Human Solutions is an inclusive, multi-racial and multi-cultural organization working to alleviate the impacts of poverty on people and communities. Our approach to our work counters many the primary forces that make and keep people poor.

We focus our work in East Portland and East Multnomah County, one of the most diverse areas in Oregon. Here, many individuals, families and communities have experienced high rates of economic insecurity and residential displacement as a direct result of policies and practices that have historically deprived communities and individuals of land, wealth and basic human rights because of their identity – policies and practices that continue to widen inequity to this day.

As an organization that seeks to counter a community legacy of inequity, we commit to:

• Understand and counter the impacts and causes of bias that include racism and white supremacy, learned patterns of oppression, and the strong connection between poverty, homelessness and race.
• Continue our growth into an intentionally anti-bias, anti-racist organization that actively aligns with community-based efforts to overcome inequality and its roots in racism and oppression.
• Confront and challenge all forms of institutional oppression within our organization so that staff and those who partner with us will experience Human Solutions as truly inclusive. We will create the time and space to continue learning vital lessons, to doing the urgent work necessary to counter the centuries-old and still-active forces that block opportunity for people of color and other oppressed people.
• Acknowledge who holds power in our organization, whose voices shape our decisions and who is not “in the room.” We will work constantly and vigorously to address disparities within our own ranks.
• Revisit our commitments regularly to update the words and actions that define this critical work as we learn and grow.

Download Our Commitment to Equity