[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 119 (Thursday, September 19, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1618-E1619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONGRATULATIONS TO LUCY HALL

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                          HON. JOHNNY ISAKSON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 2002

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Lucy Hall, 
founder of the Mary Hall Freedom House in Atlanta. Lucy was recently 
selected as one of ten people from across the country to receive the 
nation's most prestigious award for community health leadership from 
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Her award includes a grant of 
$120,000 to continue her community efforts.
  Lucy founded the Mary Hall Freedom House in memory of her mother, who 
she lost to alcoholism at the age of six. Freedom House is a 
residential recovery program to help addicted mothers break the pattern 
of substance abuse. The program provides women with intensive chemical 
dependency treatment and vocational training.
  She launched the Freedom House in 1996 while working as a housekeeper 
and volunteering as a counselor in Atlanta. Lucy used $5,000 in seed 
money from her employer to get the effort started. From this modest 
beginning, the program has grown to serve 250 women a year, many of 
whom are referred from the court system and homeless shelters.
  The program, which started out as six beds in a three-bedroom 
apartment, now has 70 beds in 26 apartments--and Freedom House now has 
a staff of over 30 people.
  Lucy realized early on that many addicted women with small children 
had no access to residential treatment because most recovery programs 
did not admit children. So, she made Freedom House the only residential 
recovery program in Atlanta for women with children. Now, the children 
take part in prevention lessons to teach them how to avoid becoming 
substance abusers themselves. She also recently opened the Heavenly 
Angels' Day Care Center to provide care for children while their 
mothers attend treatment and training programs.
  Mr. Speaker, by creating the Mary Hall Freedom House, Lucy Hall has 
demonstrated

[[Page E1619]]

tremendous leadership and determination to help the less fortunate in 
her Atlanta community. I am honored to share a little about her work 
with my colleagues today and urge them to join me in congratulating her 
for winning this distinguished award.
  As her nominator said, ``Lucy took on this challenge with nothing but 
an idea and a burning desire to help others. Unlike others, she found a 
way to turn this idea into reality.''

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