Our mission at Hope Animal Rescue is to protect and find good homes for abandoned and neglected dogs in North Carolina and advocate for their welfare while cultivating outreach initiatives to further the bond between people and pets. While rescue and animal welfare work provide a service to the community’s pets, rescue is just as much a service to its people. We cannot adequately serve our community if all are not represented, respected, and treated equitably. To that end, we know that there is still a lot of work to effectively serve pet lovers in the Triangle and across the state. We evaluate our organization and policies to ensure our adoption, fostering, and volunteering programs are accessible and welcoming to all. To us, being inclusive means frequently re-evaluating policies to promote an inclusive path to adoption, proactively connecting with and engaging people of color and marginalized groups across our programs and in leadership roles, and ensuring our programs are reflective of the make-up of our community in the Triangle. We will also continue to expand our community assistance and advocacy efforts to support pet owners who are experiencing financial insecurity, housing issues, or other hardships that disproportionately affect people of color. Animal rescue is not exempt from the effects of systemic racism and institutional discrimination, and it is part of our service to the community to ensure access and representation are equitable.