Local Mom Gives a “Hand Up” to Single Mothers

Tricia Ward, 40, was a successful real estate broker who made her own hours. She was a self-sufficient single mother who often took her kids out to dinner and on special family vacations every year. The world was hers — until the economy crashed.

With two children to raise on her own, this tenacious single mom didn’t let life drag her down.

Ward is now an up-and-coming local “mompreneur” making positive changes in the community.

The East Bay native is the founder and director of hireasinglemom.com and singlemomcharity.com.

As a single mother, Ward knows the hurdles some may face firsthand.

During her marriage Ward said she was abused, which led to her divorcing her husband of eight years. She raised their two children, then 3 and 7, while owning and running a successful real estate brokerage.

When the housing market crashed, Ward held onto her business as long as she could. In 2009, she lost her office but brought her brokerage to her home.

She was able to hang on despite lack of home sales until 2010. When four home sale offers fell through that year, so did her business and financial stability.

She was fortunate to get some help from her parents but after relying on credit during the demise of her business, Ward was in debt. She tried to get government assistance but was turned away because she was not “poor enough” for help, she said.

Ward pared down luxuries like the cable and phone bills. She had to put off urgent home repairs such as a roof leak and a broken garage door. Many times she had to pick up food from the food bank to suppliment the meager groceries she could afford in order to get a meal on the table.

Without child support or health insurance and in order to pay the bills and feed her family, Ward went to work as a waitress at night at the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant in Union City and started a daycare out of her home called Teddy Bear Junction Daycare during the day.

Her tireless efforts have paid off. She was able to erase $10,000 in debt last year and has managed to keep the same home she's lived in for over 13 years.

In 2011, while launching her groundbreaking websites hireasinglemom.com and singlemomcharity.com, Ward worked 84 hours a week the entire year, she said.

Ward had a vision of reaching out to other single moms in similar situations and connecting them with resources such as childcare assistance and education combined with support.

“I have supportive parents who have helped me but a lot [of single moms] don’t have that support,” she said.

“I don’t want a mom to fail just because her car breaks down," Ward said. "I have been there."

Singlemomcharity.com was created to address the single mom’s urgent needs such as the basics like food, electricity and transportation.

The second goal of the charity is to help single moms to improve their lives and the third goal is to provide scholarships to both single moms and their children. Ward has set her sights on providing three scholarships this year.

A relatively young business with about 23 members so far, Ward sums up her hireasinglemom.com website as a “Yellow Pages for single moms.”

The goal of the site is to draw business to increase the income of professional single working moms so they can better support their children and help their children regain the time that they are missing with their mothers.

“Single moms don’t need a hand out, they are looking for a hand up,” comments Ward. “We want to change the perception of the single mom.”

She believes that when a mother is happy and feels safe and secure financially, they are better able to give more to their kids.

In order to join, single moms can go to the website and sign up. The first year is free and then the cost is $5 per month as a member. Single moms from all professional backgrounds are welcome.

Ward’s two children are now 20 and 17 and are supportive in her venture. Ward has set her sights very high and knows she has the fortitude to achieve her goals.

She currently holds two degrees including a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies and Leadership, an Associate of Arts degree in Business Administration and is about to complete a second Associate of Arts degree in Child Development.

Always interested in mentoring and being a positive part of children’s lives, Ward has been a youth leader at Faith Fellowship Church for over 14 years.  

She is writing a book and would love to become a motivational speaker and eventually a therapist.

Her biggest challenge has been working two jobs while trying to get both the nonprofit and for-profit business off of the ground. But the biggest reward says Ward, “Have been the relationships I have built.”

Ward cherishes the camaraderie she has gained in bonding with other single mothers. For Ward, the most unexpected thing she has experienced so far in this enterprise has been the reactions of so many.

“It is so touching to see [people’s reaction’s] when you are trying to help. People appreciate it," she said.

Many people have brought her to tears.

“It is not even about the thank you, it is about touching lives,” she said.