What began as one woman’s deeply personal calling is growing into a mission to serve women and children across Clarendon and Sumter counties.
The Frances Bradley Memorial Women’s Center, founded by Sonya Brand, is working to build a long-term support system for women in crisis, particularly mothers facing homelessness or hardship. Before a permanent shelter becomes reality, Brand and her family are already finding ways to help — and next month, they’re inviting the community to gather for a Mother’s Day cookout in Manning.
Set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at J.C. Britton Park, the event is designed to celebrate mothers, with a special focus on single moms and women carrying the weight of caregiving on their own.
“We just wanted to do something for them, just to show them, okay, you appreciate it,” Brand said. “What you’re doing is good, even though you’re doing it by yourself.”
Brand said the center was first established in 2011 with her late sister, Dr. Jacqueline Fulmore, and named in honor of their mother, Frances Bradley. The vision grew out of lived experience.
Brand said she and her siblings experienced homelessness as children while being raised by their mother, who worked to keep the family together through difficult times. Later, as a single mother herself, Brand said she understood firsthand the struggles many women face.
That history now fuels the family’s goal: creating not just a shelter, but a place where women can stay, heal and rebuild.
“This is a place where they’re going to stay and get the resources they need, the counseling, the job training, the things that they need to sustain themselves once they go back out,” Brand said.
For now, the organization does what it can without a physical location, often helping with emergency lodging, food, care packages and referrals, sometimes with support from churches and family members.
Nneka Brand said she has seen her mother quietly help others for years and wanted to help push the vision further.
“She wants to pour into people,” Nneka Brand said. “That’s why we’re pushing it, and that’s why I’m pushing her for her dreams.”
The May 9 cookout will include food, music, games and prizes, all offered as a way to encourage mothers and introduce the community to the center’s mission.
