To the members of our beloved Chatham community,
As we share in the sadness, anger and uncertainty that have rocked communities across the United States since the killing of George Floyd — protests of the systemic racial injustice that has informed the life of our nation — we recognize that for many of our colleagues, homeowners, and community partners, the death of George Floyd is not an isolated incident, it is a pernicious and pervasive fact of life for Black people. At Chatham Habitat, we believe that Black Lives Matter.
Our organization seeks to bring together people with different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds to build homes, uplift communities, and restore hope. We understand that we cannot build our way out of this deep-rooted problem. However, we do believe that by building homes, we are creating the opportunity for families to build strong foundations, and affordable homeownership has positive impacts for generations to come.
Historic discrimination in U.S. housing policy — particularly discrimination against Black Americans — is one of the chief drivers of racial inequity that persists today. Organizations like Habitat that work on housing must understand that history, and it must inform our work moving forward.
Every day and from now on, Chatham Habitat is committed to creating an environment where humility, open communication, dialogue, and listening become our standard. In addition to being a space where people of all races, all faiths, and all backgrounds can come together in common cause, we commit to being actively anti-racist and to affirming, through word and action, that Black Lives Matter, and that our communities and systems must further this fundamental truth. We commit to continue to connect issues of racial and social injustice with historic barriers to affordable housing and working to eradicate those barriers. We commit to listen, and we commit to do more.