With community help, Seneca woman turns life around

While a teenager Seneca resident Patrice Cleveland skipped school and ran with the wrong crowd.  That behavior led Cleveland to drop out of high school at age 16, to use and sell drugs on the street and the result was jail.  But with community help, she climbed out of that deep hole and is now a proud parent with a college degree.  Cleveland was named to the dean’s list at Tri-County Tech.  She was offered a full-time position at Littlejohn Community Center in Clemson as its administrative and data specialist. She credits Ripple of One with helping her to earn her GED and Tri-County instructors, counselors and coaches with helping her to remain in school and stay the course. Ripple of One teaches participants how to set goals and how to manage and save money. Her biggest regret is losing custody of her two oldest children.  Her goal is to one day reclaim custody.