Kimberly Elise portrays Helen McCarter, a depressed woman living in Atlanta with her husband Charles (Steve Harris). When Charles decides he wants to marry his "other woman" Brenda, he literally drags Helen out the door. With no place to go, Helen goes to live with her grandmother Mabel "Madea" Simmons (Tyler Perry) in the ghetto. Madea assists Helen in getting her life back under control with the help of Helen's mother Myrtle Jean (Cicely Tyson), Madea's brother Joe (Tyler Perry), and Brian (Tyler Perry), her attorney relative.