Courage Medicine

As an agency, it is Courage Medicine’s charge to offer affirming and anti-oppressive care. We believe that building up our team is vital to the work we are able to do in the community, thus our DEIB statement refers to our internal workings as much as it does to the care we provide to our patients and the community.  We strive to create an environment where all people connected to Courage Medicine are able to thrive. In regards to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belongingness at Courage Medicine:

 

1.  We believe that there is no neutrality in addressing systems that perpetuate inequality. Our words and actions only work to support or to dismantle systems of oppression. Thus, we believe that we must be actively anti-oppression in our values and our work.

 

2.  We believe that we must name and discuss privilege and systems of oppression, and we must take personal and collective responsibility to change these systems. We must intentionally implement practices to promote equity and justice.

 

3.  We understand that we are imperfect. We believe that our work, as an agency and as individuals, is lifelong and requires constant openness and learning. We are allowed to make mistakes, but we must also demand accountability of ourselves and one another. We do not believe in using shame as a tool, but rather open conversations, vulnerability, humility, and opportunities for growth. 

 

4.  We believe that equity involves more nuanced intervention than equality, and that we must ongoingly learn and adapt our practices in order to meet the needs of those who have been marginalized. We must listen to our staff, patients, Board of Directors, and our larger community’s input, and we must seek to discover unvoiced needs.

 

5.  We believe that it is not the job of those who have been marginalized to initiate conversations, educate, self-disclose, or otherwise shoulder the emotional labor of our anti-oppression work. 

 

6.  We believe that we must listen to, believe, and value the lived experiences of the people who have been marginalized or silenced by systems of oppression. It is not our job to create space, but rather to move aside and center voices that have been silenced.

 

7.  We believe in expanding our equity work beyond the legal definition of non-discrimination against “protected characteristics.” There are real individual, generational, and collective traumas that are the direct result of systemic forms of oppression such as ableism, ageism, colorism, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism, sexism, sizeism, transphobia, xenophobia, and compounding stigma against those with mental illness, substance use disorders, who engage in sex work, have STIs or HIV, experience homelessness, are victims and survivors of abuse, have been involved in the criminal justice system or child protective services, or have other ascribed group memberships or identities that are marginalized and misunderstood.

 

8.  We believe in accountability. We have non-discrimination and non-harassment policies in place that we are committed to enforcing, including proactive training to attempt to prevent such incidents. In the event of intended or unintended discrimination and/or harassment, we commit to serious response and action, including potential removal of staff from our team.

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Adopted June 2023