The annual Breakfast Celebration is coming up on October 6 (click here for details) and CHASF is honored that alumni Jerry Bowman will be in attendance to speak and share his experience with CHASF.
Jerry was raised in public housing in the Grier Heights of Charlotte where he often had to resort to stealing food from neighboring houses and gardens to support his sick mother and two sisters. When the Department of Social Services stepped in to assist Jerry and his family in 1985, they discovered a child who was full of life, even if he wasn’t able to live that life to the fullest.
The tea
chers, librarians and social workers who came into contact with Jerry throughout his life knew that he had great potential. He devoured books with passion, and had a curious mind that was always asking questions and seeking new answers. Despite his fervor for learning, Jerry dropped out of high school at age 17. His social worker, Theodoshia Willams, pleaded with him to reconsider, and reconsider he did. He attended CPCC in Charlotte to achieve his GED and take the SATs. It was then that Theodoshia introduced Jerry to the CHASF. Jerry applied and was given the money he needed to pay for books and supplement his tuition at Livingstone College in Salisbury, NC. Jerry later transferred to Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, and then back to North Carolina to attend UNC Charlotte. It was there that he received his undergraduate degree in 1999.
But Jerry Bowman wasn’t finished.
Inspired by his desire to combat the same illnesses and pain that afflicted his mother, and fight back against diseases like AIDS, which claimed the life of one of his sisters, Jerry attended East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine and received his PhD. Jerry now practices Emergency Medicine at the Carolinas Medical Clinic - Mercy in Charlotte, less than two miles from the Grier Heights area where he grew up.
We hope you’ll join us to hear Jerry’s story, and the stories of some of our other incredible alumni at this year’s Breakfast Celebration.
