Jeanetta Hill: ‘We are our brothers’ keeper’
“Three years ago a woman in my church lost the lights in her house because she couldn’t pay her bill,” said Jeanetta Hill, president and founder of Personal Touches by Jeanetta.
“I gave her the money she needed, and just to see the happiness on her face was my reward. It’s about what you can do for the next person.”
A Leadership Giver in the Charmaine Chapman Society of the United Way of Greater St. Louis, Hill began her special events decorating company in 1988. Now, at age 44, she runs offices in St. Louis and Detroit, meets with clients to determine their décor goals and manages five permanent and 20 temporary staff who help implement her creative ideas.
She began in the business by decorating her own home. While working as a high school recruiter for a business school, she won contracts with high schools to decorate their proms, as many as 15 per year. Xerox then discovered her and brought her into corporate events work.
Who’s Who in Black St. Louis featured Jeanetta Hill’s success story, and Jeanetta was invited by Johnny Furr Jr. and Minga Furr, past co-chairs of the Charmaine Chapman Society, to join those Leadership Givers already a part of the African-American giving initiative.
“They tugged on my heartstrings as they spoke about the 200 agencies and the great number of people United Way helps each year. I like that United Way has been around for a long time, is a trustworthy organization and makes sure the money raised gets directly into the hands of people who need it. I thought, ‘I want to be part of that as well,’” Hill said.
“Through my involvement, I discovered I had been helped by two United Way agencies. The YMCA and the Urban League gave me a full scholarship to SIU-E, and one of my two daughters won a 4-year partial scholarship covering room, board and books. In addition to my United Way Leadership Giving, I’ve fundraised for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and served on the board of the Youth and Family Center – both United Way agencies.”
Jeanetta was separated from her 9 siblings at 18 months, then sent to East St. Louis from Michigan to be raised by her aunt and uncle, who died when she was 5. She was raised by foster parents who are now deceased and divorced before her two sons were grown.
“I was raised to believe you put extra in the pot for someone who could drop by. My grandmother would say, ‘If I don’t give, it’s because I don’t have,’” Hill said.
“I can always generate more money in my business to help someone; some people on fixed incomes don’t have that resource.”
She said she knows “what you can do for the next person” is a good principle to live by. While talented, successful and financially independent today, she keeps in mind that “we never know in what position we are going to be in.”
“The economy is not good, and things are so expensive. Some people are trying to make it from day to day. A single mother needs money to buy food for her children.”
This fact helps her “understand how other families feel and explains why I’m a giver of a hand up – of information, money, food and clothes. I’m willing to do it. It’s our responsibility to help. We are our brothers’ keeper!”
The Charmaine Chapman Society is a leadership giving program through United Way of Greater St. Louis that recognizes African Americans who give $1,000 or more to the annual fund-raising campaign. Founded in 1994 by St. Louis American publisher Donald M. Suggs, the Charmaine Chapman Society has been heralded nationally as a model program.
For more information on the Charmaine Chapman Society, call (314-539-4116 or visit www.pledgeunitedway.org.
