We are faced with a historic moment of racial injustice that pushes all of us to self-reflect, listen, learn and act — as individuals and as an organization. Black lives do matter. Racism has no place. Where we are today is not where we can be tomorrow.

As an organization dedicated to providing the best care for not only the animals but the people whom we serve, we have watched our community grapple with the pain of recent events, and we would like to take this time to share how we choose to face this historic moment and take steps to move forward in the right direction.

At Tree House, our core values remain our guiding principles in all that we do:

• Compassion – We are an organization that is rooted in compassion for both animals AND people.
• The Power of We –  We not only recognize the value of diversity but also the importance of inclusivity.
• Innovation & Community – We seek new ways to engage, educate, and inform the community about the work we do.
• Respect – We respect all those who enter our doors.

Responding to a complicated problem goes beyond a marketing sound byte, hollow statements about diversity, or posting a hashtag. It takes continuous self-reflection, uncomfortable conversations, and hard work. It takes understanding our own implicit biases, making the hard but right choices, and finding opportunities to be active and engaged.

Here are just some of the actions we will continue to take at Tree House:

• Our adoption requirements over time have changed. We approach pet ownership as something that is accessible to all, and we will continue to approach our adoption process with a focus on educating and empowering adopters.
• Our Board of Directors continues to expand in diversity of age, gender, race, skill set, geography, religion, and sexual orientation. We have spent the last year working to create a board culture that focuses on inclusion. Our work continues.
• We will continue to choose our vendor partners with community in mind, partnering with organizations who offer workforce training and career placement for residents and who work to create more equitable and inclusive places.

We recognize that this has to be more than just a moment. And there is more work we can do. 

– Raissa Allaire, Executive Director