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Word on the Street with Meredith Jones
May 13, 2025, The Association
We must open doors and keep holding them open…
“We must open doors and keep holding them open,” stated Meredith Jones of Operation Kindness in last month’s Roundtable. It’s the key to creating more inclusive communities—in spite of resistance and roadblocks. Here’s more of what Jones shared on the topic:
Because needs are always changing, we’ll always want to be conducting regular audits of the accessibility of all programs – both internal and external – within our organizations. Many of us have implemented more open foster and adoption policies, but have we extended that same mindset to our pet assistance programs? Have we made it easier to adopt an animal, but more difficult to ask for help? Have we jumped straight into focusing on making our external programs more equitable and inclusive, but bypassed doing the same for our internal, staff-focused programs? We want to be consistent in extending the same level of compassion, respect, and trust across ALL of our programs, which includes both customer-serving and staff-focused programs.
– Meredith Jones, Chief Community Initiatives Officer, Operation Kindness
More wise words? Register to get a recording of The Roundtable discussion with Meredith Jones, Todd Cramer, CAWA, and Jennifer Toussaint.
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