The night after the JPS Health Network TeamBirth launch last week, I didn’t sleep — literally. Not because of the event itself. That was great! And, it wasn’t because of the vast impact of the maternal health work we are leading. That was simultaneously undeniable and exciting.
I didn’t sleep for two reasons.
For starters, it was the first time I stepped in a hospital maternity ward in 14 years. The PTSD from watching my son enter the world, at a mere 26 weeks gestation and weighing less than two pounds, reared its head. A floodgate of memories and emotions — panic, fear, anxiety, uncertainty — consumed me.
But, the second reason, less tied to my own visceral emotional reactions yet inevitably shaped by the lens of my own experiences, is truly quite simple. In that moment, as I attempted to get some rest, the weight of this role — my role at United Way of Tarrant County (UWTC) — crystallized.
Tossing and turning all night, I ruminated on the experiences of Black mothers in Fort Worth, and the ways in which our work impacts them.
As sleep continued to elude me, my brain compelled another trip down memory lane. These recollections were of my own childhood and the countless Black boys, many of whom I called friends, who never had the chance to become Black men. Not due to cancer. Nor traffic accidents. Rather to senseless and utterly preventable gun violence.
The impending sunrise beckoned a final wave of memories, as the sunset of my grandmother’s life echoed in my mind. As she took her last breath, dementia had all but consumed her body and her mind.
All of these experiences marked time, and they have shaped me. And, while this particular set of discrete incidents may be mine, they illustrate a much broader set of matters, undoubtedly formed by a tapestry of shared personal experiences that culminate in patterns. These very issues and patterns constitute an underpinning for the scope and depth of the work UWTC leads.
And on this night, they were also the thief of peaceful slumber.
The weight and the magnitude of this role is not lost on me. I see myself deeply connected to the work UWTC champions in myriad ways. While I have spent more than 20 years in the nonprofit sector, advancing organizational missions, my commitment to transformation is much deeper and more profound than that.
I am thrilled, honored and humbled to serve as the president and CEO of UWTC. Likewise, I want to take a moment to thank you for your trust and your partnership as we work together to build a more thriving community for all of us.
And, after a night devoid of any sleep, at around 4:45 a.m., I got up, got in my car and made the eight-minute drive to the UWTC office. Because, we’ve got work to do, and to borrow the words of Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, that work is changing lives for the better.
Adam D. Powell
President and CEO
United Way of Tarrant County