Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, the Medford Board of Health, Medford Public Schools, the Medford Police Department, and the Medford Human Rights Commission are hosting a Community Conversation via Zoom titled “Racism is a Public Health Crisis: What Does This Mean, & How Can the City Address This Crisis?” The program will include brief presentations from city leaders on how Medford is working to address racism as a public health crisis, and breakout sessions to gather feedback and create action steps based on community needs. Breakout session topics will be Leadership, Health Disparities, Schools & Education, and Policing.

Attendees will be encouraged to share personal experiences as well as expectations for the city’s work around addressing racism, equity, and belonging.

“In June 2020, the City of Medford declared racism a public health crisis. This does not mean that we believe working to end racism and working to create equity, inclusivity, and belonging across both City policies and in our community as whole are new to the City of Medford. It means that as a City we acknowledge racism still exists, and we recommitted to doing the work necessary to end it,” said Mayor Lungo-Koehn. “While we have made progress, we need to be sure that we are working together, as a community, to educate ourselves, to commit to making positive change, and to lifting up the experiences, voices, and needs of traditionally marginalized community members. Therefore, this conversation is an opportunity for us to reflect and review ongoing work, and to set new goals together. I hope you will join us for this important conversation.”

Community members of all backgrounds and abilities are encouraged to attend. Translation will be provided upon request, and a video recording of the meeting will be available following the community conversation for those who are unable to attend but would like to submit comments or feedback.

To participate, join the Zoom meeting at this link: https://zoom.us/j/92166819734?pwd=d0ZpVGd0ZWFNYU1xUVVQTExnNStVdz09
Meeting ID: 921 6681 9734; Passcode: 374755