Barbara Fuqua's voice, however, didn't end up on the airwaves. Fuqua used to produce WBUX morning and evening shows, but she has had to walk out of the station, walk out of college, and go to work at any job that would take her because of welfare-to-work rules. 

When she returned to radio to apply for a job, she was turned down because she had no college degree.

"To me, a degree would have meant a higher salary, safety; it would have made it 10 times easier to find another job," Fuqua said. "I'm ashamed of the fact that I don't have a degree." 

In 1998, her husband left her homeless with two young children. She was living in a shelter when the county Office of Employment and Training told her she qualified for a program that would pay her tuition and help her out with rent while she got her degree. 

Three days into the semester, the welfare work rules changed, and she had to start working.

"They told me I should be out there making $35,000 a year because I can type," Fuqua said. "At the time I honestly wanted to crush my hand under my car tire so that wouldn't be true." 

She finished the semester, but could never afford to go back. When welfare reform was enacted four years ago in Pennsylvania, the law of the land became work, no matter what job. 

That means that if someone receives public assistance for 24 months, they have to start working a minimum of 20 hours a week to continue to receive benefits with no exemptions for people in school or job training. It doesn't sound like a lot of hours, but so far the law has curbed the aspirations of many. 

In the last two years, the number of welfare clients enrolled in education and training has dropped from 66 to 21 in a county of a half million. Of the recipients who have passed the two-year point, only three are in school. 

That means only 7.4 percent of the adults receiving public assistance are enrolled in school or job training, and many people believe it is due to work requirements. 

"There's a gap between the ideal of self-sufficiency and welfare reform, and the reality of it," said Santo Gairo, the director of the Bucks County Housing Group. "When welfare recipients go into educational programs, they do very well. They get a sense of training and self worth, and have a much higher graduation rate than the average student." 

The Pennsylvania House passed a bill to change this last year, but HB 1266 was tabled in the Senate in June. So another school year passes, and perhaps another would-be drivetime diva gives up her dream. 

This would have been Barbara Fuqua's first year out of college. Instead, she's worried about being on the street again. 

"I have no confidence that I can work as hard as I possibly can and not be homeless again," Fuqua said, tearing up. "Any little thing can knock this all down."