[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 13 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    IN HONOR OF SOTERA VASQUEZ BROWN

                                 ______


                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 10, 1994

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to take a few minutes to 
recognize Sotera Vasquez Brown's distinguished career of service to the 
people of Alameda County.
  For more than 23 years, Sotera, founder of Spectrum Community 
Services, has provided food, education and work experience to the needy 
of Alameda County.
  Sotera Vasquez Brown was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamoulipas, Mexico and 
was raised in the state of Oxaca, Mexico. While growing up in Mexico, 
Sotera didn't have the opportunity to go to school and spoke only the 
Indian dialect of her village.
  Sotera, along with her husband, Frederick Brown, and her two 
daughters, arrived in the bay area after spending a few years in Los 
Angeles. It was here that Sotera felt a strong need to learn, read and 
write in English. In 1971, after becoming proficient in English, Sotera 
used her experiences of learning a foreign language and living in a 
foreign land to found the Family Tutorial Program--a nonprofit 
organization that provided language learning services to the low-
income, non-English speaking communities of the east bay.
  Over time, the Family Tutorial Program grew to become a multiservice 
organization serving over 20,000 low-income, disadvantaged and senior 
Alameda County residents annually. In 1986, the Family Tutorial Program 
changed its name to Spectrum Community Services to reflect the broad 
range of services the organization now provided. Some of Spectrum 
Community Services programs include the Training and Education Center 
[TEC], the Senior Nutrition and Activities Project [SNAP], Word 
Processing Training [EPT], and the Energy Crisis Intervention Program 
[ECIP]. All together, the organization has grown from helping 500 
people in 1971 to 26,000 in 1993.
  While serving as executive directress at Spectrum Community Services, 
Sotera still found time to earn her G.E.D. [High School Equivalency], a 
B.A. in Sociology from Cal State Hayward and a special degree in Public 
Administration, also from Cal State Hayward. On March 11, 1991, Sotera 
was honored before the State Assembly in Sacramento as the 1991 Woman 
of the Year for the 14th Assembly District.
  The people of Alameda County will miss this dedicated woman who 
worked tirelessly on behalf of their needs. On February 14, 1994, a 
celebration will be held at Centennial Hall in Hayward in honor of 
Sotera, who is retiring after 23 years of service. I want to join with 
her colleagues and friends in commending Sotera Vasquez Brown for over 
two decades of distinguished service to the people and the communities 
of Alameda County.

                          ____________________