A Message From Wellspring

 

Wellspring Family Services would like to clearly and publicly state our concern, compassion, and solidarity for and with the Black community, our absolute repudiation of racism and police brutality, and our commitment to dismantle racism in the course of our work.

We are grieving. We are angry. We are hurt. We want to acknowledge that systemic racism is real, pervasive, and is what led to the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and a great many before them.

The mission of Wellspring is to end the cycle of family homelessness in our community:

End the cycle

The entrenched and traumatic cycle of homelessness is rooted in poverty, isolation and fear. The ingredients and conditions that give birth to homelessness are disproportionate in their impact on people of color and, specifically, Black and Brown people. There is no possible way to end the cycle of homelessness without addressing systemic racism.

Of family homelessness

Of the many unacceptable acts of violence, we believe that displacement from a safe and healthy home is itself an act of violence. For children, youth, and families, we speak out, and loudly. They deserve our very best, and we are committed to helping them experience stability and respect in their homes, families, and communities.

In our community

We are fortunate to be part of a community comprised of many and varied cultures and people. Of these, some are more highly impacted by the unacceptable conditions of homelessness. Black and Brown people are beloved and beautiful. But as this moment in history has once again illustrated, Black and Brown people face barriers of exclusion, hardship, and hate at alarming levels. We owe it to these beloved and beautiful members of our community to be so much better than this!

Wellspring Family Services knows that the road ahead is long and hard. But we commit ourselves to the love, justice, hope, and healing required to usher in a new day. What is happening in the world around us, and the worlds within us, is beyond description. The trauma of this season – and its relationship to inter-generational trauma for Black people, spanning hundreds of years – is painfully and frightfully real.

Please join us in working to dismantle systemic racism, to support our Black and Brown community members and peers by uplifting their voices, and to end the cycle of family homelessness.

Wellspring Family Services

--

Recommended Resources for Driving Change

Click here to view on a dedicated resource page

 

Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle ​

Tacoma Urban League

The recommended reforms in this report are intended to create accountability and build better relationships between law enforcement and communities of color.
 
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
 
This detailed report delves into police administrative data to show disparities in the use of force.
 
This online portal helps families, individuals, and communities talk about racism and commit to being antiracist.
 
Sign this petition calling for the end of police violence against Black people.
 
The Black Futures Lab transforms Black communities into active, interdependent, responsive public partners that change the way power operates—at the local, state, and national level.
 
The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) is a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions; develop shared assessments of what political interventions were necessary in order to achieve key policy, cultural, and political wins; and convene organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared movement-wide strategy.
 
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and same gender loving (LGBTQ/SGL) people, including people living with HIV/AIDS. NBJC’s mission is to end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ/SGL bias and stigma.
 
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.

End White Silence Week of Action Toolkit 

New Era of Public Safety: An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing 

Via Maya Batres: Anti-racism resource for white people 

Via Cassandra James: 28 essential books about race and racism 

An Antiracist Reading List by Ibram X. Kendi 

Via Stephanie Dashiell: a helpful resource on white allyship in the workplace: https://www.powershift.org/

Via Cheryl Thibodeau: 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice by Corinne Shutack

Racial Justice Research document from The Great Unlearn by Rachel Cargle https://www.patreon.com/posts/36868690 

5 Racist Anti-Racist Responses “Good” White Women Give to Viral Posts by Katie Anthony

5 Ways White People Can Take Action in Response to White and State-Sanctioned Violence by SURJ on Medium

Uncivil podcast: A history podcast from Gimlet Media, where we go back to the time our divisions turned into a war, and bring you stories left out of the official history.

Systemic Inequality in America

Ideal Bookshelf: Anti-Racism

6 Ways to Activate Beyond Social Media (Intagram)

White Lies  by NPR

The 1619 Project  by the New York Times

The Witness Podcast Network - Pass the Mic

Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Case for Reparations 

Why Seeing Yourself Represented on Screen Is So Important (Kimberley Lawson)

Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism 

Audre Lorde’s The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism 

Rachel Elizabeth Cargle’s When Feminism is White Supremacy in Heels 

Walking While Black (Garnette Cadogan)

Racial Bias Test - this will help you understand what your biases are for yourself

Protesting during COVID19

Resources for Accountability and Actions for Black Lives

Exhaustive Black Lives Matter List ***A LOT OF RESOURCES***

#blacklivesmatter - includes regularly updated actions against specific instances of police brutality

#Blacklivesmatter - Includes contacts and direct actions

Resources to help Black people/Communities

26 Ways to Be in the Struggle Beyond the Streets

List of Funds

Natl Resource List #GeorgeFloyd

Resources for NBPOC/South Asians

Desi-Americans know your history: A set of images with information on how South Asians are benefitting from the Civil Rights Movement put together by southasians4blacklives

South Asian Guide to Speaking to your Family about Anti-Blackness

An Informational Letter to the South Asian Community 

Organizations

The following organizations continuously work to fight systemic racism and oppression in the United States; they regularly offer several resources and a variety of ways to show support. If interested in learning more about their trainings and work, here’s a list we’ve come up with that is by no means comprehensive nor endorsed by TNC: