Black Lives Matter
We feel it is important as a company to make it clear that we stand for racial justice. Through our professional and personal lives, we will fight for racial equity and stand with those who are the most impacted by racial injustice and police brutality in our communities.
African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders experience homelessness at higher rates than Whites. The Latinx population make up a share of the homeless population approximately equal to their share of the general population. The biggest gap however, is among African Americans, who make up 40% of the homeless population despite representing only 13% of the general population (National Alliance to End Homelessness).
We believe that Housing is a human right and that everyone deserves safe, affordable, decent housing. Housing for extremely low-income individuals and families, including those experiencing homelessness has traditionally been harder for African Americans to access. The ability to build wealth by (among other things) owning real estate has been unfairly denied to Black people because of historic practices like Redlining and racist housing restrictions that have been imposed for generations.
Black home ownership is now at an all-time low. Nationally, only 42% of Blacks owned homes in 2016, compared with 72% of whites, according to a new report by Harvard University‘s Joint Center for Housing Studies. This makes sense, considering that people of color are continually discriminated against both in rental housing and through opportunities for homeownership. People of color are told about and shown fewer homes and apartments than whites. Blacks are shown 18% fewer homes and 4% fewer rental units than whites.
Racism infects the fabric of every structure in our society and it must be dismantled. We as a company, and as individuals, will continue to challenge systemic racism, especially as it relates to housing policies and homelessness. We will not be silent until white supremacy is dismantled at every level of society. We will not be silent until Black people are treated equally in all aspects of their lives, and in society, because Black Lives Matter in the work that we do and Everywhere.