The Sky Center is a nonprofit organization committed to antiracism. We are actively working to improve our organization and grow into a fully multicultural space. For decades, we have been dedicated to being a positive force as a behavioral health provider by making our services accessible and inclusive. However, we recognize the many ways we can improve as a system that truly embodies antiracism.

Where are we at today? The Sky Center does some things well to actively target the behavioral health issues and trauma caused by systemic racism and oppression and we have a deep knowing that its root causes and its treatment are collective rather than individual. We know from our decades of experience that resiliency cannot be separated from the impact of context on individuals. We also know that to enhance wellbeing, we must aid in the creation of resilient spaces and systems, rather than leave the responsibility of sustainability, healing, and change on the individual alone. We acknowledge that resilient, multicultural spaces must allow for multiple perspectives, identities, and cultures to co-exist within them. We recognize that mental health and youth suicide risk is inextricably linked to forces of oppression, systemic racism and marginalization based on complex and intersectional social identity factors including ability, age, culture, ethnicity, gender, language, religion, sexuality, and socioeconomic class. We are seeking to not only be a part of larger systems changes eradicating these forces, but to model this in every aspect of the work that we do.

As an agency whose mission is committed to advocating for systems change in families and the larger community, we believe that systems change must start within. We take responsibility for the ways in which our actions have been harmful due to our blind spots and biases. We are grateful to the community members, staff, and interns who have both “called us in” and “called us out” when needed. By integrating the feedback offered to us, we have made meaningful changes to the manner in which our services are offered, the way our hiring policies are shaped, and how the selection process of graduate and advanced studies candidates is designed.

We are committed to being open to the on-going process of naming where we still need to grow and taking skillful and meaningful action to impact systemic change as an antiracist organization. We welcome any feedback as we continue this humbling and iterative process, knowing that we will make mistakes and continue to learn. We will work to provide services and operate our organization in a way that honors and reflects the diverse and powerful communities that we serve.