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92_HR0904
LRB9216841BHbh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are proud to congratulate Delores Holmes on
4 her retirement as director of Family Focus-Our Place in
5 Evanston on June 30, 2002; and
6 WHEREAS, Delores Holmes, described as a "community
7 treasure", has helped shape the agency over the past 26 years
8 since being hired by Bernice Weissbourd, a visionary Evanston
9 woman with a strong commitment to strengthening families; and
10 WHEREAS, Delores Holmes weathered considerable criticism
11 in 1979, when she opened the first Family Focus-Our Place
12 specifically for pregnant and parenting teens in a storefront
13 space at 1819 Church Street; her critics believed that
14 offering help to pregnant teenagers or teenage mothers would
15 encourage immoral activity; and
16 WHEREAS, The Family Focus-Our Place program began
17 attracting not only teenage girls that were expecting or had
18 already given birth but also the boyfriends of the girls and
19 girls who were not pregnant; this helped educate the young on
20 the difficulties and realities of being a teenage parent; and
21 WHEREAS, In 1983, the Family Focus-Our Place program
22 moved to its current location, a former school building at
23 2010 Dewey Avenue; with the new space, Delores Holmes
24 broadened the agency's mission to provide positive
25 alternatives to premature sexual activity, gang involvement,
26 and drug use and promote the work ethic of academic
27 achievement; and
28 WHEREAS, The Family Focus-Our Place building at 2010
29 Dewey Avenue has been a catalyst for bringing the community
30 together around the issues of children and families; and
31 WHEREAS, Delores Holmes has received many honors over the
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1 years, including an As They Grow Award in 1993 from Parents
2 magazine, an honor given to six Americans each year; her
3 award was in the field of social action; and
4 WHEREAS, For Delores Holmes, the greatest honor she could
5 receive will be if one looks upon her life's work and decides
6 that committing oneself to the community is a life-time well
7 spent; therefore, be it
8 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
9 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
10 we congratulate Delores Holmes of Evanston on her retirement
11 as director of Family Focus-Our Place and wish her all the
12 best in her future endeavors; and be it further
13 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14 presented to Delores Holmes as an expression of our esteem.