Racism has no place at Surrey Place or in our society.
At Surrey Place, we denounce anti-Black racism, violence against the Black community, and the systemic racism and oppression that continues today. Our agency is grounded in helping people of all ages with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorder lead healthy and socially inclusive lives. This cannot be achieved if we do not actively work against anti-Black racism to support the communities we serve and the employees we staff.
To help address anti-Black racism, we will review our policies, processes and practices to develop and implement a work plan. As part of this plan, Surrey Place is committed to the following:
- Provide ongoing mandatory anti-Black racism and anti-oppression training for all staff within Surrey Place to provide employees with the necessary tools and resources to engage in anti-racism practices.
- Collect and utilize race and ethnicity data to identify and reduce potential inequalities in health care access and improve quality and outcomes.
- Note: Surrey Place will follow the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s standards for race-based and Indigenous identity data.
- Develop internal and external policies and processes that set expectations and disciplinary actions for bias, discrimination, microaggressions, and racism; and create a safe environment to report these behaviours.
- Amplify the voices of the Black community, including staff, clients and members of our community, by listening to and building lived experiences in our work plan and its outputs, including training, education and policies.
- Formalize our Anti-Racism: Black Cultural Awareness Consulting and Training Group that self-mobilized last year. This process includes defining the group’s role at Surrey Place and regular communication with our staff.
- Continue to learn about anti-Black racist actions, practices and procedures to better support the Black community members we serve and the society in which we live.
We know that this is only the starting point, and we are committed to making long-term impacts. We will continue to provide ongoing updates to our community as this work progresses and develops.
We also want to hear from you. If you have any ideas you’d like to share with us, please email feedback@surreyplace.ca.
Sincerely,
Dr. Terri Hewitt, C. Psych.
Chief Executive Officer
Helen Wojcinski, P.Eng., FEC, FCAE, MBA, CMC
Board President