Special to the Vanguard
Davis, CA – The City of Davis, UC Davis, Yolo County, Davis Joint Unified School District and the Yolo County Office of Education, the founders and partners of Hate-Free Together, announced today the launch of the initiative’s website: www.hatefreetogether.org. This website will house resources, a calendar, information and more related to the joint effort of Hate-Free Together.
The website will include information on how to report hate crimes in the various jurisdictions; provide a history of the initiative; share resources for victims, highlight local, state and federal statistics and information around hate crimes; display a calendar of events of relevant trainings, education opportunities or events; offer ways that people, businesses or organizations can get involved; and much more. The website will act as a hub, or clearinghouse, of information. It will also highlight existing and ongoing opportunities for learning and education in the area, such as at local faith-based organizations, with nonprofits, on college campuses or through other partners.
The website will also include some information about upcoming community listening sessions, hosted by local artists selected as part of a $300,000 grant awarded to the City of Davis by the California Arts Council in 2023. These artist-led sessions will 
mostly be intended for specific demographics or communities that have been impacted by hate incidents or crimes more recently. Not all of these sessions will be open to the public to help better tailor the session and respect the sensitivity and complexity of the concerns and sentiments being shared. Feedback and potential actions from these or other community listening sessions will be posted to the website.
The website will also provide ways for the public to engage in a productive manner. The website is modern, attractive and ADA accessible. It houses videos, graphics, a sign-up form and links to other websites and organizations. The website will continue to grow and evolve as more information or resources are created and added and as additional partners join. Hate-Free Together hopes to grow this initiative into other areas or cities that may be reflected on the website. Regular updates will be made to the website in the coming months.
In 2022, in order to help combat the many hate incidents that were occurring in Davis and throughout the region, the founders of Hate-Free Together, Yolo County, the City of Davis and UC Davis, joined forces to stand up against the ongoing hatred epidemic after the success of the award-winning pandemic response project, Healthy Davis Together, and later Healthy Yolo Together. The project revealed many lessons about community readiness, crisis response and local input, of which a key lesson was strength in unity. Hate-Free Together will help provide structure and ways for the community to be part of a proactive process for more productive engagement around condemning hate, creating safety and cultivating change.
Uptown Studios, based in Sacramento, won the bid to build and maintain the Hate-Free Together website after the City of Davis posted a Request for Proposals in July of 2023 with the support and backing of Yolo County and UC Davis. Uptown Studios manages nearly 100 websites and has experience working with government agencies on projects related to social change and cultural transformation, with highly trained and experienced staff.
In addition, staff and artists from the Hate-Free Together initiative will table at the Davis Farmers Market on March 23 from 8 – 11 a.m. with an activity, information and more for community members to learn about this initiative.
“This website is unique in that it houses such a variety of information and resources and has the backing and connection of so many jurisdictions,” said Davis Mayor Josh Chapman. “This website is one of many steps we will be enacting this year to help us educate, advocate and stand up against hate in our community.”
“The website launch is an important step forward in our ongoing efforts to combat hate, provide training and offer support for survivors of these incidents,” said UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May. “Hate has no place in Davis, and hatefreetogether.org offers a powerful tool to support our collective work to build a safer, more inclusive community.”
“Hate is a cycle that can be broken if we prioritize education, cultivate change, and stand up together,” said Yolo County Board of Supervisors Chair Lucas Frerichs. “This website serves as a hub of information and a connecting point for all residents, businesses, and public agencies to find opportunities to create a safe and welcoming community.”
“I am glad to see this major step forward in the Hate-Free Together initiative. Providing this hub of important information about hate within our community, as well as tools to work to prevent hate, will bring us closer to our goals of stamping out hate within our communities,” said Yolo County Supervisor Jim Provenza. “With this foundation in place, I look forward to Hate-Free Together engaging with the community directly, and taking action to defuse hateful environments.”
“We are excited about the launch of the Hate-Free Together initiative website,” said DJUSD Superintendent Matt Best. “This important resource is available to our entire community as a result of the strong partnerships that have brought us together to combat the various forms of hate that exist in our community.”
To visit the new Hate-Free Together website, visit: www.hatefreetogether.org. To sign up for the Hate-Free Together mailing list, visit: https://bit.ly/HateFreeTogetherComment.
