The walk starts in the neighborhood that raised them. Tina Knowles and Kelly Rowland will return to Houston on Saturday, November 28 to serve as team captains for birthFUND in the inaugural Third Ward Mile, a road race and community walk raising money for maternal care, People reported.
Both women are already family funders of the nonprofit. The captain roles put them on Emancipation Avenue in person, leading founder Elaine Welteroth’s team in the Third Ward, where Knowles raised Beyoncé and Solange and ran Headliners, the hair salon where Destiny’s Child took shape after Rowland met Beyoncé at a local middle school.
What the mile pays for
birthFUND provides need-based grants that help families cover childbirth and related care, and it works to expand access to midwifery and culturally responsive maternity care. Every dollar donated through the race goes to the nonprofit’s community initiatives. One hundred percent of race donations support that work, according to the organizers.
Welteroth built the case on a single figure. “This is a preventable crisis. More than 80% of all maternal deaths can be avoided with midwifery care,” she told People. “We built birthFUND to help put care back in the hands of community midwives who are proven to save lives and help mothers thrive to and through birth.”
The day itself
The Third Ward Mile begins at 8:00 a.m. at historic Emancipation Park and is open to everyone ages 6 and up. The birthFUND community walk follows at 9:30 a.m. along Emancipation Avenue, and the Finishers Village after the walk offers food, music, local business vendors and a wellness experience led by birthFUND with sponsors The Honest Company, Walmart, First Response and Tommee Tippee.
Knowles, 72, framed the return as repayment. “Third Ward helped me raise my girls,” she told People. “Coming home to support the health of mothers and babies in this community is about watering the roots that made us who we are.”
Rowland, an early investor in the initiative, said the same thing from the mother’s side of the room. “Every mother deserves to feel safe, supported and seen when she brings life into the world, and I’m proud to stand with my birthFUND family to continue this movement for change,” she said. “It’s such an honor to return to the community I came from to prove that we can come together to make change possible, one birth and one mile at a time.”
Registration is open, and supporters can donate to Team birthFUND online. The first mile runs on November 28, through the streets where the salon stood.
Read more of The Social Register’s philanthropy coverage.
The Social Register’s event directory tracks the season’s galas, benefits, and society evenings. Plan your next evening there.
