As of Aug. 2, a whistleblower at the House of Friendship (HOF) and an assessment made by the KOJO Institute called out the organization for being abusive, racist and oppressive. The KOJO institute is an Ontario-based agency which specializes in anti-Black racism and teaches organizations more about racism and anti-oppression.
Fight Back! KW, a local organization that focuses on anti-racist, anti- fascist, intersectional community care is demanding that the Region of Waterloo conducts a systemic review of Waterloo’s shelter system. They also demand that the Region of Waterloo announce their intention to make the appropriate changes to the system as soon as possible and allocate the appropriate resources to address the issues.
“My team members and I started noticing that leadership would shoot down all of their ideas in meetings. This was in stark contrast to my Supervision which, up to this point, had been overwhelmingly positive and supportive,” the HOF whistleblower, who wants to remain anonymous, said.
Based on the whistleblower’s account and KOJO Institute’s assessment, racialized staff at the House of Friendship experience systemic oppression from management. Forty-eight percent of racialized staff agree that White staff
The House of Friendship has come under fire after a whistleblower shared stories of racial discrimination in the staff.
Based on the whistleblower’s account and KOJO Institute’s assessment, racialized staff at the House of Friendship experience systemic oppression from management. Forty-eight percent of racialized staff agree that White staff are more likely to get promotions and full-time work. Fifty-three percent of racialized staff said “yes” to the statement “Have you, in your own opinion, ever experienced racism in the workplace?”
“The staff pointed out that strongly held political beliefs constitute a creed, are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada and cannot legally be considered problematic by leadership in the same way a person’s religion cannot be deemed problematic,” the HOF whistleblower said.
Aside from the staff experiencing systemic issues, Fight Back! KW points out that HOF staff do not represent their clients. Sixty-seven percent of employees are white, sixty- six percent are heterosexual and 75 per cent of staff are able-bodied and minded.
“Staff and volunteers sometimes make inappropriate comments (e.g., referring to racialized groups as ‘those people’),” the HOF whistleblower said.
Forty-nine per cent of staff agree with the statement that HOF leadership is all talk and no action when it comes to tackling racism. Racialized staff members said there is no consistent understanding of equity issues, no urgency to disrupt racism and no process to address racist incidents. KOJO and Fight Back! KW’s report necessitates that the Waterloo Regional Councilors and staff are responsible for delivering high- quality social services throughout the region.
“HOF leadership has taken steps to reduce racial inequities within the organization and the workplace,” a HOF staff member, who wishes to remain anonymous, said.
Although the assessment centers HOF, Fight Back! KW and KOJO want the report to catalyze change. The organizations want to highlight the lack of involvement of the Region of Waterloo in overseeing the emergency shelter services. The current hands-off approach allows for social service leadership to operate without being held accountable for systemic issues.
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