Take Heart

A Journey of Hope

Radical encounters require a radical response.

In October of 2012, Delta Ryan took her first trip to Kenya. While she was there, she stayed in an orphanage of older girls. One night during their stay, a young widow in the community who was the mother of 5 children hung herself. The next day, Delta visited the widow’s home and witnessed the poverty, plight and despair that had driven this woman to take her own life. Beyond this, she was exposed to a greater systemic problem all together. Orphaned girls and boys between the ages of 13-20 often become “aged out” from support and subject to human trafficking, abuse and cyclical poverty. Delta was so moved by these encounters that she could no longer overlook this injustice and began to take action. After working 22 years as a physician assistant at Lakeland Regional Medical Hospital, Delta resigned from her job, left everything and decided to make a radical change one life at a time. She now serves as the founder and president sharing the story of The Take Heart Project.