A Statement from Cheryl Smith Fisher, Chair, and Nora OBrien-Suric, President

The Health Foundation for Western & Central New York joins our community in mourning our neighbors who were the victims of white supremacist violence on Saturday, May 14. This was an act of terrorism, fueled by anti-Black hatred, and not an isolated incident, but part of a long history of violence motivated by racist ideologies.

We have a great amount of work to do together to up-end racist systems that harm Black people in our community—from this terrible event, to the less-visible systemic barriers that have an impact on Black health and well-being every day. We are currently assessing how we can support the most critical community needs at this time. We send our gratitude to those who are providing mental health and other support services to the community in the aftermath of this event.

We are proud to contribute to the Buffalo Together response funds to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the community.