Black Lives Matter

June 22, 2020

Dear HPD Collaborative Members,

The unjust deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery are among the most recent of countless injustices that Black Americans have suffered for far too long. We join in expressing outrage and grief over these tragic events, and our love and support for everyone affected by these tragedies. We stand united with the Black community against police brutality and all forms of injustice and systemic racism. Black Lives Matter. 

Systemic racism must end. To change course will take the efforts of us all. We must commit to identifying where our organization – and our individual actions – can set us on a path to rectify the injustices that have led to this repeating pattern of violence. And, we must commit to taking the actions needed to make the needed changes happen.  

To address these problems will take a sustained commitment across our nation, and from many around the globe. HPD Collaborative’s mission is to make the places where we live, work and play healthier for all – especially urgent where the ill effects of unhealthy materials fall upon those with the least. We champion transparency – the right to know – empowering everyone with the knowledge to make informed decisions. 

HPD Collaborative will focus our work to help bring about these changes by committing to these next steps, that we will take starting now:

• We will expand our definition of the material health community and our membership, to fully include the residents and workers who live and work in, construct, and maintain buildings, and those living and working where products are extracted and made, most importantly to include people of color. Without the voices of those directly affected, we are not addressing the problem. 

• We will implement the means to reflect a fuller understanding of health information and social equity in the reporting supported by the HPD Open Standard. If healthy products and information about them are not equitably available to all, we are not addressing the problem.
• We will review our organization, systems and policies and revise them as needed to include all voices and reflect our strong commitment to address inequities in health outcomes in the built environment. If we don’t change what we do and how we do it, we are not addressing the problem.

We want – and need – your thoughts and ideas on the steps HPDC is taking and the plans we will be implementing. We have set up an online forum for sharing ideas and resources, and encourage you to participate by signing onto the HPDC Member Portal and sharing your ideas, which you can do by clicking this link: Social Equity in Transparency and Material Health Forum. If you have any questions about signing onto the Member Portal, please contact us at membership@hpd-collaborative.org.

As HPDC moves forward with these actions, your active participation is key to making these changes a reality. Learning from and inspiring each other with our commitment will help us do more, and do it sooner.  

On behalf of our HPDC Board of Directors and Staff, who fully support this statement, thank you for your commitment to our collective work to achieve a world where healthy buildings and environments truly are available to all. We are eager and ready to take these next steps forward in collaboration with all of you.

Wendy Vittori, HPDC, Executive Director