We seek to maintain a staff of diverse backgrounds, thought, and experience to give our programming the most excellent chance of success. We strive to include those who have been most impacted by these epidemics while also bringing our message beyond those most impacted and into the larger population.
This page will update continuously as action items are created and met.
Red Project efforts to strengthen Diversity, Racial Equity and Inclusion (DREI) in agency operations:
In 1998, the Grand Rapids Red Project was established as the local non-profit agency most willing to take risks to improve health, reduce risk and prevent the spread of HIV in populations most at risk. Red Project has continually committed itself to provide at-risk persons access to the tools, information, resources, and support needed to stay healthy. Our guiding principle has always been a harm reduction model. Populations most at risk are, by definition, marginalized and stigmatized: Black, Indigenous, People of Color, persons who use drugs, LGBTQI people, people involved in the sex trade, people impacted by the criminal legal system, and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
In 2020, Red Project received funding to contract with Brigham Consulting to guide our efforts and strengthen our impact in communities of color. Brigham Consulting worked with our entire staff to help us self-reflect, learn how to better relate to one another, and understand how systems and structures dehumanize the other. Specifically, ongoing steps include:
We recognize that the success of both the harm reduction and racial justice movements are intertwined, and we commit to employing, building leadership in, and transitioning power to communities disproportionately impacted by the health and social issues we address.
Please click here if you would like to read our first statement.