[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 12, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO THE CITY OF MIAMI'S UNSUNG HEROINES

                                 ______


                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 12, 1996

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is my great pleasure to join, 
once again, with the citizens of the city of Miami in honoring the 1996 
Unsung Heroines. Each year the city of Miami Commission on the Status 
of Women commemorates National Women's History Month by recognizing and 
honoring women who care to share their time by helping others through 
volunteerism.
  This year, I join the city of Miami in saluting the 1996 Unsung 
Heroines:
  Marilyn S. Bloom--a retired preschool and elementary schoolteacher, 
who is also an enthusiastic advocate for senior citizens and 
intergenerational programming in Dade County.
  Dr. Castell V. Bryant--an educator for over 30 years and currently 
the interim president of Miami Dade Community College--Wolfson Campus, 
Dr. Bryant has been deeply committed to programs that help instill 
pride, build self-esteem and improve family life for inner-city youth.
  Doris Emerson--a dedicated volunteer and board member in the Girl 
Scouts, the Quaker religion, and in the fields of mental health and 
education.
  Dr. Carmen Gonzalez--an untiring chef and creator of Feeding the Mind 
Foundation, a scholarship for battered women. Dr. Gonzalez has chaired 
numerous fundraisers for Camillus House, and has actively promoted 
``Extra Helpings'' a program that supplies meals for the homeless.
  Cindy Lerner--the codesigner of a program titled ``Teenage Dating 
Violence: Intervention and Prevention,'' that provides curriculum and 
training for educating youths about the dynamics of domestic violence.
  Dr. Ann Moliver Ruben--developed programs for Dade County teachers to 
help combat gender inequities, and has provided voluntary psychotherapy 
for rape victims.
  Alvia Palmer-Michel--a volunteer at the Children's Home Society, a 
board member of Florida Legal Services, and a courageous and dedicated 
advocate for AIDS awareness. She has risen through personal struggles 
to offer comfort, education and hope to parents of children with AIDS.
  Kathleen Sweeney and Denise Nerette--as members of the Haitian Task 
Force on Domestic Violence they have collaborated in promulgating 
domestic violence in Miami's Haitian Community.
  Christina Zawisza--a child advocate and the founding member of the 
Florida Foster Care Review Project, who has dedicated her untiring 
efforts for children in need.
  Marcela Viola--is the first unsung student to be honored. She attends 
Miami Beach Senior High School, and has dedicated time to helping 
children help themselves, while maintaining superior grade averages in 
advanced classes.
  COPE Schools--Continuing Opportunities for Purposeful Education is 
the first program to be honored. The two schools, ``North'' and 
``South,'' through their dedicated principals, Dorothy Wallace and Dr. 
Williams Perry, have, through education, improved the quality of life 
to single teenage mothers and their children.
  It is said that Miami is the only major city in the United States to 
have been created by the inspiration of a woman--Julia Tuttle. It is 
today that we honor women who follow that inspiration.

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