This story was originally posted by QCityMetro.

As the Covid-19 pandemic roiled Charlotte, Jewell Hoover worked quietly as board chair at Foundation For The Carolinas, which found itself flooded with community needs.

Growing up along the dusty roads of Beckley, West Virginia, in the 1950s, a young Jewell Hoover embraced three pieces of generational wisdom handed down from her paternal grandmother: honor the family name, keep good credit and never lose your dignity.

On a corner shelf in her grandmother’s home sat a porcelain teapot, a repository for family savings.

“If somebody in the community needed a loan for a sick kid, to buy groceries, or sometimes to get away from a domestic violence situation, she would loan or give them the money,” Hoover recalled.

Today, as the year 2021 draws to a close, Hoover is in the final days of her two-year term as chair of the Foundation For The Carolina’s Board of Directors – the first Black woman to hold that title.

In ways large and small, her work with the Foundation is a reflection of the values instilled by her grandmother – directing available resources to uplift those in need. Read more …