[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1232-E1233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING ARABELLA MARTINEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RONALD V. DELLUMS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 17, 1997

  Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, Arabella Martinez has been a leader in 
motivating, organizing, and improving the Fruitvale community. A 
graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with a masters in 
social work, Arabella has been a strong clear voice articulating the 
dimensions of what must be done, and pulling together participation 
from both the private and public sectors.
  As CEO of the Spanish Speaking Unity Council from 1969 to 1974, she 
immersed herself in the development of programs to build responsibility 
and economic preparedness in the Latino community. She built the 
organization into a strong economic development and community 
organization with considerable assets.
  Her abilities and dynamism gained the attention of former President 
Jimmy Carter, who

[[Page E1233]]

appointed her Assistant Secretary, Office of Human Development 
Services, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, in 1977. In 
1980, she returned to Oakland as president of the Center for Policy 
Development.
  Five years ago, when the Unity Council was on the verge of 
bankruptcy, Arabella was persuaded to come back. She immediately 
developed a plan to address the organization's complex financial 
problems. Through her enormous skills, hard work, and dedication, not 
only has the organization survived the crisis, but it is thriving once 
again.
  The Spanish Speaking Unity Council's assets, including the Community 
Resource Center, the Education Para Adelantar Building, the Esperanza 
Center, the Infant Care Center, the De Colores Pre-School, were all 
saved.
  Under Arabella's leadership, all eyes are now on the Unity Council 
because of its Fruitvale BART project and its sponsorship of the 
Fruitvale Community Collaborative, formed to bring together residents, 
community groups, churches, schools, merchants, and agencies to improve 
the quality of life for children and families who live in the area. 
Residents are learning organization skills, they're learning how to 
access services, how to plan a project, and much more. Their philosophy 
is, ``Working together as neighbors and friends, we can make our 
neighborhood a healthy place to live and keep it that way.''
  Another effort now underway, spearheaded by Arabella Martinez and the 
Spanish Speaking Unity Council, is a transit village with a mix of new 
residential, retail open space and a regional cultural center--within 
the confines and adjacent to the Fruitvale BART station. A new 
residential base would help support these shops as would the foot 
traffic from BART. While the proposed transit village is far from being 
accomplished, we have confidence that Arabella's drive, determination, 
negotiation skills, and ability to make things happen, will cause the 
transit village to happen. It's only a matter of time.
  In addition to her service to the Fruitvale area, Arabella has lent 
her talents to numerous community board and commissions, including: The 
Women's Initiative for Self-Employment, the Oakland Business 
Development Corporation, the Bank of America's Police Advisory 
Committee, the New Oakland Committee, the Oakland Housing Authority, 
the Oakland Parks and Recreation Commission, and the University/Oakland 
Metropolitan Forum.
  In the civic and community realms, her sagacious leadership, 
foresight, and compassion have clearly earned her the Oakland Citizen 
of the Year Award for lifetime achievement.

                          ____________________