When Marcus Belgrove lost his mother, Francine Hart, in 2016, he was looking for a way to channel his grief into something positive, founding the You Saved Me Foundation as a way to honor her legacy of social justice and community activism.
“The foundation serves as a platform to honor my mother’s legacy and to continue her work in community activism,” he says. “She was a true patriot who believed in the promise of America, that everyone deserves quality education, resources to deter poverty, and opportunities to advance in careers that will help expand the middle class and promote upward mobility actions that create and bolster lucrative careers or establish small businesses and entrepreneurialism in the community, particularly among disadvantaged or at-risk youth.”
Founded in 2019, the organization works to end hunger, poverty, and homelessness through partnerships with organizations and agencies that allow the nonprofit to provide scholarships for Google certificate programs, food banks for both people and their pets, diapers and feminine hygiene products, financial literacy courses, opioid prevention programming, a clothing exchange, housing resources, discounted laptops and hotspots, technology and career training, along with programs specifically for girls and women, veterans, young fathers, youth, people with a criminal record, and more. Today, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the City Heights Performance Annex’s outdoor amphitheater, they’re hosting their free, annual summer barbecue and music festival.
Belgrove, 41, is founder and president of You Saved Me. He lives in downtown San Diego’s East Village neighborhood and has an adult son who currently lives in Philadelphia, Penn., with his grandfather (Belgrove was awarded custody of his son after uncovering evidence of abuse when his child had gone through foster care and adoption.) He took some time to talk about his mother’s influence on his life and his current nonprofit work, how his own experience in foster care as a young child shapes his approach to helping others today, and spending weekends at the beach with his French bulldogs.
Q: On your organization’s website, there’s a page about your mother and how you started this nonprofit in her memory. Can you talk a bit about how the kind of person she was, and the work that she did, influenced the founding of You Saved Me?
A: My mother was an extraordinary person. She never looked down on anyone and believed all people had a right to the American dream, regardless of race or socioeconomics. She was an activist in New York and Philadelphia. She joined the Black Panther Party to educate the community on the U.S. constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the importance of voting. She championed against poverty and racism. She was a petite woman who enjoyed swimming and tennis. Always an athlete and an avid boxer, she was also swift, smart, and had a beautiful smile. A very no-nonsense yet sweet woman, and a protectress of all she saw as weak or marginalized. She worked as a teacher’s assistant at our elementary school to be closer to us. That position did not pay much, so she started a hot dog cart business and worked nights and weekends in front of the casinos in Atlantic City. She taught the eight of us to be business savvy and to read a lot. We did not grow up with a television or a telephone in the house; she found it to be distracting to our studies. Growing up, I read over 1,000 books for the [Pizza Hut] BOOK IT! program at school. Whether she was feeding homeless people free hot dogs, paying for a neighbor’s medicine, or mentoring the students at my school, she was loved. Mom’s friends ranged from all walks of life and people. Her legacy remains, “Do not judge people, but seek information to help heal them.”
Q: She graduated from high school at 15, earning a full college scholarship where she studied political science, later joining the Black Panther Party. How did your mother’s influence shape the way that you see the people around you in your current work with You Saved Me?
A: I see her in all of the people we help every day, through small but meaningful acts of compassion and kindness. I think to myself often, “How would Mom help?” or “What would she say to them?” It could be the smile of an elderly woman in El Cajon when we’re giving out food; it could be a hug from a curly-haired refugee who’s a new single mom in City Heights, for helping them with baby diapers; or a middle-aged woman learning new skills to pay her rent through the Google rapid career training program. I feel her energy of compassion in all we do. That is why this foundation, and our mission, is so important and it’s just as important for me to not fail, even if it means working tirelessly, day in and day out, grinding to make a change in the lives of those without hope.
What I love about downtown San Diego’s East Village…
I love East Village for its diversity, the walkability of the neighborhood, our restaurants, and fine institutions like the main library and, most importantly, my friendly neighbors and the many playful fur buddies that fill the local dog park.
Q: Talk about your festival in City Heights today.
A: The Third Annual Diversity and Inclusion Summer BBQ & Music Festival is a community event open to all. It debuted in 2020 at Balboa Park as a mixer for the community, a place where politicians, residents, business leaders, community leaders, and law enforcement all come together to discuss solutions to issues of hunger, poverty, and career training to help more people access opportunities and resources to become self-sufficient. There is no cost of admission and all items are free. We will have distributions of free feminine hygiene products, clothing, pet food and treats, children’s books, and food and other essentials. There will be live musical performances by local artists that reflect the theme of diversity and inclusion within San Diego County to help reach the youth and young adults who may not have heard about us.
Q: What motivated you to begin hosting these in the first place?
A: I wanted to create a space, a community think tank, of sorts, where people can exchange ideas, opportunities, and resources while mingling and communicating with business owners, community leaders, families, law enforcement, unhoused residents, and politicians without experiencing discrimination or prejudice. I also wanted to bring awareness to our programs and our community partners’ services that the community can benefit from.
Q: Can you talk about your goal of finding a way to end hunger, poverty, and homelessness and why that is so important to you, personally?
A: These issues are important because, as a child, I experienced hunger. I grew up with many women in my family and saw first-hand the embarrassment many felt when they had no funds for feminine hygiene products and had to miss school and work. As a minor and as an adult, I’ve experienced homelessness. It can be a mental slippery slope of hopelessness at times. I realize how many agencies are desensitized to helping those most in need and create red tape that prevents access to services. I wanted to bring compassion back to the community and restore dignity back to the people. That is why we do not require identification or have any income restrictions; we help with immediate assistance for all who are in need. We cut the red tape and instantly issue a food bank member card in place of ID for community members to use across the county at other partner locations of the San Diego Food Bank.
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
A: Never give up, not ever, and always remember where you came from and what you had to overcome to be here today.
Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?
A: At the age of 10, after reading the newspaper, I began a fundraiser at my school with my fifth grade class. We helped to kickstart a fundraiser to donate enough money ($250,000) for children in a small village in Somalia. The funds helped to create a harvest, build an orphanage and school, and to provide the village with clean drinking water. They were starving and certain to die without parents, loss as a result of famine, and war. Once again, it reminded me of when I was child in foster care and longed for my parents, except that I felt like I could help them, just like when my mom came back for me. My life experiences have made me very empathetic and practical with solutions—get the people the help they need, and a solution to the crisis, is how my mind works. My religious upbringing kicks in without judgment, so that we don’t just feed the people, but teach them to feed themselves going forward.
Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.
A: I enjoy the beach more than anything, with my two French bulldogs, Dinero and Merica. I also enjoy trying out new restaurants and visiting my old favorites. On the weekend, I’m usually home working on projects, event planning, and social media marketing for the upcoming week or month.