling herself she wasn’t going to and couldn’t die while lying in her hospital bed. She says the experience made her mature at a young age and taught her she can control her destiny.

“Every since that situation when I hit a point in my life when something happens and I feel like I’m really low, I can look back on that and say I am not going to let this hurt me. I’m going to pull through this. I’m going to be strong. I can control what’s going to happen,” Henry said.

Following the illness, Henry tried to apply to colleges in Washington but not one would accept her because of her medical history. She was told the only way she’d be accepted was by repeating high school courses to make up for her six-month absence.

Henry discovered the California State University system had a program that would enable her to enroll in college without repeating high school courses.”She was determined. She didn’t give up until she got accepted somewhere,” Henry’s mother said.

CSU officials told Henry she’d be allowed to enroll if she passed the English Placement Test and Entry Level Mathematics Test. Henry passed both and moved to Sacramento to attend Sac State.

She said one of the biggest problems among low-income families is the lack of knowledge regarding opportunities to pay for college. At Puyallup High School in Washington, Henry wasn’t given support or the education about going to college.

She volunteered and hopes to continue volunteering at the Sacramento Community Learning Center where she can teach high school students about collegiate opportunities. Henry has educated students on applying for colleges and fee waivers and filling out Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms.

As Miss Sacramento County 2008, she hopes to attend advisory and leadership classes at high schools where she can connect with students and tell them they can go to college.

“I think that’s the biggest thing. Showing them if I can do it coming from very bottom, then you can do it too,” she said.

She is majoring in intercultural communications and hopes to attend a graduate school and enroll in a teaching credential program where she can master in intercultural communications. She hopes these skills will help her relate to students of diverse backgrounds when she becomes a high school teacher.

Besides being a full-time student at Sac State, she works as a student assistant at the Chancellor’s Office with the Center for the Advance of Reading.

Carol Rogala, administrative support coordinator at the center, said Henry puts together materials for professional workshops held throughout California for high school teachers in reading and writing to prepare students for college coursework.

Henry worked for the Reading Institutes for Academic Preparation program that offers reading workshops to high school instructors who teach ninth to 12th grades in all subjects.

She also corresponds with school districts wishing to adopt an expository reading and writing course for English faculty that prepares 12th-graders for college.

“I can give her a job to do and just know that she’ll do it. I’ll say these things we need in a spreadsheet, set it up this way, go, and she’ll do it. She needs very little supervision. She understands the nature of the task,” Rogala said.

Ashley Downton can be reached at [email protected].