[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 138 (Wednesday, October 13, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2082-E2083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ALLIANCE FOR THE MENTALLY ILL

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 13, 1999

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in paying 
tribute to the Alliance for the Mentally Ill, an outstanding non-profit 
association which will celebrate its 25th Anniversary on October 14, 
1999.
  The Alliance for the Mentally Ill is a special organization whose 
membership includes individuals who suffer from mental illnesses and 
their families. These dedicated people contribute almost all the 
funding for this nationwide group. Their hard work and commitment to 
the improvement of the lives of the mentally ill is truly remarkable.
  Mr. Speaker, the founders of Alliance for the Mentally Ill first met 
in San Mateo County, California, in 1974 to discuss their concerns 
about the treatment of their mentally ill children. The organization 
has grown tremendously since then, but it still has the same intense 
personal concern for the people it serves. In 1979 a national group was 
established, based in Washington D.C. I am happy to say that the 
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) now has representatives 
in all fifty states.
  As its membership grew from ten people to over two hundred thousand, 
the fundamental mission of the Alliance has remained the same--to fight 
discrimination, to educate the public and those who are suffering, and 
to strive towards better treatment and research for an illness that has 
been historically misunderstood. This organization fights the 
traditional isolation and fear of mental illness with knowledge and 
compassion.
  The Alliance for the Mentally Ill provides a network of support 
groups and educational services to assist families of the mentally ill 
at the local level. It has now assumed a vital role in our nation's 
health care community and is working closely with professionals on a 
variety of programs. Some of the programs it has helped to implement 
include a local mental health care center and an agency that provides 
supported housing. Newsletters and speakers keep the community active 
and informed about the important issues affecting the mentally ill. The 
organization has promoted a greater awareness of mental illness and 
encouraged our community colleges to implement peer counseling 
programs. As always, the Alliance has focused on helping adolescents 
and children, who are so much in need of special support.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to the Alliance for the Mentally 
Ill on this important 25th anniversary. This outstanding organization 
deserves our gratitude and our congratulations for a quarter century of 
selfless and dedicated service to the people of our nation.

                TRIBUTE TO THE LATE JESSIE COLLINS TRICE

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                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 13, 1999

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a distinct honor to 
pay tribute to one of Miami-Dade County's unsung heroines, the late 
Jessie Collins Trice. Her untimely demise from the scourge of lung 
cancer last Friday, October 8, 1999 will truly leave a deep void in our 
midst.
  Mrs. Jessie Collins Trice represented the best and the noblest of my 
community. Having dedicated a major portion of her life in championing 
the health care of African-Americans and Hispanics throughout Florida, 
she tirelessly advocated a monumental struggle toward ensuring the 
creation of the Health Choice Network to provide comprehensive primary 
and preventive health care to low-income and uninsured populations in 
minority communities. Her mission undergirded her belief that health 
care was a right for the poor and the underserved.
  Ms. Trice was a multi-dimensional public servant, a civic activist 
par excellence, an indefatigable community-builder, a loving mother and 
a doting grandmother, completely unselfish in all her endeavors. The 
genuineness of her stewardship on behalf of our community was 
buttressed by her utmost consecration to her vocation as God's faithful 
servant, bringing hope and optimism to thousands of ordinary folks 
whose lives she touched so deeply, never holding anyone at arm's 
length.
  What we most know about Jessie Trice is that she was a trailblazer in 
the realm of health care. She was the first Black to receive a nursing 
degree from the University of Miami, the first and only Black to serve 
as Director of

[[Page E2083]]

Nursing for the Miami-Dade County Department of Public Health, the only 
Black to have served as Chairperson of the Florida State Board of 
Nursing, and founder of the Miami-Dade Black Nurses Association. She 
also served as the past President of the Florida Association of 
Community Health Centers and the National Association of Community 
Health Centers.
  For the past eighteen years, she held the distinction of President 
and CEO of the Economic Opportunity Family Health Center, Inc., the 
largest minority employer in the Liberty City community. Through a 
staff of 300 employees, more than 9-million dollars are added annually 
to the local economy. Her record of sustained service has been 
recognized at the local, state and national levels. This was evidenced 
by her appointment in 1991 to the National Advisory Committee on Infant 
Mortality by then Secretary of Health Louis Sullivan and the Florida 
Work Group on Health Care by the late Governor Lawton Chiles. Along 
with Elizabeth Taylor, she was featured in the Miami Herald as the 
distinguished ``Miamian,'' after testifying before the U.S. Senate for 
increased funding for those afflicted with the HIV-AIDS virus.
  This remarkable lady was my friend and confidante. I am deeply 
saddened by her passing away. She will indeed be an indelible reminder 
of the noble commitment and awesome power of public service on behalf 
of the less fortunate. Her faith was deep and genuine, and her love for 
our community defined her dynamic friendship and understanding. No one 
who knew Jessie--and being struck by her sunny disposition and 
optimism--went away not acknowledging the presence of a caring and 
compassionate community leader.
  Jessie Collins Trice's life was akin to that of a burning candle. A 
candle's lifelong service is to shed its light to illuminate the 
darkness of pessimism and hopelessness--until it is consumed. She 
conscientiously consecrated her life by serving God through her fellow 
human beings--especially the women and children from the innercity. I 
do remember cogently her challenging words: ``Our children are our 
future, and if we don't expend every effort to help our children, we 
won't have a future.''
  This Friday, October 15, 1999 at a funeral mass at the Archdiocese of 
Miami's St. Mary's Cathedral, I join the Miami-Dade County community to 
celebrate her life and her friendship. Undoubtedly, Jessie Collins 
Trice would urge us that her death does not represent an irrevocable 
termination or a grim finality. She would rather have us firmly believe 
that she will live on in the good deeds she amply left behind. She will 
carry on through the wonderful thoughts and memories we all have of 
her.
  Like the God whom she served faithfully during her earthly sojourn, 
she came and lived among us that we may have life--and have hope more 
abundantly. This is the wonderful legacy Jessie Collins Trice left 
behind. And this is the gift with which she blesses us. May Almighty 
God grant her eternal rest!

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