[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 145 (Friday, October 24, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2079-E2080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATION'S TO THE GARY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC. ON IT'S FALL 
                               FUNDRAISER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 23, 1997

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
congratulate the Gary Community Mental Health Center, Inc. [GCMHC] on 
its Fall Fantasy Fundraiser. In particular, I would like to commend 
Danita Johnson Hughes, GCMHC's chief executive officer, on this special 
occasion. The fundraiser will be held at the Center for Visual and 
Performing Arts in Munster, IN, on Sunday, October 26, 1997. All 
proceeds from the Fall Fantasy Fundraiser will be used to benefit the 
organization's new children's emergency shelter, the ALPHA Center, 
which has been in operation since September 3, 1997.
  The GCMHC has continued to extend its commitment to serving the 
northwest Indiana community with the establishment of the ALPHA Center, 
which is an acronym for ``All of Life's Problems Have Answers.'' The 
center operates as an emergency shelter for children between the ages 
of 6 and 17, who have been removed from their homes due to neglect and/
or physical and emotional abuse. Referrals to the program come from the 
courts and the Department of Family and Children Services, which 
determine how to best continue the care these children need and 
deserve. The ALPHA Center provides transitional and reintegration 
programs, such as individual and family therapy, tutoring, substance 
abuse counseling, therapeutic recreation, and after care services. 
Prominent in all facts of the center's operations is genuine compassion 
and concern for the children it serves.
  The GCMHC was founded in 1974 as a nonprofit organization with the 
goal and vision of providing effective lifestyle intervention and 
treatment programs for individuals, couples, families, and children. 
The organization seeks to serve the community by offering quality 
behavioral health care services, administered by an experienced staff 
of physicians, psychiatrists, therapists, case managers, and office 
support personnel. Several GCMHC programs are specially designed to 
address the needs of young people in the community. The center's 
Placement Diversion Program, for instance, works to prevent unnecessary 
placement of children into residential psychiatric programs, while 
working to strengthen the relationship between family members. In 
conjunction with the Gary school system, the center also strives to 
address the needs of school-age children with behavioral difficulties 
through its Act Program. The GCMHC also offers substance abuse 
counseling to both adolescents and adults.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my other colleagues to join me in 
congratulating the Gary Community Mental Health Center on the occasion 
of its Fall Fantasy Fundraiser and the recent establishment of the 
ALPHA Center. I wish the GCMHC continued success in all of its 
endeavors, as the services this distinguished organization has provided 
over the years have been invaluable to the residents of Indiana's First 
Congressional District.

[[Page E2080]]



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