Rite Aid Healthy Futures commits $1M to EmbraceRace
Rite Aid Healthy Futures has committed an additional $1 million to EmbraceRace to support its work helping children learn about race in healthy, identity-affirming ways.
Founded in 2016, EmbraceRace drives progress by creating and curating tools, resources, discussion spaces and networks that parents, early childhood educators and other adults need to raise children who are thoughtful, informed and brave about race.
The latest funding from Healthy Futures will support EmbraceRace’s continued creation of self-directed online resources for parents and guardians interested in learning and strengthening their caregiving practices. The grant also will fund new place-based groups that bring together people in the organization’s early childhood community, as well as EmbraceRace’s field infrastructure, evaluation tools and a national conference.
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“Figuring out how best to support the development of healthy racial sensibilities in children is difficult, uncertain work,” said Andrew Grant-Thomas, co-founder of EmbraceRace. “While middle and high school teachers can find substantial support, we’ve only recently begun to build up the resources to help parents and other caregivers do this work. This is especially true of materials aimed at parents of young children, though we know that even infants and toddlers have begun to make sense of race, whether or not adults choose to engage them explicitly on the subject. EmbraceRace helps fill that gap.”
EmbraceRace serves children, parents, educators and other caregivers and child-facing professionals throughout the United States, including in major Rite Aid communities such as New York, Los Angeles and the Bay Area, among many others.
As Rite Aid Healthy Futures continues its journey to become more thoughtful and informed about racial equity, it has intentionally invested in Black- and Brown-led organizations, children’s hospitals and community nonprofits addressing society issues such as hunger, homelessness and health care, the company noted.
EmbraceRace has proven an instrumental partner, with its relationship with Healthy Futures now entering its fourth year. The latest Healthy Futures grant builds upon $1 million issued to support EmbraceRace in 2020. That initial investment enabled EmbraceRace to expand its programs, deepen its network, build its team and become an emerging leading voice in the early racial learning community.
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“EmbraceRace addresses the critical need to ensure racial awareness, learning and sensitivity are introduced to kids at early ages,” said Matt DeCamara, executive director of Rite Aid Healthy Futures. “At a time when it’s so important to work for racial understanding and equity, their programs provide parents, caregivers and educators with the resources to guide kids through the constant challenges associated with bias and discrimination. Rite Aid Healthy Futures is proud to support EmbraceRace as it meets this moment of great need and influences the futures of countless children and families.”