Mom Creates Organization To Help Single And Teen Moms, Feeds Hundreds Of Families During The Pandemic

In 2018, Altha Buisa, a single mother of a three-year-old daughter, finally found the strength to leave her abusive husband. 

When she picked up and left, Buisa, from Manassas, Virginia, took her daughter from friend’s house to friend’s house and even settled for a time in a shelter. In total, she and her daughter moved eight times in just a few months. Eventually, in early 2019, Buisa won in court and began receiving alimony for her daughter. That money helped her get an apartment, but at the end of the month, after paying rent, buying diapers and milk, and spending for her electric and phone bills, she had nothing left for groceries. 

Around the same time she was introduced to a caseworker who helped set her up with services to get back on her feet while working to find a job. 

One of the services they recommended she use was a relatively new organization called Empowered Mums. The nonprofit is dedicated to young moms and single moms; she learned that she could apply for assistance, and they might help her with groceries, and provide support. 

Buisa applied online, and before she knew it, food was being delivered for her family.

“I was really happy to find Empowered Mums because at that time, I didn’t even have a penny,” Buisa said. 

“I didn’t have anything to eat. I had half of a banana that turned black in my fridge. And when they came, I was drowning in happiness. I even took a video of myself saying, ‘Thank you, lord.’ I wanted to remember that moment.” 

It was a moment that wouldn’t have happened without Amy Montoya, who founded Empowered Mums in 2019 to help moms with the types of resources and support she didn’t have when she was a young, single mom. 

Montoya lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and gave birth to her daughter Liz when she was just 16. Montoya, who says she comes from a strict Salvadorian family, felt isolated and alone.

“To my parents, it was a huge culture shock,” Montoya said. “And there was a lack of resources. But also, because of the stigma around being a young mom and a single mom, a lot of us are scared and nervous to ask for things or seek resources because there’s an unspoken judgment.” 

Montoya figured out how to navigate the system on her own — receiving her GED and eventually going to college and beginning a career in IT. But during that time, she always wondered how she could give back and help women who might find themselves in the position that she was once in. 

Then she discovered an organization called Nest Of Love, a women empowerment group started by the daughter of a teen mother.

“It sparked that idea where I was like, ‘Wait, what about if I can change this from the top? I can empower moms, support them, provide resources, and ultimately, that will trickle down into their kids as well,” Montoya explained.

Since its inception, Montoya and Empowered Mums have hosted support groups, provided emergency relief/bill assistance, and distributed groceries and back-to-school supplies. In addition, she helps moms navigate the difficult journey of being a young or single mom without feeling judged. 

When the Covid-19 pandemic began, she shifted to mostly feeding those in need, primarily immigrant and undocumented families unable to receive government assistance. From March of 2020 until today, Montoya and Empowered Mums provided groceries for 230 single moms. They typically serve women in the Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. areas, but have even helped moms across the country, and Canada. 

Long term, Montoya hopes to provide grants for education for moms to go back to school and work more in the mental health space. At the beginning of Montoya’s journey as a young single mom, she found herself often depressed and even with suicide ideation, and she knows other moms face these struggles.

For Buisa, what Montoya is doing with Empowered Mums is crucial. She is grateful for the numerous times the nonprofit assisted her with groceries and says she knows they will help countless single and young moms in the future. 

“I am thankful for them,” Buisa said.