Racial Equity Accountability Statement
We, at Facing Homelessness, are committed to strict self-examination and clearly defining our active commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We acknowledge that without this internal organizational work, we will be complicit in continuing harm and perpetuating inequities in this country since its colonial founding.
As a social service non-profit that works with a broad and diverse range of people in Seattle/King County, we affirm our internal and organizational commitment to anti-racism/anti-oppression, diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
As a primarily white organization, we are invested in thinking critically about how white supremacy culture plays out in our work.
We are committed to boldly calling out and acting to end systemic oppressions and failures that continually harmed our most vulnerable communities and individuals.
We are committed to a more holistic, anti-racist, and welcoming place for all so that we all may thrive together.
We acknowledge and believe:
Homelessness is not an arbitrary or individual issue.
Homelessness did not exist in this country until white colonizers arrived and laid violent, destructive claims to the homeland of Indigenous tribes from time immemorial.
Those who experience homelessness today are disproportionately from the most marginalized and oppressed communities.
It will take a collective effort by all of us to end homelessness.
In many cases, people who experience homelessness:
Have intersecting identities that lead to more vulnerabilities and housing instability.
Have experienced systemic oppression and failures in societal resources and support systems.
Have experienced and continue to experience interpersonal trauma and compounding harm.
Our initial steps and commitments to our community are as follows:
We are implementing a Land Acknowledgment and have committed to developing new practices as an organization that will create a real commitment to alleviating the harms that generations of white settler colonialism have enacted on our Indigenous neighbors.
We are creating a multi-step, ongoing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-racist/Anti-oppressive (IDEA) action plan that will likely include, but not be limited to, the following:
Engage staff in reflecting on our own privilege, biases, and positionality in order to both recognize the ways our culture has unintentionally excluded folks in the past and become more welcoming and supportive of new identities, backgrounds, and expertise.
Center the voices and wisdom of our unhoused community and others with lived experience, and find ways to compensate them equitably for their insight and expertise.
Evaluate the impact that our programs and policies have on the most marginalized of our community members, and make decision points from that learning that will improve outcomes for those populations.
Deepen and strengthen our partnerships for mutual benefit with other local organizations that are led by, and serve, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, youth, and other vulnerable communities.
Keep our community informed about the steps we are taking to center antiracism, equity, and inclusion in all we do.
These are only the initial steps we plan to take, and we intend the statement to be a living document. As we continue to invest in learning and growth, we will return to this and continue to recommit to it. We ask you, the community reading this, to help keep us accountable to our values and to hold grace for us as we inevitable stumble and correct ourselves in this work.
As with all that we do, we invite you to come closer to the conversation and walk with us wherever you are on your journey.