Dear Rose Brooks Center staff,
Each day you face head on the trauma that survivors and those impacted by violence endure. Each day you provide guidance and support for those individuals as they begin to heal. You support the very foundation of what our vision represents – envisioning a world without violence – and the work you do can be emotionally exhausting.
With the recent events on Wednesday, January 7th, as we all watched and listened to reports about the attack on the United States Capital, we were again exhausted by the trauma of violence. Those we serve, including our children, are all watching and experiencing added trauma, due in part by the clear examples of racial disparity allowing it to happen.
What we witnessed was wrong and it threatens our community and the communities we support at a time when we were already reeling from the health impact of the pandemic and the incredibly painful racial injustices facing our country.
As we all continue to combat racism and work together to bring injustice into clear focus, we will stand against hate. We do this on behalf of those we serve as well as for our community.
In the words of former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and founder of the nonprofit organization Fair Fight, Stacey Abrams, “Effective leaders must be truth seekers, and that requires a willingness to understand truths other than our own.”
Thank you all for your leadership as we stand stronger together and create safer futures for everyone.
With sincere gratitude, Susan