DEI Update: October 2021

Hello friends –

It was wonderful to come together in person and online for the October 18th screening of Briars in the Cotton Patch followed by group discussion. It is a powerful film and made more so by watching together. Thank you to everyone who was able to make time that evening to gather.

If you want to watch the film again or share with others you can stream for free at https://watch.redeemtv.com/briars-in-the-cotton-patch/videos/briars-in-the-cotton-patch and learn more at https://www.briarsdocumentary.com/ . (Habitat has Christian roots, but welcomes everyone of any faith or no faith to get involved.)

Another quick video (17 minutes) I’d invite you to watch is “Segregated by Design” to understand the impact of policies and law on housing segregation in America.

And if you are interested in getting involved with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee or want to build some houses please email volunteer@pvhabitat.org. The DEI committee is encouraging members of the Habitat community to read the book So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo – a great introduction to a wide range of topics related to race and racism.

Until we talk again,

Megan

DEI Update: July 2021

June 2021: The Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee is reading the book So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo and is inviting the Habitat community to join us in reading the book this summer.  This will give Habitat volunteers and staff a common language to talk about systemic racism and what we can do to counteract it in our work.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Olou

“Oluo gives us — both white people and people of color — that language to engage in clear, constructive, and confident dialogue with each other about how to deal with racial prejudices and biases.”

National Book Review

“Generous and empathetic, yet usefully blunt . . . it’s for anyone who wants to be smarter and more empathetic about matters of race and engage in more productive anti-racist action.”

Salon (Required Reading)

DEI Update: January 2021

From the January 6, 2021 letter from Habitat International CEO Jonathan Reckford, addressing the Capitol riots:

“Habitat for Humanity builds community around the world. We bring people together, crossing lines of race, class, nationality and religion. We share Dr. King’s vision of building a Beloved Community – a place that that doesn’t eliminate our differences, but celebrates them, allows for tension undergirded by love and leads to transformation.”

Read the full letter here

For more updates on Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity’s DEI work, see www.pvhabitat.org/dei.

Letters from the PVHH Executive Director: June 2020

June 2, 2020

Dear Habitat Community,

In light of recent events, I am moved today to address the issues of inequity and injustice that are making headlines even as we grapple with a global pandemic. Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity stands unequivocally against police violence and vigilantism, including the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor (and countless more).

We are all called upon to seek justice and care for one another in these unsettled times.  People of color have been systematically denied access to the strength, stability and self-reliance of homeownership in America and it is time for that to change.  Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity is part of a long tradition of caring for our neighbors but there is still more work to do.

Let us bring our best selves forward as we do the hard work of building a new world based on care, compassion and respect.  Let us reach out to our neighbors and affirm their right to safety and security.  Let us be humble in this work and listen to others.

As we face the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are offered an unexpected opportunity for creating change.  As Arundhati Roy recently said, “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next” (source).

You may be wondering if swinging a hammer is one of the things you can do to help build the new world you want to see.  During the current phase of re-opening, Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity has adopted outdoor work safety guidelines for a small group of regular weekly volunteers to begin construction again.  However, for their safety and yours, we are not opening up volunteer opportunities to the general community at this time.  Our office will remain closed to the public for at least phase 1 and 2 of the Massachusetts re-opening plan. Our construction update:

  • Inside the home on lot #2 Glendale Rd contractors are busy with finish work tasks to get the homeowners in this summer.
  • Walls will be raised in June on lot #1 Glendale by regular volunteers – stay tuned for an online celebration and video of this important step.
  • A shed for storage is being built in Shutesbury by regular volunteers to prepare for a future wall raising on the main house.

Please be in touch with your ideas and your support.

Megan McDonough, Executive Director

“For centuries, structural racism in the U.S. housing system has contributed to stark and persistent racial disparities in wealth and financial well-being, especially between Black and white households. In fact, these differences are so entrenched that if current trends continue, it could take more than 200 years for the average Black family to accumulate the same amount of wealth as its white counterparts.2

While homeownership and affordable housing are not a panacea for eliminating entrenched racial inequality, lawmakers must make amends for past and present harms by enacting new laws designed to expand access to prosperity for all Americans.”

Solomon, Maxwell, & Castro. 2019. “Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation: How America’s Housing System Undermines Wealth Building in Communities of Color.” Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/