Supporting The Black Community

We aspire to be an actively anti-racist space at Shelter. Like so many, we are enraged and heartbroken over the continued unjust treatment of Black people in our country. We have also realized that sitting on the sidelines and expressing our emotions is simply not enough. Because actions speak louder than words, here are the steps we are taking in our business to create a more inclusive space and to better support the Black community:

• Actively expanding our product offerings to include more Black-owned brands (out of nearly 50 independent brands we carry in the shop, nearly 20% are Black-owned. We will continue to expand and grow these partnerships, and foster long-term relationships with the existing brands we carry) 
• Evaluating the business resources we use daily (contractors, vendors, service providers, suppliers, and more) to see how and where we can better spend our dollars and support a more inclusive community.
• Making reoccurring, monthly donations to organizations that are actively working toward supporting Black lives (We continue to make monthly donations to The Loveland Foundation, N Street Village and Casa Ruby. In 2021, we expanded this list to include the Black Women's Health Imperative  and Black Artists + Designers Guild). 
• Seeking and engaging in anti-racist education for our team. This includes encouraging and financially assisting with any anti-racism courses that our staff would like to take, supplying anti-racist books for our team, and matching donations they would like to make
• Re-evaluating our hiring processes and growing a more diverse team
• Using a wider range of models and faces on our social media channels 
• Being open to learning from our peers, shoppers, designers and larger community.

This is not a one-time statement, it is an ongoing process. We will get it wrong sometimes, and we will learn and course-correct from those mistakes. We are here to do better, and appreciate your continued support.

If you have any feedback, would like to learn more, or have a question/concern, please email us at hi@shopshelter.com.