In June, the MHSA board of directors voted to formally adopt a RACIAL and ETHNIC EQUITY COMMITMENT as an organizational priority of MHSA’s mission to end homelessness in Massachusetts. The RACIAL and ETHNIC EQUITY COMMITMENT was drafted through input from staff and board members and focuses on how racial and ethnic equity will be incorporated into MHSA’s communication strategies, data collection and analysis plans, resource allocation, organizational structure, and advocacy work. This commitment expands MHSA’s mission beyond simply ending homelessness in Massachusetts and holds staff and leadership accountable for prioritizing equity in housing opportunities and supportive services for those who are experiencing homelessness.
MHSA President & Executive Director Joe Finn explains, “MHSA, a statewide advocacy and policy organization, will strive to advance our longstanding mission of ending homelessness in the most inclusive way possible. While our RACIAL and ETHNIC EQUITY COMMITMENT is aspirational in nature, it is a first step in our pursuit of a just and equitable approach to ending homelessness. Given the current emphasis on homelessness and related inequities, we have a once-in-a generation opportunity to make homelessness a brief and nonrecurring event for all people who experience it. It is imperative that we take steps now to eliminate the status quo and a long history of discrimination.”
Read the full RACIAL and ETHNIC EQUITY COMMITMENT: https://mhsa.net/about-us/mhsa-equity-commitment/