Making a Splash for Families in Crisis: The Realtors Behind NAMAR’s Splash of Hope 5k

As a police officer tracking down violent criminals, it could have been easy for Jonathan Crego to focus on the next case or big bust. But his experiences on the job inspired him to chase charity instead.

From 2014 to 2021, Jonathan served as a DeKalb County police officer and was a member of the county’s Fugitive Investigations and Tactical (FIT) Team, a unit that arrests individuals wanted for robbery, assault, drug possession and other serious crimes. 

While on the job, Jonathan lost his best friend and fellow FIT officer to an unexpected heart attack following a physical altercation with a suspect.

“I was just in a bad place mentally,” Jonathan shared.

While struggling with this grief, Jonathan encountered an unexpected opportunity to change a family’s life forever.

“While looking for a [suspect], I stumbled across a family that was on the side of the road,” he recalls. “I noticed one of the little girls only had one shoe, and they looked distraught. I could tell something was up.” 

Jonathan stopped to check on the family and learned they had fled a domestic violence situation. 

“They were homeless, living underneath a tree, and they didn’t have anything,” he shared. “I didn’t really know what to do, but I got them a hotel and contacted a few nonprofits.”

Thanks to Jonathan and the help from local nonprofits, the family is now safe and thriving. Jonathan looks back on that memory as the moment his passion for helping single mothers turned into action. 

“In that bad mental place, I realized helping this family helped me more than it helped them,” he shared. “I really have a heart for single moms and their kids, and I started focusing on helping them.”

In 2019, Jonathan formed the Community Policing Unit for DeKalb County.

“Four other officers and I were the middlemen for nonprofits in DeKalb and Fulton. We would make contact with people experiencing homelessness, those in distress, victims of fires or domestic violence and ask them, ‘What do you need? We work with nonprofits that will get you housing or clothes or food.’”

The following year, with his second child on the way and his real estate side hustle taking off, Jonathan decided to step away from his job as a police officer and pour his energy into real estate. 

He joined NAMAR (The Northeast Atlanta Metro Association of Realtors) and began exploring opportunities to give back to the community alongside other realtors. 

One business connection with ties to Home of Hope’s Executive Director, Maureen Kornowa, introduced Jonathan to Home of Hope. When he and his business partner, Emily Rabago, heard how Home of Hope was serving mothers and kids, they wanted to help.

“She told us what [Home of Hope] does, and we thought, ‘This is just perfect! We need to see what we can do to get the word out about them,’” Jonathan said.

Emily then suggested hosting a 5K and donating proceeds to Home of Hope.

“We both had run in a couple, but we had no idea what we were doing,” Jonathan said. “So Emily and I dove in and studied [how to host a 5K].”

Last year, Jonathan and Emily organized and hosted a 5K in downtown Sugar Hill with a handful of sponsors and twenty real estate agents who chose to participate. Their first event raised $2,000 for Home of Hope.

Armed with lessons learned from their first 5K, Jonathan and Emily decided to host another race, August’s Splash of Hope 5K in Little Mulberry Park.

“Our goal was to double the $2,000 we made the year before,” Jonathan explained. “We ended up getting 26 sponsors, and we had 120 agents sign up and many more show up the day of. We raised over $8,000!”

Following the Splash of Hope’s success, Jonathan and Emily hope to make this race an annual event and double their proceeds every year to benefit the mothers and children at Home of Hope — while also inspiring others to do what they can to serve families in need.

“At first, I was a big believer in not telling anybody what I was doing. I didn’t want to use it for bravado. But then I saw other stories of good deeds and remembered that’s what inspired me. Why not share what we’re doing?” he said. 

“It’s not for us to look good. It’s to inspire others to take a leap like we did with the 5K.”