New Cultural Humility Unit and the Racial Justice Institute
South Carolina Legal Services (SCLS) is thrilled to announce the creation of the Cultural Humility Unit. South Carolina is home to a diverse variety of cultures. The vision of SCLS is that all low income South Carolinians will have full and fair access to justice. However, biases and systemic inequity perpetuate barriers. Cultural Humility is the process of identifying how each individual’s unique cultural identity affects the needs and challenges faced by that individual.
The Cultural Humility Unit is a team of SCLS staff dedicated to aiding and empowering communities impacted by systemic inequity. Work of this unit includes but is not limited to: race equity issues; access and equity for individuals with disabilities; the needs of individuals with limited English proficiency (those with visual/hearing impairments, individuals who cannot read and/or write, and individuals who primarily speak or write a language other than English); and the needs of LGBTQ+ community members. In addition to work in the community, this unit will also examine the internal policies, procedures, and practices within our organization to ensure that our statewide law firm is operating with a sense of cultural humility and to better the quality of our services through improved cultural competency and training.
Four members of the SCLS team, Tiffney Love, Amber Johnson, Whitney Stout, and Susan Ingles, have been accepted into the Racial Justice Institute, hosted by the Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. This competitive program will train our staff in understanding and addressing issues of race and implicit bias. The team will use this training to implement a race equity project within SCLS.
The Cultural Humility Unit looks forward to forming new community partnerships and deepening relationships within our communities.
