[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 86 (Friday, June 24, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1355]]
  CONGRATULATING MS. BONNY BEACH ON RECEIVING THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON 
               COMMUNITY HEALTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ED PASTOR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 24, 2005

  Mr. PASTOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Ms. Bonny 
Beach, Executive and Clinical Director of NDNS4Wellness at the American 
Indian Prevention Coalition, Inc., in Phoenix, Arizona.
   Ms. Beach was recently named one of ten recipients of the Robert 
Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program Award, considered the 
nation's highest honor for community health leadership. She will 
receive $120,000 for her work in preventing substance abuse in Native 
American youth.
   Substance abuse and its associated health problems have had a 
devastating impact on the Native American population. Phoenix has the 
second largest Native American population in the U.S., with more than 
twenty-one tribes represented in the city and surrounding areas. Some 
75,000 Native Americans reside in Maricopa County, where Ms. Beach's 
organization is located.
   Ms. Beach is a Native American who has seen firsthand the pain and 
destruction that substance abuse has exacted on her community. Tired of 
attending funerals resulting from an epidemic of alcoholism and 
substance abuse among Native Americans, she became determined to have a 
positive impact on her community. In 1997, she helped to establish the 
American Indian Prevention Coalition, an intertribal nonprofit 
organization that works with Native American youth and their families 
to improve the quality of life for indigenous people.
   In 2000, she developed the NDNS4Wellness Behavioral Health Agency. 
NDNS4Wellness employs more than fifty Native Americans, providing 
culturally respectful prevention, educational, and counseling services 
through school-based programs. It also offers substance abuse treatment 
to some three hundred young people through its residential and 
outpatient services.
   Mr. Speaker and distinguished colleagues, I am honored to recognize 
Ms. Beach for receiving this prestigious, national award, and to 
express my gratitude for her determination and leadership. Her deep 
commitment to preventing substance abuse among Native American youth 
and families has undoubtedly inspired many others in Phoenix and 
elsewhere to take action. It is with great pleasure that I congratulate 
Ms. Beach today for this award, which duly recognizes her important 
work for the community.

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