Dear CAP Community,

Last week, Leaders and Organizations in the Black community sent a letter to Governor Kate Brown, Speaker of the House Tina Kotek, Senate President Peter Courtney and members of the Emergency Board. 

As you know, COVID-19 is also highlighting what was already true—while Oregonians are weathering the same storm, we’re not all in the same boat. Black, brown, and Indigenous communities have always been denied the resources we need to be healthy. So, it is absolutely predictable that we are the communities hit hardest by COVID-19—and not just by the virus itself. Nationally, we also know that the CARES Act has already left Black communities behind.

Cascade AIDS Project is an undersigned member of the Black community across Oregon, from Ashland to Astoria and Portland to Bend, publicly calling on state and local elected leaders to create a COVID-19 plan “to specifically address prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery for Black children, families, and community.” 

Our health depends on our leaders’ ability to see problems, understand what is causing them,

and implement proven solutions that keep our families safe. 

As the state moves forward in its relief and recovery efforts, we seek four primary responses:

1. An allocation of $62 million for the Oregon Cares Fund for Black relief and resiliency

• A $62 million fund that builds on targeted universalism, an approach that assures state-level culturally-specific investments. 

• This fund would be administered by The Contingent, an organization with pre-existing state contract relationships, in partnership with The Black United Fund.

• The state should direct Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) resources not just geographically but in targeted strategies that are created by and for the Black community.

• The state should replicate this model for the Latinx community, Native and Tribal communities, as well as the Asian/Pacific-Islander communities.

2. Accurate and disaggregated data of CRF beneficiaries and other state-controlled CARES Act resources

• We can only solve this health crisis and rebuild our economy if we properly diagnose how it is devastating to the Black community and other communities of color. 

• This requires transparent data collection where community members can assess and validate that the data, collection, and presentation methods are free from bias while maintaining privacy.

• Disaggregated data is needed for testing, treatment, outcomes, and contact tracing.

• HB 3361 passed in 2017, created the office of Chief Data Officer and established open data standards “to preserve the integrity and usefulness of publishable data” with “requirements to update publishable data as often as is necessary to preserve the integrity and usefulness of publishable data.” 

• If these measures are implemented in this crisis they will enable the state to meet their statutory responsibility and ensure data is accessible and verifiable by community stakeholders.

• When we track and share data based on race and other demographic criteria, we can develop and ensure effective, more inclusive responses for us all.

3. Accountability measures as resources flow through jurisdictions and agencies 

• Without clear requirements and mandates for equitable service, jurisdictions and agencies will prioritize existing relationships, networks, and tactics to deploy CRF resources in this rapid-response environment. 

• The above approach will only exacerbate and reinforce inequitable services and economic supports.

• Equitable does not mean per-capita. Equitable means those facing disproportionate and systemic disadvantages are disproportionately resourced to address them.

• State agency appropriations as well as grant agreements and contracts with local jurisdictions need data-tracking and equitable requirement provisions—and true repercussions to agencies and jurisdictions that fail to do both.

• Such repercussions should include repayment or redirection of funds to proven efforts that reach our communities. 

4. Development of an equitable community-based oversight mechanism

• This community-led council must include elected leaders, public health experts, behavioral health experts, community leaders in healthcare, and stakeholders from impacted communities, including worker organizations.

• The council should provide agency and statewide oversight of appropriations and practices to monitor equitable Coronavirus relief and recovery.

Read more about The Oregon Cares Fund for Black relief and resiliency, and how it addresses the key impacts of COVID-19. 

Support The Oregon Cares Fund for Black relief and resiliency: 

Businesses and organizations throughout Oregon are called upon to share this communication with their networks and urge their elected officials to take action.

We want to be a part of building a healthier and more just future for our Black community and for Oregon. 

In Solidarity,

Cascade AIDS Project

Tyler TerMeer

Chief Executive Officer

Here’s who signed onto the letter so far:

Portland African American Leadership Forum

Black Southern Oregon Alliance

Corvallis-Albany NAACP

Mudbone Grown

Constructing Hope

Black Community of Portland

Black Parent Initiative

WomenFirst Transition & Referral Center

Urban League of Portland

Coalition of Communities of Color

Kairos PDX

Albina Vision Trust

iUrban Teen

Oasis of Praise International Ministries

Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center

The Ebony Collective

Word is Bond

REAP Inc.

Salem- Keizer NAACP

Portland NAACP

Africa House

Stand for Children

Community Development Corporation Beyond Black

African Youth Community Organization AYCO 

Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center

Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge for the States of Oregon, Idaho and Montana, Inc. F&AM.

Self Enhancement, Inc

Soul District Business Association

Cascade AIDS Project & Prism Health

Flossin Media

Eugene - Springfield NAACP

Black Women In Stem 2.0

Children’s Community Clinic

League of Minority Voters

PAALF Action Fund

African Family Holistic Health Organization

Select Electeds, Individuals, and Commissions that created and undersigned The Oregon Cares Fund for Black relief and resiliency:

Oregon State Representative Akasha Lawrence Spence 

Oregon State Representative Janelle Bynum 

Oregon State Senator James Manning Jr. 

Oregon State Senator Lew Frederick 

Oregon Commission on Black Affairs 

The Honorable Margaret Carter, Former Oregon State Representative 

Tyler TerMeer, PhD 

Rukaiyah Adams 

Michelle DePass 

Toya Fick

Bruce M. Watts, Astoria 

Alex Johnson II, Albany City Councilor, Ward 

Rosa Colquitt, Portland 

Katrina Holland, JOIN 

Pastor Marilyn Williams, Salem

Sharon Gary-Smith, Retired, Community Activist & Philanthropic Leader 

Shelaswau Bushnell Crier, Salem 

Earlene Wilson Huey, Albany 

Michael Alexander, former President Urban League of Portland 

Bruce M. Watts, former interim President Urban League of Portland 

Most Worshipful Grand Master Andreas Moppin 

Alex Johnson II, Albany City Councilor 

Dorian Smith, Albany 

Ed Junkins, Corvallis

NW Instituto Latino 

About Cascade AIDS Project

Founded in 1985 as a grassroots response to the AIDS crisis, Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) is now the oldest and largest HIV-services and LGBTQ+ health provider in Oregon and southwest Washington, with more than 100 employees working across four locations. Our organization seeks to prevents new HIV infections; support low-income people living with HIV; and provide safe, welcoming, and knowledgeable healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community. Through our vital health, housing, and other social services, we help ensure the well-being of more than 15,000 people each year.  More information can be found at www.capnw.org