Founding Story
Founder Cara Belvin was nine years old when her mother Kit died of breast cancer. Cara founded Empower (formerly empowerHER®) in 2013 out of the gratitude she had for all the layers of support her family received growing up.
About
About Us
When a child’s parent dies, the loss is life-changing, isolating and a potential source of a number of lifetime consequences, unless support is provided. Losing a parent shouldn’t mean losing the promise of a child’s life, and that’s why we’re here.
Confidence and resilience are built when children whose parent has died find relief from their grief through a supportive community and learn from a Mentor who has also experienced loss.
Our Team empowers, supports, and connects children, teens and young adults up through age 24 who have experienced the loss of a parent.
Through our supportive community, we host Events that remind children they are not alone in their grief, and offer a unique one-on-one Mentor Program with positive role models from the community who help guide children to a life of promise and potential.
We are not your typical non-profit – we operate more like a hungry start-up, a team of innovators and entrepreneurs who are experts in scaling programs for Impact. We invite you to join our team of happy warriors – we are lean, hard-working and agents of change. You will never wonder if your work makes a difference – you’ll feel it every single day.
Our Programs
We provide children, teens, and young adults relief from grief and guide them through life following the loss of a parent. Our support comes in two forms: Events and Mentorship.
We host big events and small get togethers to remind children they are not alone, and we offer a unique Mentor program where we pair children, teens and young adults with positive role models who have also experienced parent loss.
We are a support system providing community and connection. We’ve been there, we get it, and we can help make the journey more manageable.
Our programs are available in 8 regions nationwide. Click below to apply or learn more.
Mentor Program
Guidance from an adult Mentor who has also experienced parent loss, who supports children during their grief journey.
Events + Get Togethers
These provide children relief from their grief, while meeting others like them who have experienced loss. Sign up to participate in an event in your area or learn more
Connect
Sometimes all you need is to know that you aren’t alone. Empower brings together an inspiring community built on shared experience and connection.
Support
The tremendous weight of grief can be a little lighter with someone to share it with — the entire Empower network is here to support children of parent loss.
Empower
Our mentor program and events remind children of parent loss they are not alone in their grief and bring them together with others who can relate to their loss.
Active Regions
We are currently offering programs within our 8 anchor regions: Southern New England, New York Metropolitan Area and Long Island, Denver, CO, Washington DC Metro area, Los Angeles + North County San Diego, North Carolina (Charlotte, Fayetteville + Raleigh), Chicago, and Southeast Florida (West Palm Beach to Miami).
We’re currently building our Mentor program in South Florida, North Carolina and the city of Chicago and its Western Suburbs. This process may take some time, so applicants and families should not expect to be matched with a Mentor right away. However, we encourage you to apply, as our vetting and training process is thorough and may take some time. We will make matches as they become available while we continue to build the program.
If you live outside of these regions, we do make matches from time-to-time, so please consider joining our Waiting List.
In the meantime, these communities are actively hosting fun events to provide children relief from their grief. Learn more.
Additional regions across the country will soon follow as we build a strong Ambassador program and increase awareness of our mission. Our sister organization, empowerHER UK, is available here.
