2016 -- S 2950

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LC005775

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

PROCLAIMING MAY, 2016, AS "COMMUNITY ACTION MONTH" IN THE STATE OF

RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Senator M. Teresa Paiva Weed

     Date Introduced: May 10, 2016

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the "War on Poverty"

proclamation and introduced initiatives designed to improve access to economic resources, as

well as education, health, skills, and jobs for those struggling to make ends meet; and

     WHEREAS, In order to implement these initiatives, myriad community action agencies

across the country were founded. In the 1970s, the Rhode Island Community Action Association

was established as a statewide network of Community Action Programs (CAP agencies) that

work individually and collectively "to eliminate the causes and effects of poverty and to open

doors to self-sufficiency and better lives"; and

     WHEREAS, The dedicated efforts of the Rhode Island Community Action Association

have helped improve the quality of life for more than 200,000 households, spread throughout all

thirty-nine cities and towns in the State of Rhode Island; and

     WHEREAS, Replacing despair with opportunity, community action agencies have put a

human face on poverty for the past 52 years by advocating for limited-income citizens without a

voice, so that they may enter the middle class and reach for the American dream; and

     WHEREAS, Across the country, millions of Americans have been provided with

essential, life-changing services and opportunities such as affordable housing, economic

development, health care, energy assistance, natural relief and recovery, and through these

agencies efforts to build and promote self-sufficiency and stability for families across our state,

Rhode Island's communities and our state has grown economically stronger; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby proclaims May, 2016, to be "Community Action Month" in recognition of the dedicated

efforts of the Rhode Island Community Action Association; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Ms. Paula M. McFarland, BA, Executive

Director, Rhode Island Community Action Association.

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LC005775

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