[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 126 (Monday, October 3, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10818-S10819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO CORNELIA ``NEAL'' VAUGHAN

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a proud 
Kentuckian, community leader, and good friend, Mrs. Cornelia ``Neal'' 
Vaughan. Neal, like her uncle, the late Senator John Sherman Cooper, is 
sincerely dedicated to improving the lives of Kentuckians, and she does 
so

[[Page S10819]]

through her extensive volunteer work. Neal is a founding member of the 
Fayette County Drug Court and served on the National Association of 
Drug Court Professionals Board of Directors. She has worked with the 
Junior League, God's Closet, the Governors Inauguration Committee, the 
Sayre School Board, and the Hope Center for Women. Neal is also on the 
board for the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts, but her greatest 
accomplishments lie in her role as president of the board of directors 
for the Chrysalis Community Center in Lexington, KY.
  The center assists women recovering from substance abuse addiction 
and counsels the children of these women on substance abuse prevention. 
Chrysalis uses a combination of the 12-step program originated by 
Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, long-term living 
arrangements, and a caring and nurturing environment to ensure women 
and their families live fulfilling lives free of abusive substances. On 
Friday, September 23, 2005 the center recognized Neal for the vital 
role she has played in its expansion by dedicating the center's 
community center in her honor. Neal has given her all to the center's 
important mission: restoring hope and dignity in women's lives.
  On September 21 of this year, The Lexington Herald-Leader published 
an article highlighting the Chrysalis Center's success and Neal's 
contribution. I ask that the full article be included in the 
Congressional Record.

           [From the Lexington Herald-Leader, Sept. 21, 2005]

                Chrysalis, the House That Neal Built Up

                           (By Robin Roenker)

       A mural of brightly colored butterflies accentuates the 
     sky-blue walls of the entry to Lexington's Chrysalis 
     Community Center.
       It's the type of room that makes you feel better just by 
     entering it. A room that says, you're welcome here. This is a 
     safe place to be.
       And to the women who use Chrysalis House's services--women 
     who are recovering from substance addiction--it says 
     something else. A message many of them have not heard often 
     enough: ``You're a good person. You deserve treatment with 
     dignity.''
       For two decades, that message has been the motivating theme 
     behind Cornelia ``Neal'' Vaughan's volunteer work with 
     Chrysalis House.
       As president of the agency's board of directors for 16 of 
     the past 18 years, Vaughan has overseen Chrysalis House's 
     growth from a single, 12-person-capacity facility on Maxwell 
     Street for women recovering from substance addiction into a 
     multi-faceted agency with three transitional treatment 
     facilities, 50 apartments, an 18,000-square-foot community 
     center and programs to help place graduates in their own 
     permanent housing. Currently, Chrysalis House's six 
     facilities are home to 114 women and 100 children, with 160 
     more women on waiting lists.
       Vaughan, who will be honored at a ceremony Friday, can 
     detail every step of Chrysalis House's development.
       She can detail them because she was there, say her fellow 
     Chrysalis House board members, every step of the way. Raising 
     money. Submitting grant proposals. Identifying facility 
     sites. Recognizing the women's needs and finding partners in 
     the community to help meet them.
       But not only that. Despite her penchant for wearing pearls 
     and high heels, she was also there to clean out shower 
     stalls, pull weeds from the grounds and serve food in the 
     dinner line, said Lisa Minton, Chrysalis House's executive 
     director.
       ``She is the heart and soul of our organization,'' Minton 
     said.
       ``Neal has been very inspirational in her vision,'' added 
     Julie Hamilton, who assumed Vaughan's position as president 
     of the Chrysalis House board of directors in July. ``She's 
     the first to say that this is all about the women and 
     children. And her passion has been very contagious.''
       To recognize Vaughan's longstanding leadership and 
     volunteer work on behalf of women and children in the 
     community, the Chrysalis House board of directors is 
     dedicating the Chrysalis Community Center, which opened in 
     2003 on the house's new eight-acre campus on Hill Rise Drive 
     off Versailles Road, in honor of Vaughan.
       A plaque will be hung in Vaughan's honor. Speakers will 
     include Kentucky first lady Glenna Fletcher and Beverly Watts 
     Davis, director of the U.S. Department for Health and Human 
     Services Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.


                            No good vs. bad

       ``With substance abuse, it is not a good or bad issue,'' 
     said Vaughan, 57. ``It is a sick or well issue.''
       That philosophy motivates the program's holistic approach 
     to treating the women who come to Chrysalis House. The women 
     receive addiction treatment as well as help with reclaiming 
     their lives, jobs and families.
       When Chrysalis House first opened, ``women were coming in 
     and getting sober, but they had so many other issues,'' 
     Vaughan said.
       ``I realized that even though they were staying in our 
     facility for 10 months or a year, they were leaving without 
     parenting skills or a job,'' she said. ``If you're going to 
     rehabilitate someone, you have to really rehabilitate them. 
     You need to find the gaps where they need help, and help them 
     fill those in.''
       Now, participants take part in required job skills classes 
     and work one-on-one with tutors and counselors during their 
     stay, so that when they leave Chrysalis House, they're ready 
     to ``pick up their lives, and have a productive life they 
     feel good about,'' she said.
       Studies of Chrysalis House participants show that 80 
     percent are still sober, still have custody of their 
     children, and are still employed a year after they moved out 
     of the apartments, Vaughan said.


                          Doesn't take ``no''

       Much of the credit for Chrysalis House's growth goes to 
     Vaughan's tenacity in raising support for its programs and 
     educating the community to ``break down the stigma 
     surrounding substance addiction,'' Hamilton said.
       ``She helped open community doors to a better understanding 
     of the disease of addiction itself,'' she said. ``Plus, she's 
     the type of person you can't say `no' to. She never gives 
     up.''
       In addition to her work with Chrysalis House, Vaughan is a 
     founding member of the Fayette County Drug Court. She serves 
     on the board of the Governor's School for the Arts and has 
     fulfilled another of her passions--organizing big events--
     through work with the Governor's Inauguration Committee and 
     the Lexington Ball, which supports the University of Kentucky 
     Markey Cancer Center. She was recently appointed to the 
     national board of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
       Vaughan attributes her passion for community service to the 
     example set by her parents, Richard and Cornelia Cooper of 
     Somerset, who remain active volunteers. She credits her 
     longevity as board president to the support and understanding 
     of her sons Cooper and Stoll, and her husband, Derek, 
     chairman of G.F. Vaughan Tobacco Company.
       Two years ago when Derek asked her what she wanted for 
     their 30th wedding anniversary, he wasn't surprised by her 
     answer: All new furniture for the First Step House on 
     Chrysalis Court.
       That is what she got--along with a new strand of pearls.

                          ____________________