Equity & Inclusion

Path Home recognizes that there is an inextricable link between race and homelessness. The housing market has systematically and intentionally denied homeownership (and thus wealth accumulation) opportunities to people of color through redlining, discriminatory lending practices, state-imposed taxes on residents of color, as well as displacement through gentrification, and many others. As a result, there is an unequal playing field in the housing market that disproportionately disadvantages communities of color. Homelessness and housing stability are not simply issues of individual moral or economic failings, but rather the effects of institutional and systemic racism and discrimination against BIPOC communities. 

Path Home is committed to dismantling the structures of oppression and systemic racism within our own organization, and our community. 

An Equity Team of 8 staff members guides our racial equity work. We used the Coalition of Communities of Color's "Tool for Organizational Self-Assessment Related to Racial Equity" to identify a baseline for where Path Home is on our journey towards becoming an anti-racist organization. The Equity Team, in partnership with our Board and Staff, creates annual work plans to guide our equity journey. This year's goals include building our capacity in using a Racial Equity Analysis, revising our bylaws to bake in our equity commitments, examining our internal and external communication to ensure it is anti-oppressive and anti-racist, building cultural competencies for staff, creating opportunities and incentives for staff to examine their personal cultural identity and bias, reviewing and revising hiring policies and procedures using our Equity Analysis.