“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

– Letter from the Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.

What We Know

  • Black infant mortality rates are, 2.5x that of their white counterpart.

  • Doctors are less likely to prescribe pain medication and appropriate treatment to black patients vs. white patients.

  • Data suggests physician bias/assumptions that black patients won’t comply with medication changes.

  • Black men with chest pain wait longer for an initial EKG than white men.

  • Black women are 2-6x more likely to die from complications during pregnancy than white women.

  • 80% of acupuncture users are white women. The disparity in access to this method changed only slightly in the last decade.

Sources on data: CDC + NIH

What We Promise

We see you Baltimore. We’ve never been prouder of all the front line work being done to ensure Black lives are protected and valued in our communities and in our country. And, we’re inspired by this work to examine our own blind spots and responsibilities.

In the words of our mentor Dianne Connelly: change is not a one walk dog. Whether it’s political, economic or social – real change is a series of sustained actions over time. We don’t want to be optical, in-the-moment allies. Instead, we commit to being thoughtful and long-term in our actions.

What We’re Doing

Currently, we’re engaging in conversations with our team, as well as a “brain trust” of facilitators and educators, about how Mend can allocate resources (time, services, money) to ensure we’re an actively anti-racist organization. We commit to transparency on “how” we will do that, so our strategy is clear and accountable.
As always, our doors are open to your concerns, experiences and feedback. Feel free to email Mend’s owner Sarah O’Leary anytime.

Educating Ourselves

In 2022 we embarked on a formal organization-wide audit with the facilitation of Axle Impact Studio to survey team members and stakeholders to better understand the current environment and any equity concerns. Our team has been led through a curriculum, informed by wellness and public health practitioners experienced in servicing and studying communities of color on equity, inclusion, and implicit bias for wellness practitioners. Beyond this year’s internal training, ongoing and updated (bi-annual) Implicit Bias training is a welcome requirement of our licensure.

Increased Representation

We are committed to developing and improving staff representation to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. These initiatives are ongoing.