The events over the last week, starting with the senseless death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, challenge communities like ours to take inventory of our values. These events give everyone an opportunity to step back and listen, to evaluate their roles in systems, and to work to mend broken trust and create opportunities in their communities.
Sometimes it is easy for us in Hendricks County to say, “That’s an Indianapolis problem.” However, issues of race and racism exist in the biggest cities and in the smallest towns. We acknowledge that these issues continue to exist across our community in conscious and subconscious ways.
To our Black community members: we see you, we hear you, and we are committed to making Hendricks County an even more welcoming place where you feel safe and part of the community.
We commit to doing better. We commit to supporting all citizens’ rights to free speech, to peaceably assemble and to petition the government. We commit to listening more and creating spaces that welcome all members of our community. We commit to better understanding how systems affect different communities in different ways. We commit to admitting when we are part of the problem. And we commit to continuing to focus on creating a vibrant, giving community–together.
Empathy, kindness and respect are not zero-sum actions–giving to some does not take from others, and the more we give the better our community can be, for everyone.
For 27 years, the Hendricks County Community Foundation has served our county through economic downturn, national tragedy, local disaster, a pandemic, and now racial and civil unrest. We haven’t always gotten it right and we won’t always get it right, but we are and will continue to be committed to supporting our community.
Max Hank, HCCF Board Chair
William A. Rhodehamel, HCCF President & CEO
