From Charlotte Haberaecker, President and CEO of Lutheran Services in America
We are relieved and grateful to the many people who have worked so hard for justice in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the 2020 murder of George Floyd, culminating in the jury’s verdict of guilty on all counts.
We pray for solace for the family of George Floyd. Our prayers extend to the families, friends and communities of other Black victims of police violence whose numbers, tragically, are legion. And we humbly join with others who are working to change law, policy and practice to advance a just and equitable society.
As a faith-based health and human services organization, we recognize that the struggle to redress this one grievous injustice shares common ground with other injustices and inequities that many of those we care for confront every day. And we draw added resolve to counter structural racism, injustice and disparities in the communities we serve and in our national advocacy role.
In the summer of 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd, Lutheran Services in America joined with dozens of other mission-focused organizations who are stewards of the public trust in developing a Statement of Guiding Principles to Advance Racial Equality and Justice. Now is the time to call attention to those principles once more and ask ourselves how we may more fully live and advance them. We ask others to join us in doing so.
About Lutheran Services in America
Lutheran Services in America is the national network of Lutheran social ministry organizations—connecting over 300 nonprofit health and human service providers located throughout the country. Recognized by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes as one of the nation’s largest nonprofits, the Lutheran Services in America network operates with more than $22 billion in annual revenue and over 250,000 member employees. Together, the network lifts up the nation’s most vulnerable people from children to seniors — making a difference in the lives of one in 50 Americans every year. To learn more, please visit www.lutheranservices.org.
