Cultivating community
When Corvin was pregnant with her first child, she said, she found herself frustrated with the lack of resources, education and community available for first-time mothers.
“I went through what many women experience,” said Corvin. “It can be devastating mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially when you don’t have someone to support you through vulnerable transitions like pregnancy and childbirth.”
It occurred to her that nobody should have to spend as much money and time as she did to find adequate resources. If she was struggling, how were less privileged people managing?
So, in 2015, she started The Village, a local mommy group that quickly became a kind of healing circle, she said. The group leased a space to have weekly meetings to hold space for each other.
“I was craving more depth and connection from like-minded people,” she said. “We don’t apologize, we don’t censor ourselves, and we don’t bash people. We fully accept people where they are, however they show up.”
This community cultivated a transformative confidence in participants, said Corvin. Group members have since branched out to facilitate their own meetings with the core values of The Village, and some have started business ventures. All the while, Corvin has kept thinking bigger.
“I’m working on developing a non-profit to provide quality childbirth education and advocacy free of charge to local families,” she said. “What they’re receiving in the majority of hospitals is not education, not choices — it’s hospital policy. We want to provide doula services, postpartum packages, counseling, group therapy, retreats and more to help people through these transitions.”
Corvin said she plans to establish her new venture, Purpose and Potential, by the end of 2022. The non-profit will also work to help families develop their own businesses to contribute to their communities. Her advocacy work is managed under her company Lady BEC Inc., through which she hosts retreats, provides personal and business consulting, and works with others in the local community.
“I don’t believe that women should have to give up what they love to be a mother,” she said. “I want mothers to take themselves and their goals seriously. Within our community, anything is possible.”