Racial equity and inclusion is front and center
In August, the Center for Urban and Racial Equity (CURE) completed a racial equity assessment of our agency. They conducted an anonymous staff survey, four focus groups (with staff, former staff and clients), interviews with senior leaders, as well as a review of our policies and procedures.
At our August All-Staff meeting, CURE presented the results and held small group discussions to gather feedback and answer questions.
Areas identified for improvement and attention include:
- Training and tools
- Hiring, promotion and retention practices
- Client engagement in both their care and agency decision-making
- Policies and procedures
- Delivery of care
- Measures of care quality
- Contracting and procurement
Here’s what we know: The work of racial equity and inclusion requires transformation in everything we do—from hiring to providing care to measuring success to building business relationships. And we need to have a plan to begin the methodical, long-term re-envisioning of our organization.
This fall, our Racial Equity Working Group, composed of the Staff REI Committee and executive leadership, is creating a Racial Equity Plan that identifies priorities and assigns responsibilities. This Plan will be critical to our strategic planning process, scheduled to begin in January 2022. During that time, we will also engage in a review of our mission statement and core values.
We look forward to sharing the Plan with you and thank you for being our partners in the work to making the Health Care for the Homeless community truly safe, responsible, respectful and compassionate.
More Recent News
We are thrilled to welcome Nikia Woodard, our new Director of Human Resources! With more than two decades of experience in the HR field, Nikia previously held leadership roles with the Maryland Transit Administration, Unified Women’s Healthcare and a behavioral health residential treatment facility for youth in Baltimore. Most recently, she served as Director of Employee Experience & Organizational Development at Loyola University Maryland, implementing university-wide professional development programs and encouraging a culture of continuous learning. Read on to learn more about Nikia (and her favorite snack)…
After a year of serving as Practice Manager of West Baltimore, Alkema Jackson is moving into the new role of Director of Practice Operations, Community Sites! She joined Health Care for the Homeless in 2022 as the Client Access Project Coordinator, collaborating across departments to help more people connect to agency services, and in 2023, she received a Core Value Award for Hope. Read on to learn more about Alkema’s approach to this new position…
Meet Christana Greene, our new Director of Compliance! With more than five years in the compliance field—most recently as Senior Quality and Patient Safety Specialist at GBMC Healthcare—Chrissy brings frontline insight to the role. She began her career as a medical assistant, gaining firsthand experience in what it takes to keep care safe and operations running smoothly. In her new role, Chrissy is focused on building a compliance culture grounded in safety, integrity and accountability. Read on to learn more about Chrissy...
Baltimore gets dangerously cold, and too many of our neighbors are out there. Here are three simple things you can do to make a difference in someone’s life this winter.