Dr. LaVonne Ansari,
Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director,
Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc

Message from CEO

Community Health Centers are comprehensive primary care providers that began during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. We started at a time of unrest to help fight the war on poverty and oppression in underserved communities. Today, in these challenging times, we are more committed than ever to continuing our fight for good.

 

As human beings, we are the greatest creation on earth. This is a time when our human excellence has to rise up and out work beliefs, behaviors, movements, and policies that are designed to oppress our instincts to treat each other with respect and dignity.

 

As primary care providers, we have the responsibility to support underserved communities. We are obligated to stand up and share our voices through our work. While we are not exempt from the institutional racism that plagues our health care system, we are essential change agents.

 

The race consciousness that we have is human. Racism is human-made, but the human spirit is God-made. What we’re struggling with is unfairness. It’s not natural for one human being to feel better than the other, and one to feel inferior to the other. I believe the best of humanity will surface and that human beings will continue to fight until they find peace.

 

We must start with ourselves as leaders in this movement. We have the Will to guide, educate, and build new infrastructures based on an anti-racism framework. I feel that we stand ready to work with everyone at all levels, encouraging inclusivity within our communities to be leaders in addressing the social-economic injustices in our systems. So, we must keep fighting. Generation after generation must keep fighting for their souls. We’re fighting for what is good. That is what I see as our vision. We will continue to fight for the best of humanity.