Susan McDowell has plenty of drive, she just needs a car.
The former Brandon High School special education student dreams of opening a bed and breakfast in northern Michigan one day, but for now, she’s working two jobs? one she loves at the Palace Restaurant Management Group as a pastry cook, the other at Taco Bell.
‘I don’t really want to work at Taco Bell for the rest of my life, because I have an education and want to further it and go as far as I can,? McDowell said. ‘What drives me to work so many hours is because as long as I keep working and doing what I’m doing, it might take 10 years, but I’ll be in a better situation. I don’t want to end up like a lot of the people I know, living off welfare. I think I’m here to make the world a better place. If I work hard now, it will pay off in the end.?
McDowell is the first in her family to graduate from high school (2004) and followed that up by graduating from college? she studied culinary arts at the Michigan Career and Technical Institute.
The 23-year-old Clarkston resident struggles to get ahead with medical bills and little family support. Her father died when she was 19. Her mother is bi-polar and has ruined McDowell’s credit. But she doesn’t let it keep her down, says Jodi Burkett, a BHS special education teacher who taught McDowell for four years and is amazed by the young woman’s determination.
‘She just keeps on plugging,? Burkett said. ‘What I love about her is that the things she is up against in her life, it would knock most people down and keep them there, but she just keeps getting back up again.?
McDowell has had more than her share of car trouble? she has owned five used cars, all of which have broken down, in just four years. The best one ran for several months, the latest one, a 1993 Ford Probe that she bought for $800, worked for an hour. The seller refused to give a refund on the vehicle which had a cracked engine block.
She has now been without a car for nearly four months. She walks to her full-time job at Taco Bell and works from 8 p.m. to about 5 a.m. She was working full-time at the Palace, but her boss reduced her hours when she couldn’t make it to work without a vehicle.
She has walked the six miles on a few occasions, and Burkett has given her rides when she can. But if she misses work again, she may lose the job she loves.
‘She’s a good little worker,? says Chef Donna Sanders, McDowell’s supervisor. ‘She has really progressed. She’s learned to decorate cakes and is working on her writing and her recipes. She wants to learn and if you want to learn, you can achieve so much.?
If McDowell gets a vehicle, Sanders said she will increase her hours again.
Burkett and her husband, Oakland County Sheriff’s Sgt. Pete Burkett of the Brandon substation, believe McDowell should have the opportunity to reach her potential. They have set up an account, the Susan McDowell Fund, at Clarkston Brandon Community Credit Union, 4 South St., Ortonville, for anyone who would like to make a donation to help her get a reliable vehicle.
‘Here’s our opportunity as a community to pay it forward to her, so that she can continue paying it forward by being a successful part of the community,? Jodi Burkett said. ‘She’s trying so hard to rise above her family situation… As much as we love it out here in the rural area of Ortonville, it’s a disservice to many people who in these times can’t afford a car or gas… She’s stuck behind so many things and for as much as she’s given everybody, it seems a shame to not try to help her.?
McDowell says all she needs is a reliable vehicle that she wouldn’t have to spend $600 to fix right away? something to get her safely from point A to point B.
‘I’d be so appreciative? I don’t know what I’d do, but I’d just be so happy,? she said.