[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC ORPHAN SOCIETY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ANNE M. NORTHUP

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 1999

  Mrs. NORTHUP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of 
Louisville, Kentucky's most valuable institutions. For 150 years, the 
St. Joseph's Catholic Orphan Society has reached out to our most 
vulnerable children and provided them with food, shelter, education, 
and most of all love. The problem of neglected children in our society 
is not new. In the 1840's a plague of cholera and malaria struck 
Louisville, ending the lives of hundreds of people leaving many 
children without parents. This epidemic led to the founding of St. 
Joseph's Catholic Orphan Society as a home and refuge to these 
children.
  Throughout the past 150 years, St. Joe's has provided a variety of 
services to boys and girls of all faiths and races. Today, St. Joe's 
continues to understand the unique needs of today's children. The 
organization works hard to keep groups of siblings together as the 
search for a new and loving family moves forward. St. Joe's also 
provides 40 beds for children who are abused or neglected and recently 
started the Home Base program to provide care to help stop child abuse 
and neglect. A child development center which provides weekday care for 
150 children, 20 percent of whom have disabilities such as autism or 
Down's Syndrome, was founded in 1982.
  Since 1849, St. Joseph's has been a Louisville institution performing 
a job that is desperately needed by our society. Love and caring are 
critical to any child's well being and St. Joe's dedicated volunteers 
and caregivers not only provide for the physical needs of children, but 
they share their love and dedication. I am proud to honor St. Joseph's 
Catholic Orphan Society on its 150th anniversary.

                          ____________________