[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           IN RECOGNITION OF BISHOP-ELECT MITCHELL G. TAYLOR

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 2006

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Bishop-Elect 
Mitchell G. Taylor. The Senior Pastor of the Center of Hope 
International and the Founder and President of the East River 
Development Alliance, Reverend Taylor has dedicated his life to serving 
his community, which includes Queensbridge Houses, the largest public 
housing complex on the North American continent, as well as the 
Ravenswood, Astoria and Woodside public housing developments. Reverend 
Taylor will be consecrated a Bishop in an Episcopal ceremony to be 
conducted next month in East Elmhurst, New York.
  Reverend Taylor has rightly earned national renown for his work to 
improve the quality of life for residents of public housing. He is also 
the author of Unbroken Promises, a work offering an inspirational and 
optimistic message of trust, faith, and hope for a better future. As 
the Senior Pastor at the Center of Hope International, a non-
denominational church founded by his father more than four decades ago, 
he has overseen the Center's Victory After-School program serving 
hundreds of school children and the Bread of Life Food Pantry, which 
has fed thousands of hungry families.
  Reverend Taylor has been invited to deliver his inspirational message 
in lectures and speeches around the United States. Because of his 
leadership on issues involving public housing, he has been profiled in 
our nation's paper of record, The New York Times, and dubbed the 
``Preacher in the Hood'' by the CBS television network.
  In order to more effectively serve his community, Reverend Taylor 
helped found the East River Development Alliance, or ``ERDA''. Working 
in close collaboration with government officials, tenant groups, 
parent-teacher associations, houses of worship, nonprofits, and other 
community organizations, ERDA has scored remarkable successes in 
expanding economic opportunities for the 30,000 residents in the 
surrounding community. ERDA also offers financial literacy and home 
ownership programs, enhanced extracurricular activities for local 
youth, college preparatory classes, free GED and computer courses, and 
job training and placement initiatives. With Reverend Mitchell's 
leadership, a neighborhood coalition was formed that undertook a 
successful campaign to attract a bank to the community.
  In addition to his extraordinary and selfless service to his 
community, Reverend Taylor is a loving family man dedicated to his wife 
Barbara and their two children Telisha and Mitchell, Jr. They live in 
the Long Island City neighborhood to which he has devoted himself, and 
which he has called home for forty years.
  Mr. Speaker, in recognition of his meritorious and selfless service 
to his community, I ask that my distinguished colleagues join me in 
congratulating Reverend Mitchell G. Taylor on his elevation to Bishop 
and in paying tribute to his enormous contributions to civic life.

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