[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 18 (Friday, February 3, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LIFE OF ALLEN WHITLEY MELVILLE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, February 3, 2012

  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
life and memory of Mrs. Allen Whitley Melville. Sadly, Allen passed 
away on the first of this year in Bloomfield, Connecticut.
  Born in 1927 in Evanston, Illinois, Allen spent most of her childhood 
growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before attending Sarah Lawrence 
College in New York. In 1947 Allen met a young Navy Corpsman named 
Frank Melville, who recently returned from serving in World War II. 
Allen and Frank would go on to marry, forming a life-long bond that 
would take them from New York to Connecticut and would see them raise 
four sons. Along the way, Allen and Frank would become pioneers and 
leaders in two great social causes of their time--treating mental 
illness and ending homelessness.
  After Allen moved with her family from New Canaan to Norfolk, 
Connecticut, in 1980, she became deeply involved in working to bring 
equal opportunity and fair treatment to the state's mentally 
handicapped, eventually serving on the Board of the State Office of 
Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities. While there, she 
worked to raise awareness on the unfair abuse and neglect that is all 
too often experienced by those living with mental illness.
  In her backyard of northwest Connecticut, Allen helped found one of 
the nation's leading ``club houses'' for people with mental illness, 
Prime Time House in Torrington; which has the mission to assist those 
suffering with mental illness to live independent and productive lives. 
Many Connecticut residents with mental illnesses have found their way 
to independence and success thanks to the education and employment 
opportunities afforded by the care of the organization of which Allen 
helped establish.
  Allen also was an integral part--and board member--of the Melville 
Charitable Trust, which works to find and fight the causes of 
homelessness and was chaired by her husband for many years. Allen made 
sure that mental illness was a priority of the work of the Trust.
  In fact, it was the unyielding advocacy of Allen, Frank, and the 
Melville Charitable Trust, that led me to introduce the Frank Melville 
Supportive Housing Investment Act, which was signed into law in January 
2011. The law triples the number of supportive housing units built 
across the country with federal dollars. The legacy of both Allen and 
her beloved husband, Frank, who unfortunately passed away in 2007, will 
be honored every day by this act and by the great works to come in the 
future by those who have been inspired by the advocacy of the 
Melvilles.
  In reflection of the unfortunate loss of a life-long champion for 
those most in need and all the work she has done for the community of 
Torrington and the State of Connecticut, I ask my colleagues to join me 
in recognizing and honoring the life of Allen Whitley Melville and the 
contributions she has made in bettering the lives of all those she 
touched.

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