[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 7, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E830-E831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO RABBI MARVIN M. GROSS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 7, 2016

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Rabbi Marvin M. (Marv) 
Gross, who will be retiring as Chief Executive Officer of Union Station 
Homeless Services in June 2016.
   Born in 1947, Marvin M. Gross was raised in Evanston, Illinois. He 
received his education from Amherst College, Hebrew University in 
Jerusalem, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the 
Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
   In the late 1960's, Marv began his lifelong service to the community 
by volunteering at the dairy of Kibbutz Givat Chaim, Israel for one 
year. He worked as an organizer for various political campaigns and the 
Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and as an organizer for the Jewish 
Council of Urban Affairs in Chicago, where he organized a ground-
breaking conference on the mortgage and insurance industry and low-
income and minority neighborhoods.
   Mr. Gross began his studies at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish 
Institute of Religion in New York in the 1970's to become a Reform 
rabbi, and after his graduation, moved to California. He began serving 
as a congregational rabbi, leading congregations at Temple Sherith 
Israel in San Francisco, and later at Temple Sinai of Glendale. In his 
volunteer capacity, Rabbi Gross served as Social Action Chair of the 
Board of Rabbis of Southern California, as Co-Chair of Clergy United 
for Prophetic Action, a Black-Jewish clergy alliance, and played a key 
role in the organization of religious congregations in California to 
support California's Bilateral Nuclear Weapons Freeze Initiative. In 
addition, Marv was asked by the Government of Israel, along with a 
fellow rabbinical student, to visit the Soviet Union for one month in 
an effort to promote solidarity and contact with Soviet Jews who had 
submitted applications to emigrate to Israel.
   In 1995, Marv Gross accepted the position of Executive Director of 
Union Station (now

[[Page E831]]

called Union Station Homeless Services (USHS) in Pasadena, California, 
becoming Chief Executive Officer in 2008. USHS is dedicated to helping 
homeless and low-income families through their outstanding service 
programs operating throughout the San Gabriel Valley. The programs 
provide food, shelter, medical care, rehabilitation and job training 
for homeless and low-income families and individuals, assisting them 
through each step of the process, so they can become thriving members 
of society. Under Rabbi Gross' stellar leadership, USHS has expanded 
from a 36-bed shelter on Raymond Avenue to a successful homeless 
service institution that serves over 2,200 people each year.
   In his more recent volunteer capacity, Marv has served on many 
boards and committees, including Flintridge Preparatory School, the 
Pasadena Police Foundation, and he is a staunch member of the Pasadena 
Rotary Club. A longtime Sierra Madre resident, Marv has three children: 
Becky, Daniel, and Tara.
   Rabbi Gross has tirelessly committed his working life to profoundly 
improve the lives of the homeless community. His generosity, compassion 
and leadership have deeply benefited the lives of thousands of homeless 
individuals and families.
   I ask all members of Congress to join me today in honoring Rabbi 
Marvin M. Gross for over two decades of extraordinary and unparalleled 
service to Union Station Homeless Services.

                          ____________________