A dozen years ago, Watertown’s Jay Hughes met a woman who started a non-profit organization to help young women who had lost their mothers by giving them a special day on Mother’s Day. Hughes was the emcee of an auction in Scituate for Cara Belvin’s organization, Empower. The event raised more than $30,000 and got Belvin’s effort moving toward what it is now — a group that has an impact internationally.
Earlier this year Hughes was able to assist Belvin again, this time by making a donation via his employer of $10,000 to Empower at an event he held at Donohue’s Bar & Grill.
“I work for Movement Mortgage, and we consider ourselves to be an impact lender. And what that means is that every loan that I do, a percentage of the profits goes to our Movement Foundation,” Hughes said.
Fred Allard, branch manager of Movement Mortgage’s Waltham office, said 50 cents of every dollar that comes into the company goes to its charity.
“The charity’s primary desire is to build inter city schools. We have six around the nation now,” Allard said. “We’re aiming to build 100 but we pick areas where the biggest need is. They measure by whoever has only the lowest third grade reading and math level, and say ‘We want to effect change here.'”
Movement Mortgage, which was co-founded by former NFL player Casey Crawford, is headquartered in South Carolina. Some of the charity’s funds also go to causes in the areas where its branches are located. The employees nominate causes and also vote on which one to award the funds.
“We’ve only been here for a couple of years, and we’ve given $300,000 already to 30 different causes around the area,” Allard said.
When Hughes heard about the program he nominated Belvin and Empower.
“I met her that night back in 2013 when she said to me, ‘I have $39 in the bank account. I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to do this ever again,” Hughes said. “I basically said, ‘Hold my beer. Watch this.’ I was the auctioneer, and through the generosity of the members of the Scituate Yacht Club they raised $30,000.”
Belvin started the group, originally called Empower Her, because she could see that young people who lost a parent needed help and also went through something many of their friends had not.
“It is for kids who have experienced the loss of a mom or dad. We provide all programs free of charge, and provide a mentor program where we match kids with adults like me,” Belvin said. “I was 9 years old when my mom died of breast cancer, so I was really looking for something like this growing up.”
The group now serves boys as well, and organizes events where they can meet other kids who have experienced loss of their mom or dad, and to build community.
The first year, Belvin gathered a group of seven teenage girls on Mother’s Day and they stayed at a hotel in downtown Boston. One of the first participants, Jess Digangi, now helps Belvin with Empower.
“The Mother’s Day retreat was the first event I ever went to and walking in I knew nobody. I didn’t really know anyone else who had lost their mom,” Digangi said. “I met Cara, and I met so many other women who had also experienced loss. Just seeing adult women still living, going through their day-to-day life without their mom made me inspired to know that I could do that eventually. So it was just a really inspiring moment, and ever since I’ve been a part of it.”
Belvin’s idea caught the attention of places like PBS, NBC’s The Today Show, Fox News, as well as local news outlets. Through the years, Empower has helped thousands of kids, Belvin said, and it has spread across the nation and overseas.
“We got a lot of interest from other people around the country to start their own chapters. So we’re active in 10 cities here, and then in London,” Belvin said. “Last year alone, we served about 800 children.”
Hughes also interviewed Belvin on the podcast “Settle Down,” which he co-hosts with Watertown’s Ari Koufos, broker/owner of Realty Executives. See the episode by clicking here.