Change Happens at the Speed of Trust

We cannot individually heal our national trauma, but we can make a difference together.

Dear Friends,

I am reaching out on behalf of the Healthcare Foundation to acknowledge this unique and wrenching moment in American history. We are all feeling tremendous pain and anxiety related to the racial injustice and struggle for equality that has plagued our country since its beginning. What is happening in the cities and towns across America is happening here, whether or not protests are violent or even visible. Racial injustice persists, even in northern Sonoma County, and we can choose to ignore it or rise to this opportunity to transform. The first step is to name it.

As my esteemed colleague Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, articulated in a message to the community this week, “Our justice system is not the only one that must be transformed. COVID-19 has laid bare the vast structural inequalities in too many of our systems; a return to normal should not be on the menu.” Our healthcare system is not exempt.

While we cannot personally right all the wrongs of our society, there is hope in our collective belief in the future. We can look at data and seek truth, and share information with each other to effect change. We can commit our dollars and our voices to creating a world in which all people are able to thrive, regardless of race, income or health status. We can do this together.

And that is exactly what our grant making and programs strive to do.

“Change happens at the speed of trust.” Thank you, on behalf of myself and the Board of Directors, for your trust.

In solidarity,

Kim Bender

Kim Bender
Executive Director

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”   – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


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