WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A national organization helping to uplift and connect Black women during a time of segregation is still serving the community and celebrating a milestone.
“June 17, 1951, there was nothing for professional Black women,” Rev. Audre’L Davis-Jones said.
For Davis-Jones that’s founding day.
“Wanting to basically just make a difference within our community,” she said.
They call themselves the Charmettes, a sisterhood founded in Palm Beach County, dedicated to making a difference in the community.
“We started out as sisters helping each other,” she said.
Davis-Jones said when the invitation-only club was founded, it was a way for Black women professionals to network and uplift one another during the Jim Crow era. Now, 70 years later, with 20 chapter across the US the organization is also focusing on giving back.
“The big picture now is really just trying to reach that goal of eradicating cancer within this lifetime,” Davis-Jones said.
She says they have donated more than $800,000 to the Howard University Research Cancer Center.
“The disparity we have found out just even with COVID-19 has created such an eye-opening awareness,” she said.” “So. with us being Black women, we know we have to work a little bit harder and support each other in that effort.”