Florence Ballard sister Maxine's house. In 1974 Mary Wilson invited Ballard to join the Supremes, which now included Cindy Birdsong and Scherrie Payne (Ross had left for her successful solo career in 1970). Though Ballard played tambourine, she didn't sing and told Wilson she had no ambition to sing any more. Later that year Ballard's plight started to be reported in newspapers as word got around that the singer had applied for welfare. Around that time, Ballard entered Henry Ford Hospital for rehab treatment. Following six weeks of treatment, Ballard slowly started to recover. In early 1975, Ballard received an insurance settlement
Roberta A. Ballard Ballard spent fifteen years educating herself in a variety of places. From 1957-1961 she was at Earlham College in Richmond, IN, AB. Ballard went on from 1965-1967 receiving her MD at the University of Chicago, School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. Roberta did a Pediatrics Internship from 1965-1967 at the University of Chicago Hospital in Chicago, IL. She would also do a Pediatrics Residency there from 1966-1967. Ballard would then go to Stanford University, Palo, Alto, CA from 1967-1968 doing another Pediatrics Residency. She would then travel to Washington, DC to do a Neonatology Fellowship at George Washington University Hospital