Our mission is to inspire Community Action for Racial Equity (CARE) in Floyd County, Virginia.
Floyd CARE is a non-partisan non-profit made of dedicated volunteer community members. Our mission is to inspire CARE, or Community Action for Racial Equity, in Floyd County, Virginia.
We define equity beyond equality, which is the equal treatment of all people, to include identifying and dismantling bias within policies, practices, systems, and structures that have led to present-day disparities. For us, equity also includes acts of accountability and repair within our community. In other words, an equitable community not only eliminates racial bias, but also invests resources (social, financial, or otherwise) into addressing disparities. As this work is battling an ingrained cultural and structural imbalance, we see seeking equity as an ongoing and intentional practice.
Equity was defined in 2024 by the federal government as “the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals…” Equity work can address anything from gender, class, and location-based (such as rural vs. urban) imbalances- Our work focuses on racial equity, and specifically in Floyd County. If you listen to some of the stories of our community members, it is very clear that equity has not yet reached every corner of Floyd County- This is why we are here.
One way we work toward our mission is through celebration and education during two events each year: Juneteenth and National Hispanic Heritage Month.
We celebrate our local communities while creating a platform to educate the public about the past and present context in which we all live. We believe in celebrating the diversity of our community while honoring the full history of how we all arrived here. This history, and how each of us were and continue to be affected by it, is critical to understanding each other. Racial segregation, discrimination, and slavery are all a part of Floyd County history, while so is determination, survival, and celebration. We organize our events to hold both of these truths.
Music, food, story-telling, historical context, resource sharing, community engagement, and celebration are all integral as we learn more about each other and work toward the goal of achieving racial equity in Floyd. We invite local community groups and organizations to bring information about the work that they do for Floyd, and our events are sponsored by the donations of individuals and many local businesses.
Thank you for visiting our website to learn about us and the work we do. We hope to see you celebrating with us this year!
If you would like to get involved or stay up to date on our events, email us at floydcareva@gmail.com to join our email list or follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
