At NewLife-Second Chance Outreach, Inc., we believe that we are only as strong as we are different. We celebrate everything that makes our volunteers, employees, community partners, funders, donors, and those we serve unique, and we love how our varied backgrounds improve our team and the services we provide. We embrace diversity, equity and inclusion by:

1. Celebrating what makes us different (whether we are different in our race, gender, religion, lifestyles, disabilities and abilities, social circumstances and class, involvement with the criminal legal system or housing status, we’d celebrate DEI by throwing a party every day if we could).

2. Speaking with kindness, respect, and curiosity when we discuss our differences. (YES it’s absolutely okay and encouraged to talk about our differences and what makes us unique!)

3. Respecting others’ choice of pronouns and other self-identifying choices as it relates to their gender, race, criminal justice involvement, social status, class, social circumstances, etc.). 

4. Using humanizing, person-centered language to prioritize the humanity in people. Volunteers and employees of NewLife-Second Chance Outreach, Inc. do not use or support the use of language that dehumanizes them. Therefore, we do not use terms that define people by their circumstances or life experiences such as felon, convict, offender, homeless, handicapped, crazy, addict, etc. but rather replace these harmful words that promote their humanity such as “a person with (a disability, a mental illness, a substance dependency or recovery, in prison, on probation or parole, etc.)

5. Discussing and respecting boundaries. (we are super big on this)

• 1. If someone unintentionally says or does something that feels disrespectful, it’s your responsibility to speak up and let them know that you felt disrespected.
• 2. It’s their responsibility to apologize and make sure they understand why it was disrespectful and to be intentional in avoiding such language or behavior in the future. This should be an open discussion with both sides assuming good intent and a chance to educate and learn from each other.

If there is a clear, intentional disrespect, discrimination, or harassment whether based on belonging to a protected class or not, discuss (with specific references) what the individual has done to make you uncomfortable with them or their immediate supervisor. If you are uncomfortable talking directly with their manager, you are welcome to speak with an HR representative. 

Our goal is for everyone at NewLife-Second Chance Outreach, Inc. to be accepting and kind. We hold each volunteer, employee, community partner, funder, donor and those we serve to these standards. We will take action against any volunteer, employee, community partner, funder, donor and those we serve found guilty of discrimination or harassment whether they are of a protected class (such as age, gender, pregnancy, abilities, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, race, and ethnicity) or not, up to and including termination of volunteer assignment, employment, relationship or ability to receive services.

Bottom Line: We have zero-tolerance for discrimination, harassment, disrespect and/or exclusion at NewLife-Second Chance Outreach, Inc.