[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 70 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1095-E1096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A TRIBUTE TO SISTER JULIA MARY FARLEY, C.S.J. ON THE OCCASION OF THE 
  25TH ANNIVERSARY OF HER WORK AS FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF GOOD SHEPHERD 
          CENTER FOR HOMELESS WOMEN & CHILDREN IN LOS ANGELES

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 7, 2009

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Sister Julia Mary Farley, an extraordinary and dedicated woman who has 
been providing care and shelter for homeless women and children in the 
34th District in Los Angeles for the last quarter of a century. On May 
15, 2009, friends and supporters of the Good Shepherd Center for 
Homeless Women & Children will celebrate the center's 25th anniversary 
and honor Sister Julia Mary for her years of service to the homeless.
  A native of Chicago, Sister Julia Mary has been a member of the 
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet since 1951. She has a Master's 
Degree in Health Administration from the University of California, Los 
Angeles, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Loyola 
Marymount University. As a hospital administrator, Sister Julia Mary 
worked in hospitals in Lewiston, Idaho, and Pasco, Washington, St. 
Mary's Hospital in Tucson, Arizona, and Daniel Freeman Hospitals in 
Inglewood and Marina del Rey, California. She also taught at Mount St. 
Mary's College and several elementary schools in Los Angeles. In 1983, 
Sister Julia Mary joined the staff of Angels Flight, a crisis 
intervention center for runaway teenagers operated by Catholic 
Charities of Los Angeles, Inc.
  The following year, Cardinal Timothy Manning noticed that the number 
of homeless women on the street around St. Vibiana's Cathedral in 
downtown Los Angeles was increasing dramatically. To address this 
disturbing trend, he initiated the establishment of a program to 
provide emergency services to homeless women. He named Sister Julia 
Mary as the new program's director.
  Since 1984, the Good Shepherd Center has empowered women to move from 
homelessness to self-sufficiency through its housing, employment, and 
support services. Under Sister Julia Mary's leadership, the center has 
grown from an emergency shelter and drop-in center to five residential 
facilities offering a broad spectrum of employment and support services 
a quarter of a century later.
  Following the opening of the emergency shelter and drop-in center on 
May 6, 1984, Good Shepherd Center expanded its services

[[Page E1096]]

over the next eight years. The center added a Mobile Outreach Program 
to take food, clothing, offers of shelter and words of hope to women on 
the street. In 1988, the center's Belmont Avenue shelter expanded to 
provide transitional housing for 30 single homeless women, and four 
years later, the center established a transitional residence serving 
nine mothers and 20 children in an old Craftsman house.
  In 1998, fulfilling Sister Julia Mary's dream, the center opened the 
first phase of the ``Women's Village.'' The Hawkes Transitional 
Residence provides transitional and affordable housing for homeless 
women and their children as well as facilities to train the women for 
jobs. Two years later, in 2000, the second phase of the ``Women's 
Village'' was completed with the Angel Guardian Home. It provides 12 
apartments that offer long-term housing in a supportive community 
setting for homeless mothers with disabilities and their children. In 
June 2008, the final piece of the Women's Village was completed, with 
the opening of the Sister Julia Mary Farley Women's Village. This 
facility provides transitional housing in one-bedroom apartments for 21 
employed homeless women. It also includes an employment and client 
services center that serves all Good Shepherd Center residents, and The 
Village Kitchen--a bakery and cafe in which residents receive job 
training and experience in the culinary arts.
  With the completion of the Women's Village, Sister Julia Mary and 
Good Shepherd Center now serve more than 1,100 homeless women and 
children annually, and house 150 women and children each night.
  I have had the privilege of visiting with Sister Julia Mary and the 
residents of Good Shepherd Center, and I must say the determination of 
the women to make better lives for themselves and their children is 
truly inspiring.
  Madam Speaker, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Sister 
Julia Mary Farley's founding of Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women 
and Children, I ask my colleagues to please join me in commending 
Sister Julia Mary for her vision and tireless efforts to provide daily 
inspiration to the center's residents, friends, generous donors, 
skilled staff, and caring volunteers, and in thanking her for a 
lifetime of dedicated service to homeless women and their children.

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