[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 140 (Thursday, October 9, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1999-E2000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO FATHER WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM AND FOCUS: HOPE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 9, 1997

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, October 12, there will be held the 
Annual Walk of Focus: HOPE.
  This year's walk possesses a special significance and poignancy. It 
will be held without its founder and inspiration Father William 
Cunningham.
  His death on May 26 of this year left a void that can never be 
filled.
  The riots of 1967 changed life in the metropolitan area and the life 
of William Cunningham.
  In turn, his response changed the life of the entire area. He decided 
to dedicate his service to the community. Combining his deep 
spirituality with brilliant organizational skills, he started the 
embryonic organization Focus: HOPE. That seed has grown from its 
initial food program to a broad-scale attack on the manifestations and 
causes of poverty.
  Father Cunningham's dream was that people from all walks of life, 
races, and creeds could, and would, work together to enhance individual 
lives and the fabric of society.

[[Page E2000]]

  With each new creative idea and its effective implementation, Focus: 
HOPE took another step toward fulfillment of his dream. Working with 
Eleanor Josaitis and an increasing group of volunteers and a diverse, 
talented staff, Focus: HOPE introduced food and health support for low-
income mothers and exceptional job training and specialized production 
units. The Machine Training Institute and the Center for Advanced 
Technologies today stand as testimony that education can be for 
virtually all a ticket out of poverty into a new world of opportunity.
  The power of his faith, his ideas and his personality assure that 
Father Bill Cunningham's dreams for Focus: HOPE will continue to be 
realized. There are too many of us who had the privilege to work with 
him over the years who will stand for nothing less.
  Indeed, the strongest challenge is whether the work of Father Bill 
Cunningham can be replicated in other places.
  Father Cunningham asked that no monuments be erected to his memory. 
When thousands of us walk in his memory on October 12, we will be 
carrying his message and his achievements with us for all the world to 
see.

                          ____________________