[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 158 (Tuesday, September 25, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HOOPS FOR YOUTH FOUNDATION

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                            HON. JEFF DENHAM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 25, 2018

  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 20-year 
anniversary of the Hoops For Youth Foundation and their achievements in 
helping and supporting at-risk kids in Washington, D.C.
  Since 1999, the Hoops for Youth Foundation has brought together 
lawmakers, congressional staff, community leaders, and the lobbying 
profession in a bipartisan effort to help give children in our Nation's 
Capital a fighting chance with educational, family, hope, and career 
opportunities through countless hours of community service.
  Mr. Speaker, the Hoops for Youth Foundation dedicates its support for 
organizations like Healthy Babies, Inc, a Washington, D.C. based non-
profit, which supports at-risk families to have healthy babies and move 
out of the cycle of poverty. Healthy Babies reaches out to high-risk, 
low-income, substance-abusing, pregnant and parenting women, men, and 
their families. It removes barriers for health and success by helping 
clients identify what they need. Healthy Babies works with service 
provider partners to connect women and families to resources including 
health care, housing, nutrition, mental health services, educational 
support, skills building, substance abuse support, and employment. They 
stay with families long-term to give them the best chance for success.
  The Foundation also supports important schools like The Cornerstone 
School of Washington, D.C., which provides a Christ-centered, 
nurturing, and academically rigorous education to the children of 
Washington, D.C.; and St. Anthony's, which continues to be a family and 
neighborhood tradition. The curriculum and environment at St. Anthony 
is based upon the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus Christ as 
understood by the Catholic Church. They are proud to offer a rigorous, 
standards-based academic program to students in Pre-K3 through grade 
eight.
  Finally, the Foundation dedicates its support to Washington Jesuit 
Academy, which provides a high quality and comprehensive education to 
boys from low-income communities, offering them a safe, rigorous 
academic setting and advancing their spiritual, intellectual, emotional 
and physical growth. The guiding vision of the Washington Jesuit 
Academy is to create an education model that addresses the cycle of 
poverty that plagues our students' communities, and replaces it with a 
cycle of hope, determination and success. In order to challenge the 
city's widening achievement gap and bleak graduation statistics for 
low-income males, WJA incorporates the Magis (``the more'') and asks 
the important question: What more can we do for our students, our 
families and our community to change the face of urban education?
  Mr. Speaker, the commitment and achievements over the past 20 years 
of the Hoops For Youth Foundation, Members of Congress, congressional 
staff, community leaders, and the professional lobbying community, 
should be recognized, for their incredible dedication to ensuring at-
risk kids in our Nation's Capital have the opportunities to become the 
next generation of leaders.
  We must also recognize those efforts to promote strong family values 
and commitment to success by programs like Healthy Babies, St. 
Anthony's, Cornerstone School of Washington, D.C. and the Washington 
Jesuit Academy.

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