We want to share our solidarity during these very difficult and uncertain times.
We think it is important to explicitly acknowledge the pain and anguish that recent events are causing us individually and as a collective- and particularly to the Black community. OnTrackNY condemns all acts of unequal treatment, police brutality, and white supremacy. We denounce the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many others. These events have brought to the forefront the ways in which systemic racism is a daily reality. So many emotions happening now—rage, fear, despair, grief, exhaustion, and others.
We know that racism and mental health are intrinsically connected and need to be discussed even when we don't have all the answers or may not even know all of the questions that should be asked. Maintaining social distance and being apart from one another seems doubly cruel right now. We wish we could gather together in person to talk and listen to one another.
To all of you providing services to young people and families in OnTrackNY, please know that we at OnTrack Central stand with you and the people you serve. We are committed to continue working on identifying and deconstructing racism and bias in our interactions, service, training, and research. We at OnTrack Central continue to talk and explore this topic amongst ourselves, we encourage teams to do the same and we will support any efforts to do so.
Sincerely OnTrackNY Central Team,
Abbe Duke, Chacku Mathai, DJ Wilkerson, Doron Amsalem, Gary Scannevin, Hong Ngo, Igor Malinovsky, Ilana Nossel, Iruma Bello, Julia Bruk, Lisa Dixon, Liza Watkins, Margaret Kurk, Rufina Lee, Sarah Piscitelli, Steve Smith, Talia Richkin, Tasha Houston, Tom Jewell