[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 96 (Thursday, July 21, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      TRIBUTE TO DR. CHARLES GRICE

                                 ______


                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 21, 1994

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay homage to a man in my 
community who has retired after spending his career uplifting the lives 
of others. I speak of Dr. Charles Grice of Toledo, OH.
  Having pursued his undergraduate, masters, doctoral, and postdoctoral 
degrees in education, Dr. Grice served as a university professor, and 
in the fields of mental health and child and family welfare. I have 
known him for several years, and value his counsel on issues in these 
areas.
  Throughout his career, Dr. Grice has served as a mental health 
counselor for families in crises, and as a clinical therapist with the 
community mental health system. He also managed the Lucas County 
Children Services Board, and developed many innovative programs to 
better the lives of the children under his care including the 
organization of the Annual Foster Parent Recognition Program, self 
esteem programs for the children, adoption mixers and Operation 
Thunderbolt to maximize the adoption and foster parent selection 
processes, and the establishment of an agency outreach center with the 
express purpose of minority recruitment.
  After honing his skills at the Children Services Board, Dr. Grice 
took on a great challenge--that of executive director of the Toledo 
Community Service Center, a homeless shelter for families. Under his 
compassionate direction, the center has flourished. During 7 years of 
leadership at the center, Dr. Grice has expanded residential capacity 
significantly, developed a preschool program, established health care 
services including mental health services for residents, implemented a 
preoccupancy counseling program which resulted in nearly all residents 
being able to obtain adequate housing, established pre-employment 
counseling so that 60 percent of the residents obtained employment, 
coordinated therapeutic health care and group counseling through local 
health care and educational institutions, implemented in-kind service 
programs with the National Black Caucus on Aged, Foster Grandparents 
Program, and the Girl Scouts, and instituted a parent-child-
relationship program to increase self-esteem and promote positive role 
models for children. All the while he was creating new programs, he 
moved the center forward through staff development as well as building 
on the foundation of more conventional assistance programs so that the 
Toledo Community Service Center is truly a beacon of hope for families 
in need. It is quite likely that homeless families in northwest Ohio 
would have no place to go were it not for the efforts of Dr. Grice. The 
shelter is a warm and inviting temporary home where thousands of 
families have been helped to get back on their feet and remain 
productive members of our community. The Toledo Community Service 
Center is the only family shelter in northwest Ohio.
  Dr. Charles Grice, while a man of distinguished letters, is more 
importantly a man of distinguished character. He is a community leader 
in the truest sense of the word. He builds coalitions of people and he 
instills pride and hope in the adults and children whose lives he 
touches. We thank him for the years he gave to us in northwest Ohio. We 
wish him the very best in retirement, and hope that he has the time to 
do all of the things put off until tomorrow. We wish him peace, solace, 
and the enjoyment of family and friends.

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