[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 61 (Monday, April 16, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING ORAMENTA NEWSOME

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 16, 2018

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in celebrating the life of Oramenta Newsome, 
the vice president and executive director of the Washington, D.C. Local 
Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC DC), who passed away earlier this 
year at age 62.
  Oramenta served in the LISC DC office for nearly 25 years, leading 
the organization's charge to improve the overall quality of life for 
District of Columbia residents. In particular, she was instrumental in 
ensuring that public, private and philanthropic resources were 
leveraged to create an environment where all D.C. residents--especially 
the homeless, elderly, low-income and youth--would thrive.
  Oramenta came to Washington in the early 1990s. She spent several 
years at Enterprise Community Partners and then, in 1995, took a 
leadership role with LISC DC as the program was seeking to expand its 
impact. As one of LISC's longest-serving executive directors, she was 
part of a group of leaders who sought innovative ways to connect 
investment capital to nonprofit vision at a time when there was still 
great skepticism about whether the formula could bring about real 
progress. She was also one of the country's first African American 
women to guide large-scale community development work.
  Under Oramenta's leadership, LISC DC invested nearly $285 million in 
affordable housing, economic development and jobs throughout the 
District. Specifically, LISC DC has helped create and preserve 10,000 
units of affordable housing, nine arts and cultural facilities, eight 
health clinics, five early childhood education centers, 11 schools and 
youth centers as well as nearly two dozen other businesses and 
community facilities that have opened their doors in underserved D.C. 
neighborhoods.
  As the economic market in D.C. began to trend upward, Oramenta 
strengthened LISC DC's commitment to vulnerable communities. In 2016, 
Newsome told the Washington Post that improving the quality of life in 
neighborhoods on the brink of gentrification should be a priority. 
Indeed, she said she wanted to ``make sure that people with modest 
incomes have a fighting chance to stay and remain there and enjoy all 
the goodies that are on the way.''
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in 
celebrating Oramenta Newsome's humble and reverent service to D.C. and 
to extend deepest condolences to her beloved husband of 22 years, 
Wallace, and her siblings, nieces, nephews, friends and admirers.

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