New Black Nurses Association Chapter Opens in Fort Bend County

An inaugural nurses’ ball was recently held to celebrate the initiation of a new Black Nurses Association chapter. Named the Fort Bend County Black Nurses Association Inc., the new chapter’s mission is to provide a forum for collective action by African-American nurses to "investigate, define, and determine what the health care needs of African-Americans are, and to implement change to make available to African-Americans and other minorities, health care commensurate with that of the larger society."

Nearly 300 attended the formal dinner event. Naverelle Dabney served as the emcee, and Judge Joel Clouser was the master of ceremonies, swearing the chapter’s board of directors into office.

The Rev. Robert Jefferson, pastor of Cullen Missionary Baptist Church, gave the inauguration prayer. Words of encouragement were also offered by Dr. Bettye Davis-Lewis, first vice president of the National Black Nurses Association; Dorothy Connly, president of the Gulf Coast Black Nurses Association of Galveston County; Davis Rowe, CEO of Polly Ryon Memorial Hospital; and Howard Jefferson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People-Houston Branch.

Sponsors for the event included: All God’s People, an assisted living home; attorney Angelina Gooden, Beryl Grady, Brookhaven Assisted Living Facility, Daphne John-Smith, Dr. Bettye Davis-Lewis, Jennifer Tillery, Lola Denise Jefferson, Otis and Janet Anderson, Polly Ryon Memorial Hospital, Roy Taylor, Sherry Taylor, Houston VA Medical Center, Vanessa Auguillard, and Zelda Jones.

The officers for the newly formed Fort Bend County Black Nurses Association are: Lola Denise Jefferson, president and founder; Diane Barber, vice president; Renee Chandler, secretary; Loretha Maxey, corresponding secretary; Vanessa Auguillard, treasurer; Ardis Bush, historian; Eddie Gradney, by-laws; Bridgett Scott Lane, parliamentarian; Christy Almore, editor; Elizabeth Phashe, chaplain; Beulah Hadrick, special event coordinator; Dr. Betty Davis-Lewis, advisor; and board members Karolyn Artis, Mary Holt Ashley, Avis Davis, Beryl Grady, Ethel Ivory, Alene Jackson, Daphne John-Smith, Josie Rather, Carolyn Reades, Sherry Taylor, and Norma Faye Young.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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