A Note to Our RMH-NY Community

I share this message that I sent to our Ronald McDonald House New York family over the weekend with an extremely heavy heart:

 Dear RMH-NY Family,

I want you to hear from me today, because none of us are immune to the protests, the hurt, the injustices and the lack of respect for human life that surrounds us.

Over the last three months, my communication with you has focused on the global health pandemic, and how our Ronald McDonald House New York community has had to navigate through the challenges the virus presents as an unprecedented experience in our lifetimes.  

This has been a sad week for us, as we grieve the passing of our dear colleague, who we were used to interacting with daily. May she rest in peace. Our collective hearts are broken.

Further, we are outraged by yet another video of an African American man brutalized and killed in front of us and our precious children. The recent events, including the repugnant actions captured by news reports of Amy Cooper in Central Park, have further exacerbated the stress and anxiety we feel about the disproportionate burden of death from COVID-19 in the African American community, and the pervasive lack of unified action regarding racial injustice and police brutality in our country.

 I wish to convey respect for a hurting family, that of Mr. George Floyd. May he also rest in eternal peace. I grieve for a devastated country. I am thankful for those who have stood up for justice and accountability. I mourn the loss of life and freedom, and the infliction of injury that has resulted from the violence we are witnessing. As ever, I am fully committed to the responsibility of leadership,and I am looking across our organization to understand your potential challenges, and how each of you may feel impacted.

Now, more than ever, our collective voices and actions are needed to ensure a better future for the children we fight for every day through our service. We must forge a path that secures a positive future for all of us, and for those who will come behind us to lead at every level. 

What we do today will speak volumes about who we are, and how we showed up in a crisis. This will define our future.

I invite you to join me, as we commit to using our places and voices to transform the systems that undermine our collective rights to live without fear of bias and discrimination, racism and violence in this country, city, and world we hold dear.

 The late songstress, Nina Simone, said

“I’ll tell you what Freedom is to me. No fear.”

May all of us be free of fear and live life, fully alive.

I look forward to continuing this important dialogue with each of you in the coming weeks and months.

Ruth C. Browne, SD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ronald McDonald House New York.

To learn more about Ronald McDonald House New York, please visit www.rmh-newyork.org.