Home Forward condemns the racist, systemic violence at the root of the recent murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police, the murder of Ahmaud Arbery by armed vigilantes, and the endless torrent of racist violence against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in this country. The residents of our programs and the staff of our agency are scared, angry, and exhausted. Parents of Black and Brown children struggle to explain what’s happening as they fear daily that their babies will die by the same white supremacist rage that has killed so many others.

This must stop! Home Forward must find ways to bring about the needed change in our own organization, and support larger efforts for reform, accountability, and healing. Our words here are few, because they are less important than our commitment to action. We commit to examining the ways institutionalized racism permeates our own work, and to listening to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to guide the needed changes.

Other words that should be lifted up and read are those from organizations rooted in this work, with whom we stand in solidarity. These are just two:

https://www.coalitioncommunitiescolor.org/ccc-news/5-29-openletter
https://ulpdx.org/news/2020/6/police-accountability-and-fight-black-lives

Please read, listen, donate, and act in support of organizations fighting for justice at the front lines. Do not give up. We won’t.
 
Sincerely,
Michael Buonocore
Executive Director
Home Forward