DEI

Note: this post is part of a series dedicated to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts at VEAP. Learn more here.

VEAP embraces diversity and is committed to pursuing a more just, equitable and inclusive society for all people. As a community-based nonprofit, we have a responsibility to break down barriers, address historical and current inequities, and proactively engage all people in our community.

With the close of Pride month, VEAP is digging deeper into the lived experiences of the LGBTQ+ community in Minnesota. We are committed to better understanding how we can close the gap on current discrimination and inequities this group of people faces. We invite you to learn more in this infographic.

Interested in learning how you can get involved?

 

Studies show—and common sense confirms—that access to healthy, nutrient rich foods has a positive impact on a child’s concentration and energy levels, school attendance, academic achievement and psychosocial well-being. Approximately 1 in 6 children in MN (which mirrors national rates) are at risk of hunger, which has a negative impact on school attendance, disciplinary events and the ability to focus in the classroom. Unfortunately, students of color are more prone to experience hunger at school.

At VEAP, we witness the lived reality of these alarming statistics. In 2020, 51% of households reporting income information to VEAP had a monthly income of less than $2,500, or just $30,000 per year. And 32% of people receiving support from VEAP’s food, housing and social service programs are children. Without sufficient income, many of these families struggle to put food on their tables—and students go to school hungry.

In this infographic, VEAP takes a deeper look into local trends around student food insecurity and what we are doing to alleviate its persistence. Download a PDF copy here.

What can you do?

• Participate in VEAP’s March Food and Fund Drive to help provide food to thousands of children whose families depend on VEAP for assistance so every child has the opportunity to achieve success at school.
• Volunteer at VEAP or another hunger relief organization. Volunteering at organizations like VEAP helps to disrupt the impact of food and housing insecurity. Consider looping in your family and friends into your volunteer efforts. Sign up today.
• Champion change on a local level. Contact your local elected representatives (city council members, district council members, state representatives and state senators) about their position and proposed policies on alleviating childhood hunger.
• Support the The Hunger-Free Schools campaign, a coalition led by Hunger Solutions and Blue Cross Blue Shield, to permanently offer free and reduced lunches to all Minnesotan students.

This post is part of a campaign series dedicated to VEAP’s efforts around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Read more here.

Note: this post is part of series dedicated to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts at VEAP. Learn more here.

To support VEAP’s efforts to raise awareness and to speak and act out against the inequities and injustice that plague people of color in our communities, we have to consider some difficult truths about the regions in which we live and work.

Minnesota and the Twin Cities have some of the largest racial disparities in our nation. While a smaller percentage of white people live below the poverty level in Minnesota compared to the country at large, the opposite is true for Black Minnesotans. Black families in Minnesota are four times more likely to live in poverty than our state’s white families. Statistics illustrating racial gaps in employment, homeownership, and income are equally distressing. These economic inequalities cannot be dissociated from the disparities in physical and mental health, education, and housing stability that people of color experience in Minnesota.

Closer to home, we see these discrepancies every day at VEAP. In 2020, nearly 70% of individuals receiving support from our food and housing programs were Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC), despite only comprising about 23% of the population in our service area of Bloomington, Richfield and Edina. Similar racial gaps exist when it comes to individuals and families experiencing unemployment as well as food and housing insecurity during the pandemic.

VEAP will continue to provide food, housing assistance, and case management support to those impacted by the global health and economic crisis—and we will do so long after the pandemic passes. We will also use our position of leadership to draw attention to these inequities and to advocate for policies and legislation beyond emergency supports, creating more equitable systems in our state and country so that all people have the resources they need to thrive.

Below we have created a media piece that illustrates some of these disparities. Download a PDF version here.

We invite you to join us in our effort to learn more and deepen our understanding of what our neighbors from the BIPOC community experience:

1. Watch this eight-minute clip from the TPT documentary Jim Crow of the North that illustrates the violence against people of color embedded in our housing system through the practices of redlining and racial covenants.
2. Watch this video about trying to eat healthy food in a food desert.
3. Read this page about disparities in food access in Minnesota.
4. Dig into more data at Minnesota Compass.

If you have feedback, comments or suggestions about VEAP’s DEI journey, please email our CEO directly: [email protected]

An open letter from VEAP’s CEO, Joe McDonald, and our DEI Team. If you have questions or feedback, please email Joe directly: [email protected]

In April 2019, VEAP’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Team held its first meeting, formally starting a movement to make our organization more diverse, equitable and inclusive. As part of our work, we are committed to speaking and acting out against systemic injustice and inequity that plague far too many people: members of the BIPOC community, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community, to name a few.

Our DEI work is driven by our common humanity and by our bonds to one another as fellow human beings, not by political beliefs or affiliations. We are guided by our strong conviction that every single person deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, and to be given equal access to the resources they need to thrive and pursue their dreams.

We acknowledge that our work alone cannot fix or eliminate all injustices and inequities, but we can and we will do the following:

• Provide food, housing and other supports to ensure basic needs in our community are being met
• Leverage our good reputation and position of leadership, based on our 48 years in the local community, to raise awareness of the disparities, gaps and inequities that marginalize and oppress so many people, and to advocate for policies, legislation and supports that benefit people who experience those inequities.
• Look in the mirror and do our own internal work—as individuals and as an organization—to make the necessary changes in order to better understand and reflect the rich diversity of the people who come to VEAP for healthy food, housing stability and supportive services.

We seek to create an environment and culture where all people feel like they belong, have a place, and can be themselves. We acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers and are committed to the hard work—and the time it takes—to learn more about ourselves and one another. And instead of assuming how we can best support our community with our food and housing programs, we will engage with our participants and community partners to provide strong and effective programs and services.

Over the coming months, VEAP will be releasing a series of informational posts with more context, statistics and stories about the inequities that are occurring in our state and local community. We will be providing opportunities for our followers to engage with this work in a deeper way, and we invite feedback, suggestions and comments along the way.

We are grateful for the opportunity to work for an organization that is having such a positive impact in the lives of so many people. We look forward to the ways VEAP will grow and improve as we work to build a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization and community.

Sincerely,

Joe McDonald, VEAP CEO and VEAP’s DEI Team