Dear SHA Community,

Sadly, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has added to the number of countries around the world that are engaged in armed conflict. As with any modern war, the lives of civilians are being torn apart and more than one thousand innocent Ukrainian people, including children, have already been injured or killed. Millions of people have lost everything and are desperate for food, water and safety. Soldiers on both sides have lost their lives.

As hard as this is and as strong as feelings may be, I would hope no one adds to the tragedy by oversimplifying the situation and directing misguided anger toward people in our SHA community whose origin or descent may be Russian or Ukrainian. The actions of a leader can be just as abhorrent to a country’s own people as anyone else.

Muslims everywhere were threatened following the September 11 attack. People of Asian descent have been attacked simply because coronavirus was believed to have first broken out in China. There are many other examples of people being targeted without any justification whatsoever. This type of response is dangerous and racist behavior. Often, even just asking someone where they are from can cause trauma and fear of unfounded retaliations.

SHA has deep values and a long history of supporting and welcoming people irrespective of nationality, ethnicity and race. We are fortunate to have staff and residents from many countries, including a great number who came to America as the result of persecution or war. With more than 2 million war refugees having already fled Ukraine, and the number growing daily, SHA will undoubtedly have an opportunity to help house and support those who come to Seattle. We stand ready.

As the atrocity of this new war raises our emotions, we can focus those emotions on empathy, kindness and generosity, especially toward those who may be suffering right now because of ties to Russia or Ukraine.

Our SHA community is a strong community and I’m proud to be part of it, and to join all of you in continuing to demonstrate our unwavering values of respect and care for each other, regardless of who people are and where they have come from.

Rod Brandon
SHA Executive Director