Dear Friends,

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These past days have saddened and angered us. We are profoundly dismayed and heartbroken by the senseless death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minnesota police officer. Over the past week, we saw thousands of people across our nation and world engage in nonviolent peaceful protests against systematic racism.

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At Tessie Cleveland Community Services, we embrace diversity and focus on equity and safety of our staff and clients. We are committed to ensuring our services are free from discrimination, harassment, bullying, violence, and intimidation. Tessie staff work and live in areas all too familiar with brutality at the hand of those who are here to protect and serve. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we come together as one community and focus on what each of us can do to stop racism and cruel, senseless brutality.

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It is important that we embrace each other’s differences, including race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or socioeconomic status.  We must continue to look out for each other, create safe spaces for our youth, and teach our impressionable young people to treat everyone with kindness and empathy.  We must all look for ways to forge the path to live up to the American promise of justice and liberty for all.

 

- Carolyn Chadwick, CEO