Room to Grow Honors Juneteenth

By Julie Zemke and Lydia Gonzales

At Room to Grow, we observe Juneteenth both to celebrate the date when those who had been enslaved in the U.S. were freed, and to reflect on this country’s history of slavery, racism, inequity, and how it impacts our communities today.  

Racism has been entrenched in North America since the first Western colonizer claimed this landmass for a distant monarch, with full and violent disregard for the native and indigenous communities who inhabited it. Anti-black racism, which dehumanizes and marginalizes Blackness and Black people, led to the establishment America’s economic power through 250 years of formalized chattel slavery, in which enslaved African people were captured and trafficked across oceans to endure forced labor on American soil. 

It is impossible to separate racism from American culture and society, as it is woven into the fabric of our country through complex and institutionalized practices, policies, and behaviours. Low-income communities of color, at the intersection of oppressive forces that span racism and classism, continue to experience harm, unequal opportunities, and intergenerational trauma as a result. Structural, state-sanctioned oppression of these communities have manifested through practices like over-policing, voter suppression, and discrimination in employment, housing, and education. These practices and policies perpetuate a country in which communities of color are intentionally disadvantaged, marginalized and prevented from achieving economic security, while bearing the awareness that their children are likely to experience the same inequities as their ancestors.

Since opening in 1998, Room to Grow has provided community-based support to low-income parents of young children (from birth to age three) to support early child development and overall family well-being. For organizations and individuals like us, partnering with low-income families of color with young children, these systems of oppression are critical to understand in the context of how families navigate pregnancy and early childhood. 

We are committed to promoting equity for all families and children. Our program and curriculum are designed to center each family's needs and priorities so that they can increase focus on their personal and family goals. The bedrock of our program and impact are the strong relationships created during this critical time in a child’s life: between our program team and families, within families, and those built within the community. Our two-generation, preventative, and strengths-based approach supports families through a unique combination of structured parent coaching, material items for the child, and connections to community resources. 

Room to Grow’s vision is one of equity - in which, one day, all families will have the resources they need to raise their children in alignment with their personal goals and priorities. While the broader movement for racial and economic equity continues, it is essential to also take steps now that can mitigate the harmful effects of inequity for our youngest and their families, so that children have a strong foundation on which to build.

Visit the What We Do page to learn more about the Room to Grow program.