Traci Ford, Remarkable Women nominee
The third of our four finalists for Remarkable Women is a woman transforming lives by creating opportunities for the differently abled.
Traci Ford walked us through a newly remolded house in Frayser. The home is a place for the developmentally and intellectually disabled to call home where they share living space and are supervised at all times.
It’s one of the group homes owned by her company Pathways Toward Success.
“So I have a son with cerebral palsy, and he’s 28 years old, so he kind of forced this caregiving thing on me, like I could never figure out, like, why, you know, why my child. But now I figured it out,” Ford said.
Her son Tyrin is the inspiration for her leaving her job as a nurse and stepping out on faith to become an entrepreneur.
“We were taught to make money one way, and that was to go to school and work for someone else,” Ford said. “But there is nothing wrong with coming outside of that box and starting your business. All you can do is try.”
She now co-owns group homes in Frayser, Raleigh, Bartlett and Cordova. House members live together and interact with each other and the community while taking field trips to enjoy the world around them.
“Yes, it came natural. It started because of my son. I manage his care. And when I say manage, meaning I have the staff trained them, the backgrounds on them,” she said. “So I was doing it anyway and I’ve been doing it since 2016. Then the idea popped into my head, you know what? If I can do this for him, I can do it for others and get compensated.”
“She says it’s never been just about the money. Pathways toward success is a business born out of her heart. In less than a year, the company grew from 4 employees to 30.
Ford also offers supportive in-home care through a home care agency she started.
“Now, I’m able to give back,” she said. “You know, I can be that person that I needed, you know, 28 years ago.”
She doesn’t just help families take care of the differently abled, she also hires them. Many times they have trouble finding employment.
Jardarius Coleman is the supervisor of environmental services at the Pathways company office. He used to be one of her patients.
“I want them to be able to work, you know, to even possibly have families, to live independently,” Ford says. “You know, the things that we enjoy.”
Ford says she wants the best for her house members and patients, just as she does for her own son.
“There are so many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and for years they were not welcome in society,” Ford said. “And so what I want to happen is for the community to see that these individuals are just like you. They just may have, you know, something a little different going on or special going on or whatever, but I want them included in the community.”
Traci Ford is a remarkable woman who no longer asks “Why my child”. She knows it’s part of her life calling to make him and other differently abled individuals feel included and offered opportunities to contribute to society in their own unique way.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
