[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9617-S9618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           CATHERINE KENNEDY

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, our nation's struggle against the 
AIDS virus has been a difficult one. More and more Americans are 
beginning to learn the facts about this disease that has become the 
leading killer of U.S. adults between the ages of 25 and 44. And in 
recent years, we have finally begun to devote significant resources 
toward quality treatment and the search for a cure. But as my 
colleagues know, for many years, attention to the disease was severely 
lacking, and only a handful of people in this country were actively 
working for better treatment of its victims. I am proud to say that one 
of the true heroes and pioneers in the fight against AIDS hails from 
Connecticut: Catherine Kennedy of New Haven. Sadly, Mrs. Kennedy 
recently died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 51.
  Catherine Kennedy was active on many fronts in the fight against 
AIDS, but she is best known for her efforts to establish Connecticut's 
first nursing home for people afflicted with this disease.
  A native of England, Catherine Kennedy moved to New Haven in 1983. 
Shortly after moving to Connecticut, she noticed the lack of nursing 
centers and services for people in the area living with AIDS. She saw 
nursing homes that were refusing care to many individuals. Patients 
were being kept, at enormous expense, at hospitals that were 
essentially unequipped to treat them. And other patients were in fact 
homeless.
  Catherine Kennedy took it upon herself to create a nursing home 
designed specifically to treat persons living with HIV/AIDS who were 
too sick to stay at home but too healthy to need hospital care. Her 
efforts were met with great resistance along the way.
  But she eventually gained the help of Lucie McKinney, the widow of 
U.S. Representative Stewart McKinney, who had died of AIDS. Together 
they were able to convince the Governor and state legislature to 
support the idea of a treatment center, and a law was passed which 
provided funding to cover non-hospital care costs for AIDS patients and 
to convert an old factory in New Haven into a nursing home. She was 
also able to secure a grant from Yale-New Haven Hospital to help 
finance the home.
  In 1995, eight years after Catherine Kennedy began her efforts to 
establish this center, Leeway, Inc. opened its

[[Page S9618]]

doors and became the first nursing home in Connecticut for the 
treatment of persons with AIDS or the HIV virus. Since it opened, 
Leeway has treated more than 150 individuals. And while Catherine 
Kennedy's original idea was to create a center to primarily provide 
quality care for dying patients, today nearly half of their patients 
are able to go home and resume their everyday lives.
  Catherine Kennedy is a shining example of what one person can 
accomplish if they are willing to fully commit themselves to the 
betterment of their community. She overcame tremendous resistance and 
even greater odds to open this nursing home. Her determination has 
resulted in a better life for hundreds of people living with HIV/AIDS 
in Connecticut, as well as in communities all across the country who 
look at Leeway as a model for providing quality care.
  But Catherine Kennedy touched the lives of many more people than just 
those who struggle with this deadly disease. She was a beloved figure 
by all who knew her, and she inspired those around her to ask more of 
themselves and reach out to others in need. She will be dearly missed.
  She is survived by her husband Paul, her three sons, two brothers and 
two sisters. I offer my heartfelt condolences to them all.

                          ____________________