[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 109 (Thursday, June 27, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO BLAIR BRETTSCHNEIDER

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to tell you about two young women 
from Chicago and a discovery they made together that has helped to 
transform the lives of hundreds of other young women.
  Domitira Nahishakiye moved with her family from the African nation of 
Burundi to Chicago in 2007. Three years later, she found herself 
overwhelmed. At 18, she was attending high school, trying to prepare 
for college, and caring for her three younger siblings.
  The refugee resettlement efforts worked mostly with boys and young 
men. It didn't offer many programs to help Domi balance the pressures 
of caring for her siblings and preparing for college. Getting ready for 
college is tough for almost everyone. Imagine how much harder it is if 
you have grown up in another culture and you are helping to care for 
three siblings.
  Fortunately, Domi met another young woman named Blair Brettschneider.
  Blair grew up in Detroit. After graduating from the University of 
Miami in Florida, she had hoped to become a journalist, but the Great 
Recession caused Blair to rethink her career path. She moved to Chicago 
to work for AmeriCorps VISTA, sometimes called the domestic Peace 
Corps. Blair was a ``gofer'' for the refugee resettlement agency.
  Not content with coffee runs and other ``busy work,'' Blair started 
talking to the families her agency was helping. That is how she met 
Domi.
  Blair started to tutor Domi and help her with her homework at the 
afterschool center, but Domi's home responsibilities made it difficult 
for her to attend the sessions regularly.
  Rather than give up, Blair started tutoring Domi at her home. She 
helped her master her studies and apply for college. She also helped 
Domi adapt to life in her new homeland.
  Blair realized that Domi was not alone. Many immigrant girls and 
young women Blair spoke with shared the same needs, and many refugee 
agencies just weren't set up to help them.
  That realization led Blair to establish a foundation in 2011 to 
provide other young women refugees in Chicagoland with the same types 
of support that Blair offered Domi. It is called GirlForward. It has 
since expanded its reach to help young women in Austin, TX, as well. 
Since 2011, GirlForward has helped nearly 300 refugee women in the 
Chicago area and in Austin find mentors, friends, support, and 
encouragement in America.
  Amina Imran, a refugee from Pakistan, is one of those fortunate young 
women. She used to joke that the only way she could attend college is 
if she robbed a bank, but after finishing the Chicago GirlForward 
program in 2017, she now attends North Park University in Chicago, on a 
scholarship.
  GirlForward is routinely cited as one of the best charities in 
Chicago. Reader's Digest declared GirlForward the Best of America.
  My visits to GirlForward in Chicago were some of the happiest moments 
on my schedule. Young women from every comer of the world found 
friendship and encouragement with their peers. The processes of 
assimilating language and culture were lifted as these amazing young 
women came together and shared their struggles and joys.
  In helping young women refugees to thrive in their new home, Blair 
Brettschneider is following in the footsteps of another great 
Chicagoan. In 1889, Jane Addams founded Hull House on the Near West 
Side of Chicago. It was one of America's first settlement houses, where 
new citizens could acquire domestic and job skills and learn about 
American Government and customs. For her work with Hull House and other 
social justice causes, Jane Aaclams became the first American woman 
ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
  GirlForward is a new version of Hull House.
  In July, Blair will be leaving GirlForward. Fortunately, she leaves 
the GirlForward programs in Chicagoland and in Austin in strong shape.
  On behalf of the hundreds of young women whose lives GirlForward has 
helped enrich and transform and the hundreds of young women who will 
follow them, I want to thank Blair Brettschneider for her remarkable 
work and wish her all the best in her new efforts.

                          ____________________