Dear Friend of RAA,

How are you? This feels like such a loaded question with so many heavy things happening in our world right now. We have spent a lot of time over the past six weeks trying to listen and learn about how we can better support and hold space for our black volunteers, clients and friends. Our goal at Refugee Assistance Alliance is to create a welcoming community for everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity (among other identities), yet we know that welcoming depends on a community which denounces racism and seeks justice. RAA wants to be part of that community. While we have publicly declared that Black Lives Matter, we know that this is just a start, and that it is incomplete without further awareness and action. 

RAA acknowledges that privilege, white supremacy, and systemic racism exist. We believe that the first step in moving away from racist behaviors, patterns or policies (in any setting) is to name the problem and accept that we are both learning and unlearning, and have work to do in making ourselves better. We are trying to be conscious of our behaviors, as individuals and as an organization, so that we don’t further perpetuate bias, even if unintentional. We understand that the current protests and racial unrest may lead those on our staff, board, volunteer crew, and even client families, to feel stress, fear, or worry. To that end, we are taking action to reach out to various people and provide a variety of safe spaces for learning, listening, and change.

• Action steps

  • Diversity & Inclusion for Nonprofits webinar and other staff training, including White People for Black Lives orientation meeting;

  • Conversations with black volunteers to make sure they know we stand with them in solidarity, want to provide space to hear their feedback about our programs or organization, and listen to any concerns they might want to share with us, both personal and as volunteers within RAA, while recognizing that it is not their job to educate us or share with us if they do not wish to do so; 

  • Creating an informational session for our client families so that they can better understand the history of anti-black racism in the U.S. (slavery, Jim Crow, “colorblind” ideology, etc.) and how it ties into what they are seeing in the current social movement today; 

  • Reviewing policies, procedures, and documents to see where we might be able to make our wording better, more inclusive, or more clear; and

  • Creating Core Values and Guiding Principles for our work, which will include a statement on race, among other things.

We know that change does not happen overnight, and we recognize that the inequality that black people face is nothing new. While we wish to respond in a timely and exhaustive manner, we understand that we’re not going to get everything right, and that even if we respond well as an organization, that progress depends on much more than simply our well-intentioned response. We have and will continue to seek feedback from willing participants, and are thankful to them for their time and advice. We commit to being teachable. In that light, please do not hesitate to respond to this newsletter with any thoughts or feelings you may wish to share with us on this topic. May we all strive to be anti-racist in our thoughts, actions, and goals. 

In Solidarity,

RAA Staff

Kristen Bloom, Executive Director and Founder

Jamie Everett, Director of Operations

Kate Upton, Administrative Assistant

Ashley Swick, President, Board of Directors

Miriam Potocky, Secretary, Board of Directors

Amelia Gowdy, Treasurer, Board of Directors

Nadir Elamri, Board of Directors

Allison Insley-Madsen, Board of Directors

Sophie Thomashausen, Board of Directors