The Opportunity Starts at Home multisector affordable homes campaign released on March 26 its latest podcast episode, “Racial Equity and Housing,” featuring Amanda Andere, CEO of Funders Together to End Homelessness. Funders Together to End Homelessness mobilizes its members to utilize the voice, influence, and expertise of philanthropy in ways that will advance lasting solutions to ending homelessness, including addressing its underlying causes like structural and racial inequities, and helping create policies and systems that center people with lived expertise. It is the only philanthropic membership organization in the U.S. devoted to ending homelessness.
In the episode, Ms. Andere discusses the work of her organization, how racial inequities manifest in housing and homelessness, the history of housing discrimination, what it takes to achieve large-scale policy change, and the common mistakes organizations make in pursuing racial equity work. Ms. Andere also explores the importance of distinguishing between intent and impact, how the philanthropic community is increasingly committed to addressing structural and racial inequities, and why centering racial equity becomes even more important in crises such as the coronavirus pandemic.
"For us, racial equity is not just the absence of overt racial discrimination," said Ms. Andere. "It is also the presence of deliberate policies and practices that provide everyone with the support they need to improve their quality of lives."
Listen to the full episode here.
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