[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 55 (Wednesday, May 6, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ST. ROSE RESIDENCE: 150 YEARS OF CARING

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. THOMAS M. BARRETT

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 6, 1998

  Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, on May 9th, friends of St. 
Rose Residence are gathering in Milwaukee to celebrate the program's 
sesquicentennial anniversary. I appreciate the opportunity to share 
with my colleagues the story of this exceptional residential care 
program.
  A few weeks before President Polk enacted legislation admitting 
Wisconsin to the Union, the Daughters of Charity accepted the 
responsibility of caring for a young girl whose parents had died during 
the family's long voyage from Ireland to Milwaukee. The Sisters 
recognized that the need for shelter, care and education for parentless 
girls would grow as the City of Milwaukee developed. With the support 
of the Catholic Diocese of Milwaukee, the order constructed a building 
in what is now downtown Milwaukee and, in 1850, incorporated the 
organization under the name St. Rosa's.
  During the latter half of the 19th Century, the Sisters constructed a 
new home on Milwaukee's east side with room to shelter over 100 girls. 
Under the administration of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and with the 
support of the United Way of Milwaukee, St. Rose brought onboard a 
staff of social workers, child care workers, teachers and other 
professionals. During the 1970s, St. Rose was incorporated as an 
independent agency and moved to its present home on Milwaukee's west 
side. The addition of an activity center in 1988 and a school in 1995 
allowed St. Rose to expand and enhance the recreational and educational 
opportunities available to the girls under its care.
  The spirit of community and shared purpose runs deep in my home 
state, and when Wisconsinites find a need unmet, they work together and 
find a way to meet it. St. Rose Residence is a remarkable example of 
this spirit. That spirit--the commitment to serve the community by 
uplifting its most helpless--gives Wisconsin, and St. Rose Residence, 
cause to look back on the last 150 years with pride and to look forward 
to the next 150 years with confidence.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the House join me in congratulating St. Rose 
Residence on 150 years of caring service to Wisconsin children and 
families.

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