[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 77 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S6344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HARRISON LIM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHARITY CULTURAL SERVICES CENTER

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today, I would like to call to the 
attention of the Senate and the nation the exceptional work of Mr. 
Harrison Lim, founder and executive director of Charity Cultural 
Services Center in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  Harrison Lim immigrated to the United States in 1970. He established 
the original Charity Cultural Services Center (CCSC) in San Francisco 
in 1983 and opened a second, San Jose based CCSC in 1991. Drawing from 
his own experiences and challenges as a newly arrived immigrant, Mr. 
Lim created CCSC to help speed and ease the transition of newcomers to 
life in America.
  CCSC is the embodiment of Harrison Lim's belief in the importance of 
community and self-sufficiency. Among the many services CCSC provides 
are English language instruction, job skills training, counseling and 
placement, and juvenile outreach. These programs are working. The 
Center's Employment Training and Placement Program, which trains chefs, 
bartenders and waiters, boasts a placement rate of over 90 percent. The 
Center's Families in Transition Program is out in the community every 
day addressing the needs of at-risk young people through such things as 
academic tutoring, counseling, volunteer opportunities, self esteem and 
confidence building, recreational activities and parental involvement.
  Mr. Lim's personal story is one of determination, dedication and 
triumph. He and his wife and three children left Hong Kong to care for 
Harrison's ailing mother and begin a new life in California. Although 
he was a respected teacher and journalist in his native land, he ran 
into many obstacles upon his arrival to America. He had difficulty with 
the language and was forced to accept jobs well below his skill and 
education levels. Tragically, he also encountered people and businesses 
unwilling to give him a chance to succeed simply because he was new to 
this country.
  But Harrison Lim persevered and has not only succeeded, he has 
prospered. Appropriately, this prosperity cannot be measured in dollars 
and cents. To be truly understood, it must be seen in the light of the 
many thousands of lives he and his Charity Cultural Services Center 
have made richer over the years.
  Twenty-eight years ago Harrison Lim travelled to a country renowned 
for freedom and opportunity. By pursuing a life and career true to his 
own values and those of his adopted country, Harrison Lim has made the 
American Dream a reality for his family and for countless others. He 
has my utmost respect and admiration.

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