Statement of Shared Values

on Racial Equity and Homelessness

Purpose

This Statement of Shared Values articulates how we as a group of organizations and individuals will center racial equity in our individual, organizational, and collective work to prevent and end homelessness for all people. 

We recognize that because of historical and contemporary structural racism:

People of color are dramatically overrepresented among those experiencing homelessness— comprising approximately 60% of the homeless population in the United States, compared to 39% of the general population.

Black Americans and Native Americans are most likely to experience homelessness.

Young people of color are especially impacted: Black or African American Youth have an 83% higher risk of homelessness and Latinx youth have a 33% higher risk of homelessness than their White peers.

All racial and ethnic groups are affected, albeit not equally. For example, White Americans and Asian Americans are underrepresented among people experiencing homelessness,1 and it is unclear whether Latinx people are underrepresented or simply undercounted, as there is not adequate data. 

We understand that: 

Structural racism is a root cause of homelessness.

Racial discrimination in housing, employment, healthcare, education, criminal justice, and other systems contribute to high rates of homelessness for people of color.

People of color have been systematically excluded from opportunities for home ownership, wealth accumulation, and economic mobility in the United States.

Experiences of racism and homelessness are intersectional and are shaped by gender identity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, age, and other factors.

It is our collective responsibility to address its underlying causes, including racial inequity.

We must look at our systems and ensure that we are not perpetuating inequity.

Our work must center racial equity in order to end homelessness for people of color.

Because of this, we believe: 

To develop lasting solutions to homelessness, it is our collective responsibility to address its underlying causes, including racial inequity and structural racism.

It is essential to engage people of color with lived experience of homelessness in all efforts to develop programs, set public policy, conduct research, and redesign systems.

The homeless crisis response system must look at its policies, priorities, and strategies to ensure they do not perpetuate inequity.

Our work must center racial equity to strengthen existing strategies and create new approaches that more effectively recognize and meet the needs of people of color experiencing homelessness.

In response, we will:

1. Develop short- and long-term strategies to center racial equity in our response to homelessness. 

2. Craft prevention strategies to stem inflow of people of color into the homelessness system, particularly from criminal justice and foster care. 

3. Commit to diversity of speakers in all presentations, panels, and public talks. 

4. Invest in ongoing racial equity training in our own organizations and across the field.

5. Ensure that research, evaluation, and data collection/analysis efforts are racially-explicit and involve community participation in design and execution.

6. Improve organizational capacity through: diversity in board and executive leadership; career pathways for leaders of color; equity-based competencies in staff hiring, promotion, and retention; anti-racism training for all staff; and engagement with local and national anti-racism initiatives. 

Through this work, we aspire to:

Recognize homelessness as an immediate, life-threatening crisis and work for policies that move people quickly from homelessness into housing with adequate support.

Focus on long-term, population-based solutions to homelessness, including increasing affordable housing and economic opportunities for communities of color. 

Use our influence to center racial equity in all national, regional, state, and local strategies to prevent and end homelessness.

At its core, this is the work of equal justice, anti-oppression, and human rights for all. To accomplish this ambitious aim, we commit to one another and to all people experiencing homelessness that we will continue to work until homelessness is a relic of the past.

Signatories