Letter: In Support Of Sunrise Budget Rally

While the Community Safety Working Group (CSWG) could not formally be here with you all today, we stand in solidarity. We support the full funding of the schools, the CRESS Program, and the continuation of our group. For a community to be truly safe, all members of the community must have equal access to the resources that they deem necessary to their wellbeing. This includes a fully funded school budget so that all young people in this town have access to a robust education that provides an array of programs, such as the arts. This includes a fully staffed and fully funded CRESS program, with an adequate capacity for dispatch so that community members who have not felt safe utilizing traditional safety services, not only have a number to call when in crisis but, that they can be confident that they will be provided a response rooted in anti-racism and equity. Additionally, this includes continuing the CSWG, as we have been a liaison between the town government and the community, and we need more time to effectively finish our charge. We write this with deep gratitude for our community, its strength, and its bravery. We encourage you all to remain active in this conversation and in moving Amherst forward, towards our dream destination.

Brianna Owen and Ellisha Walker, Co-chairs of the CSWG on behalf of the CSWG.