[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 13, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING THE LIFE AND WORK OF MARY ISAAK

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 13, 2008

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise 
today to recognize the passing of Mary Isaak, a Petaluma activist who 
was committed to the noble struggle of helping the less fortunate 
overcome homelessness. Mary died of congestive heart failure last month 
at the age of 88, leaving an enduring legacy to the people of Petaluma, 
California through the establishment of COTS--the Committee on the 
Shelterless.
  After receiving a music degree from the University of Oregon, Mary 
moved to Berkeley, where she met her future husband, who later tired of 
the area and moved his family to what was then rural California--to the 
egg basket of the State, Petaluma. There, Mary raised five children and 
taught at Live Oak High, the small school she started on their 22-acre 
ranch.
  Mary's life of community service continued in the late 1980s, when 
she and Laure Reichek noticed the increasing number of homeless in the 
area and determined to obviate the problem. In 1988, they founded COTS. 
I was on the Petaluma City Council during this time and had the good 
fortune to work with Mary and Laure in facilitating the establishment 
of this incredible organization, dedicated to housing homeless 
families.
  ``It eventually took on a life of its own,'' says John Records, COTS 
current executive director. ``It activated something in the community 
and it gave people the opportunity to help. It offered a way to get 
involved.''
  In a town of 55,000 residents, the nonprofit registered more than 
50,000 volunteer hours last year alone. These volunteers helped prepare 
and serve more than 100,000 meals besides working on other programs the 
facility offers.
  The community embraced COTS because Mary set an example, volunteering 
for countless tasks and remaining on the board of directors.
  ``Even as she aged and became less strong, she continued to be 
involved,'' Records notes.
  In 2004, COTS recognized Mary's vision and commitment by naming its 
new housing facility in her honor--the Mary Isaaks Center. The center 
houses beds for 300, provides between 50,000 and 100,000 bed-nights per 
year, and its kitchen offer more than half a million pounds of food 
each year to the hungry and homeless of Petaluma. Other programs 
thrive, as well. For example, recently COTS added an innovative pilot 
trauma center to its services.
  Madam Speaker, it is impossible to measure the impact Mary Isaak's 
work has had on the individuals--both homeless and volunteers--and on 
the community of my hometown of Petaluma. She leaves to the community a 
legacy of compassion and involvement that the world would do well to 
follow. She will be greatly missed.

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