“I had at least one or two that constantly told me that I would never make it. That made me more determined to prove them wrong.” Dr. Delores Saddler spoke with AFRAM News to tell her life story of resilience. She was raised in Acres Homes and is pillar in the Houston community, her life has been no easy feat, but she has managed to overcome the challenges and obstacles. The oldest of seven children she was tasked with carrying responsibility at an early age. “I helped raise and discipline my siblings” she said. Dr. Saddler’s upbringing was full of humble beginnings. “We didn’t have indoor plumbing until I was about 13, she said.” She lived in a 3-bedroom home built by her father; she shared a room with her two sisters and her four brothers shared a room. Her family had to bathe in the kitchen and the house often leaked when it rained. “We used pretty much all of the pots and pans that we had to sort of catch the water. When it was cold outside, it was cold inside for the most part.” Saddler’s father always encouraged her and her siblings to go to college, Saddler finished Valedictorian of her graduating class but during her junior year in high school she had a baby, and her school George Washington Carver High School refused to acknowledge her as Valedictorian. Dr. Saddler knew she’d always wanted to become a nurse but because of her family’s finances she initially allowed it to be just a dream. “I always wanted from the time that I can remember, I always wanted to be a nurse. That’s always been my dream. And of course, since we had no money, and since I had no access to a scholarship or financial aid, I sort of put that in the back of my mind” she said. Still wanting to purse higher education, she decided she wanted to become a math teacher, but after a calculus class at the University of Houston, she quickly realized that is not what she wanted to do. Saddler began […]

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