Williamson County's Nancy Osman has been named "Woman of the Year" by Brentwood Woman's Club. Unbeknownst to her, several close friends of Nancy Osman gathered to share stories from their lifelong friendships.
Nancy has worked tirelessly with the Ty2 Foundation throughout the past year while volunteering in the community with several other organizations. Nancy is also well known for her servant leadership and generosity with her church family.
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| The Osman Family (May 2011) |
In March 2012, Nancy Osman and her husband Ty, Sr. lost their
son, Ty Osman II, in a tragic car accident. A 2011 graduate of Brentwood High
School, Ty was a freshman at Harding University headed to a spring break. Ty was hit while helping others on the
side of the road. He was always a very service oriented young man, going on mission
trips with his family and church. A few months after Ty, II's death, Nancy and
her husband decided to do a service project in their son’s memory.
Nancy and Ty approached the Hard Bargain Association (HBA) in May 2012 about
doing a service project in honor of their son. HBA serves Hard Bargain, a
historic African American neighborhood in downtown Franklin, TN. The mission of Hard Bargain Association is to impact lives and preserve the Hard Bargain neighborhood by rehabbing existing homes, building quality affordable housing, and enriching the lives of our neighbors.
The only project available was a big undertaking, not a simple one day project. HBA was in
the initial stages of needing to renovate the former Mt. Hope Cemetery
caretaker’s house into a new community center for the Hard Bargain
neighborhood.
When Ty first saw the former cemetery
caretaker’s house, he was overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to be done
before anyone could come volunteer. However, when Nancy saw the house the next day, she saw possibility the moment she walked into the house. Instead of seeing a dilapidated house in need of
major repairs, she had a vision of how this house would serve the residents of
Hard Bargain. When she was made aware that the residents of the neighborhood had
been dreaming of having a community center in their neighborhood for years, she
began to visualize what an impact this community center would have. She knew it was a perfect fit for a project to honor her son, because he cared so much
about giving back and helping others.
While the renovation of the house was a team effort
(friends, family, her husband’s construction company, volunteer subcontractors,
and the Ty2 Foundation), Nancy was the first one to have the vision of how
great this could be. Her friends rallied around her to help organize volunteers for the “Ty Us 2gether @ Mt. Hope” service day on August 11, 2012. Over 400 hundred volunteered that faithful day! Instead of getting stuck in a mire of grief,
she took action and channeled her energy into this project. She used her grief in a positive way and blessed an entire
community in the process.
During the “Ty Us 2gether @ Mt. Hope” service day, in addition to the work on the new community center, additional projects were done in the Hard Bargain community. More than a dozen residents received help with much needed repairs on their homes, landscaping, and yard work, as well as simple house repairs. Other projects included the demolition of a mobile home that was in terrible condition and a playground was established in the neighborhood, complete with a large Jungle Gym, horseshoe pit, and picnic tables.
Additionally, the McLemore House Museum of African American History was
painted inside and out. Lastly, volunteers help landscape and do repairs on the
Franklin Primitive Baptist Church, the oldest African American church in Williamson
County.
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| The McLemore House |
The new Hard Bargain
community center opened in October 2012 and was named Ty’s House, in memory of
Nancy’s son. Ty’s House is a tremendous contribution, not only to the Hard
Bargain, but to Williamson County. The former caretaker’s house is a beautiful,
historic building that was preserved. This
building is one of the few remaining examples of Second Empire
architecture, sometimes called the General Grant style, in Williamson County. If not for the
renovation, Williamson County would have lost not only a rare architectural treasure, but also a piece of the historic cemetery’s
and the neighborhood’s history.
The Hard Bargain build was not the only project spear headed by the Nancy and the Ty 2 Foundation during the past year, but it was it largest undertaking to date.
Nancy and the Osman family are humble about the many lives they have impacted in the communities of Middle Tennessee, across the country, and around the globe. Nancy would be the last person to want recognition for doing what she loves to do, serving others to glorify God. That is what makes her such a wonderful "Woman of the Year".
(I want to thank HBA and the world's greatest girlfriends for your help. )
Other posts about the Ty 2 Foundation
http://genmaspeaks.blogspot.com/2013/02/hard-bargain-association-discuss-tys.html
http://genmaspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-ty2-foundation-on-living-your-best.html
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