Armed with a 9th grade education and faith that could move mountain, Mrs. Truedell Hardiman found herself widowed at the age of 45 with four children. As such, she became the matriarch of her family and for over 55 years she raised a family on just $157 a month that she received from Social Security after her husband's death.

She was a homemaker. One who never wore pants, always wore a slip, and never asked for help. She made her way out of seemingly no way. Her granddaughter, Regina Caldwell, was a recipient of her sacrificial spirit when while in college she needed $500 for books. Her MaDea, who kept her money in a coffee can under her bed, gave her the $500 and asked that she make sure she "wasn't wasting her money". Mrs. Hardiman took her eternal rest at the tender age of 98 just one month shy of her 99th birthday.

In honor of her MaDea's request to make sure she didn't waste her money, Regina is paying it forward and carrying on the legacy established by her grandmother; a legacy of love, faith, and sacrifice and thus the Truedell Hardiman Memorial Scholarship was created.