[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 119 (Tuesday, September 14, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1860]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SISTER ISOLINA FERRE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 14, 1999

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Sister 
Isolina Ferre, an outstanding individual who has devoted her life to 
serving the poor. Sister Isolina, a Missionary Servant of the Most 
Blessed Trinity, received the nation's highest civilian honor during a 
White House ceremony on Wednesday, August 11, 1999. She was awarded the 
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  Sister Isolina, known as the ``Angel of Ponce Beach,'' was born on 
September 5, 1914 to one of the most affluent families in Puerto Rico. 
Raised in a wealthy family, she decided early in life that she wanted 
to dedicate her life to the less fortunate. She joined the Missionary 
Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity at age 21 in Philadelphia. After 
she completed her training, she was assigned to the Appalachian coal 
mining region of West Virginia and then worked among Portuguese 
immigrants on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
  In 1957 Sister Isolina went to work at the Doctor White Community 
Center in Brooklyn, where she offered to be a mediator between African-
American and Puerto Rican gangs. For her efforts she received the key 
to the city of New York from Mayor John Lindsay and the John D. 
Rockefeller Award for Public Service and Community Revitalization.
  Mr. Speaker, Sister Isolina Ferre founded community service centers, 
clinics and programs to empower the poor in Puerto Rico, New York and 
Appalachia. She does this through the Centros Sor Isolina Ferre, a 
group of five community-service centers she has run for 30 years. One 
U.S. author who wrote about turning around poor, crime-ridden 
communities called her ``Mother Teresa of Puerto Rico.''
  The Centros Sor Isolina Ferre has 350 employees, five offices 
throughout Puerto Rico, a postgraduate business and technical school 
and 40 programs aimed at stemming juvenile delinquency and 
strengthening families. With government and private funding, it serves 
more than 10,000 people a year.
  The operation is built on Ferre's main principle: Poor communities 
have many resources they can use to improve their condition, and they 
can be taught to seek their own solutions and take control of their 
lives. Staff members teach leadership and strategic planning to people 
in public-housing projects, in Ponce--skills used to start businesses 
and organize community improvements. Through counseling and other 
services for youth and families, Ferre's group has dramatically reduced 
the school dropout rate within a public housing project in the San Juan 
area.
  Mr. Speaker, Sister Isolina is the fourth Puerto Rican to receive the 
award. The others are former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Munoz Marin, a 
founder of the Popular Democratic Party; Antonia Pantojas, founder of 
Aspira, an agency known for helping Hispanic youth; and Sister 
Isolina's brother, former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis A. Ferre, founder of 
the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.
  Sister Isolina attended Fordham University in New York where she 
earned a bachelor of arts and master's degree in psychology.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in commending Sister 
Isolina Ferre for her outstanding achievements and in wishing her 
continued success.

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