[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 8 (Thursday, January 20, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E92]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN HONOR OF INEZ KILLINGSWORTH

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 20, 2011

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Ms. Inez 
Killingsworth, founder of Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People 
(ESOP), as she is recognized by ESOP for her multitude of achievements. 
Ms. Killingsworth has a long history of standing up for the rights of 
the people of her community, refusing to let their needs be ignored.
  Ms. Killingsworth founded the East Side Organizing Project in 1993 as 
a means to address the unsafe conditions of her Union-Miles 
neighborhood. During the early 1990s, ESOP, under Ms. Killingsworth's 
leadership, began to rally against the lack of credit available to 
African Americans in the community. When predatory lending in the area 
increased and more and more community members were facing mortgage 
payments they could no longer afford, ESOP turned its focus to 
addressing this growing problem. ESOP became a statewide venture in 
2008, when it opened 10 offices throughout the state of Ohio. The 
organization was then renamed Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's 
People. ESOP acts as a foreclosure counseling agency. Through tactics 
varying from protesting banks to negotiating agreements between lenders 
and borrowers to taking financial executives on tours of the collapsing 
neighborhoods that are in peril due to predatory lending, ESOP has 
helped thousands of families in Ohio avoid losing their homes. In 2009, 
80% of ESOP clients received favorable loan modifications.
  In 2010, Ms. Killingsworth received a Purpose Prize from the San 
Francisco think tank Civic Ventures. This prize is awarded annually to 
ten Americans over the age of 60 who are changing the world in the 
second half of their lives. The award comes with a $100,000 prize, part 
of which Ms. Killingsworth intends to use to create a program to help 
newly released felons find work. She also intends to address problems 
in other areas, such as the lack of healthy food choices in poor, urban 
neighborhoods.
  Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honor of Ms. Inez 
Killingsworth for her unwavering dedication to solving difficult 
challenges faced by the people of Ohio. She has been a role model in 
her community, relentlessly fighting for justice. I wish Ms. 
Killingsworth peace, health and happiness in all her future endeavors.

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