Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Winner of the 2021 Nonprofit Excellence Award
Our team is focused on improving the lives of as many people throughout our community as possible by offering exciting employment opportunities, well-informed staff members to care for our clients, and an environment that welcomes everyone as individuals who bring richness to our organizational culture through their unique experiences, personalities and backgrounds. We are playing an active part in making meaningful and lasting change by leading conversations, revising policies and procedures, reevaluating our recruitment messaging, bringing in experts to educate our staff on LGBTQIA topics, starting a Diversity Committee to spearhead our journey towards excellence in the area of DEI, surveying our staff for real-time input and offering support to our clients in any way they need it. We have not stopped advocating for underserved and underrepresented people in our community since the agency began 150 years ago. We are only growing a stronger passion for our mission as we learn, grow and understand how we can help. This is our agency's life's work — to include, raise up and champion people who need us at the times when they need us the most.
We continue to invest in recruitment approaches that will help us reach the most diverse population of candidates possible. The language we use is clear — we are an equal opportunity employer and we market the jobs in such a way that minority candidates will feel represented and encouraged to apply.
In the words of our President and CEO, Adrienne Dixon, Ph.D., "...we will continue to plant seeds of hope for a better tomorrow." It is, of course, up to all of us to water those seeds and help our community blossom into one of rich diversity, which will only prove to benefit us in the long run. It's an exciting time because change is accelerating. We are proud to be actively participating to improve life for everyone.
Minority Mental Health Video Series
Sarah Reed Children's Center, along with the BIPOC Coalition of Erie and with funding from UPMC Health Plan, started a video series speaking with people of the Erie BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community about various mental health topics.