At ANHBC, we are committed to Truth and Reconciliation, decolonization and anti-racism, and together with community, we build strong and supportive relationships at welcoming and inclusive sites throughout Metro Vancouver.
As an organization that has navigated over 127 years of Canadian history, we recognize the importance of listening, learning and acting as allies to our community members. As we learn about our history, and complicity in the oppression of Indigenous People, we strive to make positive changes within our organization and neighbourhoods we serve. At ANHBC, we are committed to Truth and Reconciliation, decolonization and anti-racism, and these are the ways we are putting that into action:
- We commit to creating brave spaces for community members, volunteers and staff to come together to have real conversations about racism – at individual and systemic levels. This will include distinct conversations about anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Muslim racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Asian racism, and all other forms of xenophobia and discrimination.
- We commit to looking at ourselves as a large organization to understand how we have benefited from colonization, to examine when we have stood up and when we have remained silent, and to fully recognize the harm that our silence has caused.
- We commit to holding ourselves accountable and looking at how the diverse communities we work with are reflected in senior leadership and Board Governance. This is not about tokenism – it’s about creating real change in our own organizational systems.
- We commit to speaking out against injustice, while working to decolonize our practices.
Most organizations are familiar with a corporate structure for decision making that holds power at the top, but at ANHBC, our social justice values inform a different way of working. We draw from a grassroots approach that embeds principles for power sharing and working collaboratively within the single legal entity structure. What this means is that decisions made for the organization are always informed by what’s happening on the ground at the houses and camp. We create opportunities for each house and camp to voice their perspectives or concerns on behalf of their communities.
