[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 59 (Thursday, April 10, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF BERNICE HUDSON WASHINGTON

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                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 2014

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and pay 
tribute to the life and legacy of Bernice Hudson Washington, a beloved 
public servant remembered for her extraordinary display of compassion 
and kindness as a life-long addiction and home service counselor in the 
city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
   Bernice Hudson Washington passed away on Sunday, April 6 at the age 
of 84. While I join the Tuscaloosa community in being deeply saddened 
by her passing, I know her legacy is one that will live on in the lives 
of those she touched through her work as a counselor.
   Mrs. Washington was the proud mother of a daughter, Alice Page of 
Northport, grandmother of Sonja Henley and Vanraybern Thames and 
stepmother of Betty Dickerson.
   After helping her brother to overcome alcohol addiction, Mrs. 
Washington was drawn into a lifelong career counseling and empowering 
those who suffer from addiction. She began her career as an addiction 
counselor in 1972 when she joined the inaugural staff at Indian Rivers 
Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center.
   Mrs. Washington established the Insight Center, a center that 
offered preventive programs for alcoholics and drug addicts, in 1974. 
She directed the Insight Center until her retirement in October 1994. 
The Insight Center was dedicated in her honor on May 29, 1993, as the 
Bernice Hudson Washington Insight Center.
   Mrs. Washington spent 20 years as a certified addiction counselor at 
the Insight Center. During this time, she expanded the concept of 
addiction treatment by helping the families of addicts to overcome the 
difficulties associated with addiction.
   Mrs. Washington's opened her home to recovering addicts providing 
them with home-cooked meals and games of checkers and dominoes on the 
weekends.
   Mrs. Washington also served as resident commissioner for the 
Tuscaloosa Housing Authority and provided invaluable counseling 
services to first-time homeowners. The housing authority dedicated a 
nine-house development for new homeowners in her honor in 2012 as the 
Bernice Hudson Washington Estates.
   At the dedication ceremony for the Bernice Hudson Washington 
Estates, one of the new homeowners explained his admiration for Mrs. 
Washington to a local reporter, ``She molded me and my mom, my thinking 
and the type of person that I am,'' he said. ``If God can give me just 
a little bit of what she did to inspire people, I'll be so grateful.''
   Mrs. Washington best explained her motivation: ``It meant a whole 
lot to me to be able to help give some of these folks that I work with 
a chance to have some of the stuff that I had,'' she told a local 
reporter. ``Because we'd share what we had with others, we grew up 
doing that--sharing. So it meant a lot for me to just keep doing what 
my father was doing for others. That's all I know--to give.''
   Mrs. Washington has been described by family members and community 
leaders as a true public servant with a contagious spirit who, through 
her actions, inspired those around her to serve others.
   Mrs. Washington has made an indelible mark on the city of Tuscaloosa 
and the state of Alabama. Today, we pay tribute to her resolute 
dedication and concern for those who suffer from addiction and her 
extraordinary contributions to first-time homeowners.
   On behalf of the 7th Congressional District, the State of Alabama 
and this nation, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Mrs. 
Bernice Hudson Washington for her inspirational servant leadership. We 
are truly grateful for this extraordinary public servant.

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