[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 31 (Thursday, March 3, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING LAURIE ANN MELROOD FOR HER LIFETIME OF SOCIAL SERVICE AS AN 
       ADVOCATE AND EDUCATOR FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN LATIN AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 3, 2011

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Laurie Ann Melrood. 
For more than 40 years, Laurie Melrood has dedicated her life to social 
justice, speaking as a voice for people with no voice in the United 
States and other countries. Her initiative and persistence have changed 
the lives of countless individuals and communities.
  The oldest of three children of Paul Melrood and Gitel Kastrul, 
Laurie Melrood is a second generation American. Her Jewish relatives 
survived pogroms in the Ukraine from which her father fled as an 
infant. Her life has been characterized by service since her earliest 
days.
  As a young person in the 1960's, she advocated with African American 
and Jewish youth for desegregation of Milwaukee Public Schools.
  She lived, worked, and studied in Israel during the late 1960's.
  She was a member of the International Association of Yiddish Clubs.
  In 1971, for her undergraduate internship at the University of 
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she started Pathfinders, a shelter for runaway 
teens.
  In 1972-1973, Laurie served as a community mental health worker in 
the ``Back of the Yards'' neighborhood in South Chicago.
  In 1975, she graduated with a Master's Degree in Community Social 
Work from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For her graduate 
internship she started a community service project for high school 
seniors who received credit for their service.
  In 1974-1982, Laurie served as the Program Director of Jewish Social 
Services in Madison, Wisconsin. She established the culturally-based 
and ground breaking model L'Chaim Program for seniors at Madison Jewish 
Social Services, breaking the social isolation of Jewish and non-Jewish 
seniors.
  From 1981-1982, Laurie was the Director for Community Action on Latin 
America in Madison, WI.
  From 1982-1986, she was a principle organizer in South Texas and 
Wisconsin for the Underground Railroad and Public Sanctuary of the 
National Sanctuary Movement helping refugees from Central America to 
find shelter in the United States. She also assisted numerous refugees 
immigrate from Russia and Iran to the United States through HIAS, a 
Jewish Refugee Aid Agency.
  From 1986-1990, Ms. Melrood assisted Central American refugee minor 
children who were detained in Texas by placing them with sponsoring 
families.
  In 1992, Laurie became a staff member for the Pima County Juvenile 
Court's Court Appointed Special Advocate Program, she recruited 
volunteers to accompany and advocate for youth in the juvenile justice 
system. At Pima County Juvenile Court she also served as the Adoptions 
Examiner, specializing in foreign adoptions.
  In 1994, she was one of three co-founders of a health training 
project in northern Guatemala, specializing in acupuncture and medical 
aid. The program is unique in training rural health promoters in 
acupuncture for curative medicine.
  In 2000, Laurie was a principle program organizer and collaborator; 
starting the Kinship and Adoptions Resource Center KA.R.E. Family 
Center (KARE) in Tucson, Arizona in 2002. KARE is a full service family 
program helping grandparents and relatives who are raising 
grandchildren. This center has become a model of social services of its 
kind for the nation. Laurie has presented this model at child welfare 
conferences, written about the unmet need of this growing national 
population of Americans, and strongly advocated for their empowerment.
  Mr. Speaker, Laurie Ann Melrood is a true leader of social justice. 
Her lifetime work of social service and advocacy in the United States 
and Latin America profoundly affected the lives of innumerable 
individuals. I want to thank her for her service to this country and to 
the international community.

                          ____________________