[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 170 (Monday, November 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN TRIBUTE TO SISTER ANN HALLORAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, November 5, 2007

  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sr. 
Ann Halloran, a community leader, co-founder and executive director of 
the Dominican Center for Women located in the Fourth Congressional 
District. The Milwaukee Archdiocese has recently presented Sr. Ann 
Halloran with the 2007 Vatican II ``Service to Society'' Award.
  Sr. Ann Halloran and Sr. Anne-Marie Doyle founded the Dominican 
Center for Women in 1990 in a near north-side Milwaukee neighborhood 
with no formal clubs or community-based organizations. The mission of 
this human service agency is to help create a beautiful and safe 
central city neighborhood by providing services in three programmatic 
areas: Education, employment and housing. Sr. Ann Halloran believes 
this three-pronged approach is essential to dismantling poverty.
  The programs at the Dominican Center for Women are offered free of 
charge to approximately 120 area residents. Initially, the center began 
by offering educational programs and employment counseling. As a result 
of participant surveys and with the urging of residents, a housing 
program utilizing a 12-block area surrounding the center was initiated 
in 1999. The housing program, designed to lead to home ownership, has 
become a primary focus of the center. The center leverages strategic 
partnerships and collaborations including Federal, State and local 
governmental agencies, faith-based organizations, sweat equity, 
volunteerism and the financial resources of a Habitat for Humanity 
loan, barter grants, IDA accounts and other resources found in the 
community, into affordable home ownership. Sixty-seven center program 
participants are now homeowners; they are primarily African-American 
women, single heads of households, who would not have been considered 
by mainstream conventional lending institutions.
  The center continues to work with new homeowners after acquisition of 
the home by convening monthly meetings to encourage them to voice 
neighborhood concerns, take group action toward resolution, and 
ultimately ensure retention of their homes. The Dominican Center for 
Women and the participants in its program have been so successful that 
beginning in 2004 they hosted their first annual ``Parade of Homes'' in 
this previously blighted area.
  Madam Speaker, for these reasons, I am honored to pay tribute to Sr. 
Ann Halloran's contributions to the Fourth Congressional District. She 
has helped to transform a neighborhood into a community.

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