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Single mom helps others who are raising kids by themselves

When Patsy Bryan asks for help, her community rallies around her.

Patsy Bryan, right, with her daughter, Charity Bryan. Patsy Bryan of Marietta, Ga., founded the nonprofit 10 Women of Hope to give financial assistance to single moms.
Patsy Bryan, right, with her daughter, Charity Bryan. Patsy Bryan of Marietta, Ga., founded the nonprofit 10 Women of Hope to give financial assistance to single moms.Read morePhil Skinner / Atlanta Journal-Constitution (custom credit)

Longtime friends of Patsy Bryan call her a “fireball” with a Type A personality, and her daughter says she is a “force” who won’t take no for an answer.

So when she’s out and about in her hometown of Marietta, Ga., asking for donations to help single-parent families through 10 Women of Hope, the nonprofit she started 12 years ago, people are more than willing to pass the hat.

That’s what happened recently when Bryan interrupted a men’s Bible study group meeting in a local restaurant. She told them the need, they literally passed a hat, she walked out with $350, went to Walmart and bought Christmas for a single-parent family whose paycheck wasn’t going to stretch that far.

She knows how hard it is to go it alone as a parent. She was a single mom who worked full-time for the city of Marietta and also held down two or three part-time jobs when raising her daughter, Charity Bryan, an associate professor in kinesiology at Kennesaw State University.

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Charity Bryan said her mother always worked “super hard” to ensure she had the same opportunities as any other kid growing up in Marietta. And her mother never complained about it.

Her mom recalls, “I was very fortunate that I didn’t have to ask for help, but it was like chasing that caboose at the end of the train. You’re almost there, then there’s something else like a flat tire, or whatever.”

Patsy Bryan remembers the “little surprises from a good God” that helped her make it through: the insurance check she wasn’t expecting, a refund from an overpaid mortgage.

“Somebody left cash in my mailbox one time, and I have no idea who it was. There was just a card that said, ‘Hope this helps,’” she said.

After raising her daughter, Bryan wanted to help single-parent families the way others had helped her. She and friends hashed out the idea at a local coffee shop, and in 2007 it evolved into 10 Women of Hope, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides one-time financial help to stable, single-parent families in Cobb County who have a critical need.

Bryan and nine other women on the board raise donations and approve funding for applicants who have been vetted through social workers in the local school systems.

In the past 12 years, the nonprofit has given away more than $500,000 and helped more than 500 families, said Fran Sutton, a former banker who, as one of the 10 Women board members, serves as treasurer for the group.

“I feel like there is a significant need in Cobb County to give people a hand up, to help somebody stabilize and help them take care of their family,” Sutton said.

Women of Hope has no physical location or overhead. Every donation goes directly to the need – whether it’s paying off a medical bill, a delinquent power bill, or making car repairs. No money goes straight to the family.

Sutton said their nonprofit model is simple enough so that they can act quickly to fill needs, and it can be duplicated in any city.

“We’re just 10 women, all Type A personalities. We’ve got a model that’s very successful and very accountable to the people who make donations,” she said.

Charity Bryan said 10 Women of Hope gives her mother a way to take the appreciation she has for all those who helped them over the years and “pay it back.”

“I’m so proud of her and the work she’s doing,” Charity Bryan said.

“Mom has always had a ‘never quit’ attitude and I know that is part of the reason for the great success of the 10 Women of Hope. She works tirelessly and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer when she is trying to help someone in need.”