Archive for February 2023
UWSCMI Earns Top Merger Award
The merger that created United Way of South Central Michigan has been named the nonprofit M&A Deal of the Year by MiBiz Magazine. UWSCMI will be recognized at an award ceremony this week. UWSCMI will join winners from 12 business sectors and five individual categories being honored on Wednesday in Grand Rapids. In an interview…
Read MoreDay 18: Being an Ally
“We all have a unique set of privileges that affords us special access and immunity that others may not have. Through allyship, we can begin to close that gap by strategically using our privileges.” -Allyship (& Accomplice): The What, Why, and How by Michelle MiJung Kim What does it mean to be an ally? An…
Read MoreDay 17: Building a Race Equity Culture
“And I saw that what divided me from the world was not anything intrinsic to us but the actual injury done by people intent on naming us, intent on believing that what they have named us matters more than anything we could ever actually do.” Ta-Nahesi Coates. Every day in the workplace, individuals face challenges…
Read MoreDay 16: The Impact of Racial Trauma on Black, Indigenous, and All People of Color
Recent events including the continued killings of unarmed Black people by law enforcement and the disproportionate rates of COVID-19 cases in Black and Hispanic communities once again shed light on the deeply embedded systemic racism in this country and its institutions. It is important to recognize that People of Color often experience significant trauma as…
Read MoreDay 15: Adverse Childhood Experiences
“Many abused children cling to the hope that growing up will bring escape and freedom. But the personality formed in the environment of coercive control is not well adapted to adult life. The survivor is left with fundamental problems in basic trust, autonomy, and initiative. She approaches the task of early adulthood—establishing independence and intimacy—burdened…
Read MoreDay 14: Education
More than 65 years after the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, studies show that public schools across the United States are just as racially segregated as they were in the Jim Crow era. According to a new report by EdBuild, U.S. school districts…
Read MoreFEMA Grants Available; $460K To Tackle Hunger, Homelessness
United Way of South Central Michigan has been awarded $460,437 in federal funds to support local food and shelter assistance programs. The emergency funding is provided through the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program (EFSP), administered by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The federal program is directing $187,860 for…
Read MoreDay 13: Racialized Outcomes in Early Childhood
“To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin.” Bell Hooks Anti-racist education in early childhood classrooms is far more than a multicultural lesson or two. It requires educators to deeply…
Read MoreDay 12: The Racial Wealth Gap
“This history matters for contemporary inequality in part because its legacy is passed down generation-to-generation through unequal monetary inheritances which make up a great deal of current wealth.” -Examining the Black/White Wealth Gap, Brookings Institute The racial wealth gap involves more than debt and payday lending. It’s about bias, discrimination, redlining and many other inequities…
Read MoreDay 11: Environmental Justice
Championed by communities of color including African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Pacific Islanders, the environmental justice movement addresses a statistical fact: people who live, work, and play in America’s most polluted environments are disproportionately People of Color and low income. This is no accident. Communities of color are routinely targeted to host facilities…
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