Diversity & Inclusion

At a young age, it was clear that Keys was gifted. When starting piano lessons at the age of seven, she floored  her mother and piano instructor with her talent. She was later accepted into the highly selective Professional Performance Arts School of Manhattan. She graduated as valedictorian at the age of 16. She started her career in music in 1998, and it quickly blossomed from there.       It wasn’t until a friend of hers, after hearing the news of the

In celebration of Black History Month, Friends of the Family is highlighting one African American individual per week that has contributed to our mission of serving people who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and/or homelessness. This week's spotlight is on Vanessa McNeal. Vanessa grew up in a very abusive household. She was neglected, sexually abused, and exposed to other trauma, such as domestic violence. She was placed in her grandmother’s care

This week's Black History Month spotlight is on Tarana Burke.Tarana has become an American civil rights activist by raising awareness on sexual abuse and assault throughout society. In 1997, when working as a youth worker at a youth camp predominately for children of color, Tarana met a young girl named Heaven. After a bonding session with a group of the girls, Heaven came to Tarana in hopes to speak with her privately. She told Tarana about her mother’s boyfriend who was doing all sorts

For Black History Month, Friends of the Family is highlighting one African American individual each week who has contributed to our mission. This week, we will be talking about Jesse Cosby Jesse Cosby came to the Cedar Valley after serving in WWII. He was a talented musician, and attracted both white and African American audiences. Through his music, he set out to bring these two communities together, in a time where segregation was still commonplace. Cosby created some of the first

  November 20th is Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is on this day that we remember and mourn the loss of transgender individuals who were murdered. The transgender community has been in the media more than we’ve ever seen, so consequently, there has been a lot of misinformation on what it means to be transgender. Someone who is transgender (or trans for short) doesn’t identify with the sex and gender that was assigned to them when they were born. There are many gender identities,