A Message from our Executive Director:
This year has proven to be an incredibly challenging one for our nation in so many ways.
The coronavirus and its economic fallout have been an unprecedented challenge for our country. Loved ones have died, people have gotten seriously ill, and many have lost their jobs and livelihoods. People were patient and then began to push back and rebel over what they see as government overreach into our daily lives. This is something seen as impacting all Americans, and it has, but the data shows that it has disproportionately impacted black people in terms of health outcomes, a symptom of a greater social ill.
As America is weathering the coronavirus and its economic fallout, another systemic issue, that of institutional racism, one that has been a structural issue for our country since its founding, has again been clearly evidenced through the death of two African American men at the hands of white men. What happened to George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery was wrong, and they are dead today because of the color of their skin. Black Lives Matter.
Like the coronavirus, the virus of institutional racism impacts all of us, but disproportionately impacts black individuals every day. I am fortunate to walk down the street, as are my two boys, without having to wonder and worry about my safety just because of the color of my skin. However, I and all of us are impacted by the fact that millions of our fellow citizens are not safe. We need to own that fact as a country, and we need to work tirelessly to have a truly free country that maximizes liberty and justice for all of us.
Although at CHN we work every day to address housing stability and homeownership opportunity for all, a big part of what we are doing is helping to solve for and correct the effects of institutional racism that has put black individuals behind for all these years. This is fundamental in the work that we do. It is also important that we stand up and recognize that openly and publicly. It is important that when we say we stand united or we say that we need to stay home together, as we have with this public health crisis, that it fully means all of us — no matter the color of our skin, who we are or what we believe.
On behalf of the CHN family, I wish everyone peace and justice in this difficult time.
Kevin Nowak
Executive Director
CHN Housing Partners
