Dear Staff,

As our country mourns the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, as well as many more people of color nationally and locally, the world’s attention and reaction continues to escalate the feelings of unjust racial violence. At CEO we want to take a moment to express our sadness and support to our community, staff and customers during this period of unrest. Nearly 56 years ago, Community Action was born out of the civil rights movement, and our work as an agency today is rooted in serving and caring for the entire community. While our work has always focused on lifting up those who are living in poverty, many as a result of institutional racism, we recognize that CEO, as well as our community, is made up of individuals. Together we share outrage at the current state of affairs with our black and brown employees and customers. Even if we do not all share their experiences every one of us can play a part in helping to build a world of inclusion, where respect, fairness and dignity is afforded to everyone. We recognize that there is still lot of work to be done as individuals, as a community, and as a country to get to a place of true equality. While we can denounce racism and the systems and acts that dehumanize people of color, we should also be taking this as an opportunity to reflect, to learn, and to listen. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” #blacklivesmatter

We hope that you are taking care of yourselves and checking on others as we move forward together!

-The Senior Administrative Team