The following is a message from Jay Spector, President and CEO, to the JEVS Human Services team. 

JEVS Team:

I am reaching out to you with some thoughts on Wednesday’s violence in Washington, DC.

I’ll start by saying that I am heartbroken.  The seditious actions of the mob that rushed the Capitol were thankfully not enough to halt our democratic process.  While it was not the peaceful transition of power imagined in the Constitution, we did wake up yesterday to news that the election results were certified and the process is complete.  In addition to the dangerous attack on our democracy, I watched the events unfold and saw yet another manifestation of our national struggle with racism.  The stark difference in the response to this violent siege and last summer’s protests for racial equity is deplorable.  I am especially moved, as I’m sure many of you are, by the profoundly important observations of Michelle Obama, “seeing the gulf between the responses to yesterday’s riot and this summer’s peaceful protests and the larger movement for racial justice is so painful. It hurts.  And I cannot think about moving on … until we reckon with the reality of what we saw yesterday.”

I am also hopeful.  The events in Washington took place following the historic election of Reverend Raphael Warnock.  Reverend Warnock is the first person of color elected to the US Senate from Georgia, a milestone to be celebrated. My biggest source of hope comes from who we are.  At JEVS, our mission is about strengthening our community and our work has never been more important.

  I know that we will continue to make hope happen at a time, frankly, when hope is needed most.

And we’ll do it together.

We are living in challenging times.  The past year has taken a toll on all of us – emotionally, physically and spiritually.  These events may have compounded stress and anxiety.  Please take care of yourself.  I encourage you to reach out to Human Resources if you would like to take advantage of services offered through our Employee Assistance Program.

Thank you for working hard on behalf of those we serve.  I am grateful every day to lead our talented JEVS team
Have a peaceful and safe weekend.

Warmest regards,

Jay

Posted in Blog From Our CEO