[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 20, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7260-H7261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO COMMISSIONER DEVERRA BEVERLY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from

[[Page H7261]]

Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to 
a woman who spent her life trying to help others. This is a tribute to 
Commissioner Deverra Beverly, a premiere public housing advocate.
  In and around Chicago and in public housing circles throughout the 
Nation, Ms. Deverra Beverly was known as a staunch defender and key 
player in making decisions about public housing issues and plans, not 
only in the ABLA community where she lived, but throughout Chicago and 
with impact on national policy.
  Ms. Deverra Beverly is what sociologists and urban planners and 
politicians call ``grassroots.'' She was from the people, of the people 
and with the people, and a representative for the people. She was first 
of all a wife, a mother, a friend, a confidant, a leader who emerged 
from the people and was trusted by the people.
  Many people did not know it, but Ms. Beverly worked for the city of 
Chicago's Department of Human Services for more than 30 years. After 
her retirement in 1997, she devoted the rest of her life to providing 
leadership on Chicago public housing issues. She was president of the 
Local Advisory Council of ABLA, vice president of the Central Advisory 
Council, acting chair and treasurer of the Central Advisory Council, 
and was a close friend and supporter of Commissioner Artensia Randolph, 
who set the bar for CHA resident leadership.
  As a result of her local leadership, national public housing leaders 
and groups were attracted to her, and she became a founding chair of 
the National Public Housing Museum. She was appointed a Chicago Housing 
Authority commissioner by Mayor Daley and retained by Mayor Emanuel.
  Ms. Beverly was a skilled negotiator; and as a result of the many 
changes taking place in the ABLA community, she often sat at the table 
with Alderman Bob Fioretti, Danny Solis, Jason Ervin, university 
officials, people from the mayor's office, philanthropists, developers, 
myself, and others.
  Deverra Beverly always expressed the position of the tenants, the 
people; and when you look at the ABLA community today, much of it is a 
reflection of the thinking and the work of Commissioner Deverra 
Beverly.
  Contrary to much popular opinion, working families do live in public 
and mixed-income housing. As a result of the process known as ``urban 
renewal,'' Deverra Beverly's family moved into the ABLA homes in 1943. 
Her father was a postal employee. Her mother worked in the home. 
Deverra worked for the city of Chicago for more than 30 years. She did 
not have to live in ABLA, but she chose to live there because that is 
where her heart was.
  I guess maybe the poet Sam Walter Foss may have been thinking of her 
when he wrote his poem that said:

       Let me live in my house by the side of the road, where the 
     race of men go by.
       They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are 
     strong, wise, and foolish--so am I.
       Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat, or hurl the 
     cynic's ban?

  Let me live in my house by the side of the road like Deverra Beverly 
and be a friend to man.

                          ____________________