To Our Valued Community,
We mourn the victims of the tragic shootings in Georgia this week, which specifically targeted people of Asian descent. Our hearts break for their grieving families and communities. Over the past year, New York City has also seen an exponential rise in these devastating acts of hatred.
We stand in solidarity and lament with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, joining our voices in calling out racism and hate, confronting systemic injustice, and empowering vulnerable communities.
In 1909, The Bowery Mission came under intense criticism for its long-standing service to our neighbors in the Chinatown community. With anti-Asian sentiment on the rise, some people pressured the Mission to suspend its services to Chinese-Americans. The Mission steadfastly refused. One of our founders, Sarah J. Bird, had inaugurated those services declaring that we are, each and every one, “God’s own child.”
This week, we rededicate ourselves to standing against and calling out anti-Asian hate. We will not be silent and will continue to speak out as long as this injustice continues to exist — injustice embodied not only in these recent acts of violence against Asian-Americans, but also in the pervasive discrimination and stereotyping that has too long and too often harmed Asian American lives and impoverished our society.
Today, we acknowledge the pain of The Bowery Mission’s AAPI staff, guests, clients, graduates, volunteers, supporters and partners, and specifically our neighbors in Manhattan’s Chinatown. We stand with you in this loss.
The AAPI community is a part of The Bowery Mission community. Hate and violence against the AAPI community is a threat to The Bowery Mission community.
In 2020, The Bowery Mission began an intentional journey toward building a more diverse, equitable and inclusive Mission. This abhorrent violence only strengthens our resolve to carry forward this work.
James Winans
President & CEO