ASOH is committed to diversity, equity, and belonging and strongly encourages all BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those with protected class backgrounds. We value the individuals that we hire and are committed to creating a positive work environment for all identities. We are dedicated to creating a positive and inclusive environment for all volunteers and beneficiaries of all identities.
Our Commitment:
We are committed to not only providing a diverse and inclusive workplace, but an inclusive community where we value the health and well-being of all our staff and community members. ASOH offers 100% paid health and medical benefits to employees, along with generous paid sick and vacation time. We also believe in providing a workplace that fosters advancement and professional development for all employees, conducting our day-to-day business practices accordingly.
Learning and Reading:
We seek culturally diverse books to inspire the young people we serve as well as the broader community. Our “Love Library” contains a book list for both young adults and children. We read these book ourselves and share with the youth we serve. Please share with us your books and your ideas for this list.
What Is Inspiring Us?
We celebrate inspired diverse works of art (in the form of movies, books, documentaries, streaming series, essays, podcasts, music, and poetry) by sharing on our social feeds a series that we call What Is Inspiring Us? When we are moved by a piece of work that elevates the consciousness we share it.
We Celebrate Those We Serve and Embrace Their Input:
We celebrate the accomplishments of all we serve during the home creation and also on this page on our website. ASOH has hired former foster youth in the past and always has paid former foster youth consultants. ASOH has a former foster youth on their board and seeks to elevate the voices of former foster youth through our social media platforms and in-person events.
How We Continue to Progress:
The ASOH Blogs capture our efforts to grow, evolve, learn and become ever more efficient in our contribution to those we serve and society as a whole. We acknowledge we will not always get it right but we will always strive to do and be better. We also acknowledge that the work we do is forging a new frontier and can contribute greatly to improved well being for communities and add data and literature to science. We embrace collaborations of all kinds to be all that we can be in the most efficient and meaningful ways.
A unique space and opportunity for learning and healing for all.
We bring together volunteers to work in communities that they would normally never visit. And we connect young disenfranchised BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) people (mostly women and 50% have children of their own) with compassionate members of the broader community that they might otherwise not meet, let alone link arms with to create a home for themselves, and when they pay it forward — create a home for others.
By entering the space the recipient can gain:
- Healing
- A platform to use their voices and understand that their voice matters
- Inspiration to elevate their voice to educate, enlighten, and inspire all gathered to be better, to do better, and most of all, drive sustainable change
- The ability to trust and build connection with those who have had a different experience than theirs and who could be wonderful partners in building the world that they dream of
By entering the space, a volunteer can gain:
- Insight that could inspire them to create technology, or a business, or a nonprofit to drive sustainable change towards peace, justice and equality
- An educational experience that provides context for the importance of championing legislative change
- An opportunity to become motivated to volunteer more and seek out more organizations
- A deeper investment in communities that need loving investment, rebuilding, healing and support
We are committed to action for impact and won’t stop learning, listening, growing and serving. We are committed to evolving our work and model to ensuring we always:
- Evolve how we achieve our goals and deepen the impact
- Listen to those we serve
- Partner with organizations that uplift marginalized communities
- Find and implement new tools in our programs that overcome unique barriers to healing
- Amplify more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) voices
- Ensure a safe, inclusive, and diverse workplace for employees, volunteers, donors, and for those we serve
Integrate social justice and public health scholars in the development of our organization
We strive for a world in which all humans thrive in health and happiness, yet for those who don’t feel safe in society, thriving can feel like an unrealistic dream. So we harness the power of this ASOH movement to ensure sustainable liberties for all.
Where to Learn, Take Action and Donate
- Black Lives Matter. https://blacklivesmatter.com
- NACCP Legal Defense Fund https://www.naacpldf.org
- Anguish and Action Obama Fund https://www.obama.org/anguish-and-action/
- An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing https://civilrights.org/Toolkit
- Black Women for Wellness https://www.bwwla.org
- ACLU Southern California https://www.aclusocal.org
- Reclaim the Block https://www.blackvisionsmn.org
- Color of Change Education Fund https://colorofchange.org/about/
- Campaign Zero https://www.joincampaignzero.org
- The Marshall Project https://www.themarshallproject.org
- Advancement Project CA https://www.advancementprojectca.org
- Justice LA http://justicelanow.org
- Youth Justice LA https://youthjusticela.org
- Anti Racism Coalition (ARC) https://antirecidivism.org
Support Diverse Businesses
- When searching for a business through Google.com or Google Maps, you can see a badge to represent:
- Women-Led businesses — it is a the icon of the female/ girl symbol which is a circle shown with a crossed vertical line beneath it.
- LGBTQ friendly businesses — it is a pride flag icon.
- Black-owned businesses — it’s a black heart over an orange three-striped background icon.
- Support Black-Owned Businesses https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1k3gNGUpFIhkX9TMWsRpzuPZi_zfyZrJBb2ij6M9CjVE/edit#gid=0
- Official Black Wall Street https://obws.com/
- Support Latino Business at www.supportlatino.biz and https://www.shoplatinx.com/
Learning and Training
- Support in facilitating dialogues about race https://cultrurestrategy.typeform.com/to/rEEYk7
- Racial Equity Tools to support individuals and groups working to achieve racial equity – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large. https://www.racialequitytools.org/home
- The Smithsonian’s guide to being an anti-racist https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/being-antiracist
- An article on some practical and important ways white Americans can fight for racial justice https://www.upworthy.com/white-americans-asking-what-can-i-do
© 2023 Copyright A Sense of Home,
A tax exempt charitable organization qualified under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Tax ID# 47-3814056.
© 2024 Copyright A Sense of Home
Diversity and Belonging - A Sense of Home