The recent events related to the death of George Floyd are yet another tragic instance of police brutality, longstanding injustice, and severe inequality built into the many systems in the US. Our criminal justice system in many places is broken and millions of Black people have been unnecessarily incarcerated, removing their rights and rendering them second class citizens.
Most of us will never truly understand how this injustice truly feels, and we as a community must commit to becoming better educated and taking decisive action.
At CIP, we are proud of our diverse and amazing community and of the young adults we serve. We've always believed that learning disabilities are truly learning differences - and differences of all kinds are to be celebrated. We were founded on the belief that all people are "made for good purpose and inherently valuable".
It is in this same system of beliefs that our CIP community stands tall in solidarity with those who are vehemently against such violence, injustice, inequity, and racism toward Black people and people of color. We are committed to contributing to this movement in a meaningful and sustained way.
CIP continually evolves to best meet the needs of our community. We are taking the following steps to help ensure we meet this mark:
- Create a Diversity and Inclusion Committee for advocacy and to help better embrace principles of inclusion, equity, justice, and diversity throughout CIP
- Ensure employees can continue to access our assistance programs and have safe spaces to discuss, share, or raise concerns
- Seek to further diversify our community members, board, and business
- Train and educate managers and staff on topics such as unconscious bias
- Give back to our local communities through service-learning and leadership efforts
