A statement from Health Care for the Homeless

Health Care for the Homeless stands in solidarity with people across the United States and around the world mourning and protesting the death of George Floyd. We stand with those who remember Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Botham Jean, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and countless others who died unnecessarily at the hands of police or white assailants. We stand with clients and staff who live in legitimate fear that their names and those of their loved ones could be added to this list while walking, driving, exercising, playing, working or sleeping in the privacy of their own homes. We acknowledge that these lives matter. We resolve to say their names.

Health Care for the Homeless stands in solidarity with black and brown people who are dying at disproportionate rates from COVID-19, just as they do from other acute and chronic health conditions. We stand with them as they are forced to endure more violence in their communities, lower wages at work, less access to quality health care throughout their lives, more incarceration by the justice system and fewer options for housing than their white counterparts. We acknowledge that our health care system contributes to this oppression through pervasive interpersonal, institutional and systemic racism. We resolve to identify, understand and address the ways our agency is complicit in creating these disparities.

Health Care for the Homeless stands in solidarity with our staff and clients who feel anger, anguish, anxiety, exhaustion and frustration as African Americans. George Floyd was killed when an officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds while three others who heard Mr. Floyd’s pleas for breath stood by and said nothing. We acknowledge that we too often remain silent when witnessing the injustices around us. We understand that advancing our mission to end homelessness requires addressing the role of structural racism in the perpetuation of poverty. We resolve to do our part toward creating a racially equitable society.

Learn more about the steps we're taking to become an anti-racist agency.